Most of Ames missed out on a good show this weekend.

About 50 people lounged at the Maintenance Shop on Friday. They watched as the three-brothers-plus-one blues act the Kinsey Report morphed from electric blues to funk to reggae in one masterful set.

The group’s broad scope kept the show interesting, as a delta blues song led into a funky Chicago-style blues song, and the Kinsey Report offered a very fresh sounding version of “Stir it Up” that would have made Bob Marley proud.

The small crowd enjoyed it, but one would think a band with Donald Kinsey, a guitarist who was personally selected by Albert King, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh for recording and tours, would bring in a few more people. It seems to be a reputation that falls on deaf ears with most of the college audience.

Central Iowa is sitting on a mother lode of talent and blues-friendly venues. The Central Iowa Blues Society, on the Web at www.cibs.org, keeps those who care up-to-date on blues news. And the listing of bands in the hall of fame on the site are reminders of just how deeply the music has planted itself here. There’s even a venue, Blues on Grand, 1501 Grand Ave., in Des Moines that plays live blues almost every night.

As well as local bands, national acts such as John Hammond and the Kinsey Report show up to jam. But while a flavor-of-the-month punk band can sell out the M-Shop in a matter of days, blues listeners can sprawl and relax with plenty of room and empty chairs.

There doesn’t seem to be too much support from college-aged people, and local names such as The Blue Band, Taz Band and Fat Tuesday and the Greasefire Horns have seen less publicity in their decades of playing than some of the hardcore bands have had in a year. I guess it’s a lot to ask of students.

But who would have thought of homegrown, down-to-earth music straight from the Midwest as exotic? With changing popular tastes, though, the blues have had the same appeal to young urbanites as Caribbean ska and reggae. I myself have never traveled as a hobo, spent years in prison or earned a cool nickname like “Howlin’ Wolf” or “T-Bone,” but I can relate to the music. It’s just strange that some of the people who make this “exotic” music grew up in Des Moines.

Rather than worrying about staying up-to-date with the latest shade of punk coming out of California, we could really use a balanced diet of music — one that includes at least a dose of the roots of rock.

When you look at what makes music popular today, things such as staying true to life, an independent attitude and fighting “the man” are all common themes — and they are also common themes in the blues.

Rock came straight from Robert Johnson and the blues. Funk came from the blues. Just about every classic rock guitarist — from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton — goes blues when it comes time to rip out a solo.

We should take a look around at our strong points. Just like gloomy Seattle breeds angst, in boring Iowa it is sometimes just too hard not to have the blues.

Jeff Mitchell

is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. He is the arts and entertainment editor

for the Daily.