The accumulated years and miles of touring experience shape the diverse style and lyrical messages of blues guitarist Ron Prince.

The Chicago-born musician combines traditional blues themes with enlightening stories of his trials and theories of life expectations.

“My theme is awareness of all parts of life, not just love and heartache,” Prince says.

Prince and his band Hard Time’s 90 minute set will saturate the stage with blues music of all kinds.

“About 60 percent of our shows are original music,” Prince says. “We cover artists such as B.B. King, Jimi Hendrix and some local cats from Chicago.”

Most of the original jams will come from Prince’s latest release “Paroled.”

With decades of musical savvy, bassist Joseph Thomas, pianist Dave Mathis and drummer Ricky Nelson make up Hard Time.

The M-Shop crowd will recognize the traditional blues tones and tempo while feeling the unique, modern and upbeat groove.

“The stuff on the radio sucks real bad,” Prince says. “Our style is contemporary; it has a rock and funk itch with a few ballads mixed in.”

Prince’s father gave him a guitar at the age of 12, while many of his friends were also budding musicians.

“Everybody was playing an instrument back then; I just liked playing guitar,” Prince remembers.

His primary blues weapon is a Fender Stratocaster, the same type of guitar blues legend Jimi Hendrix played.

The 43-year-old advanced as a musician through his work with the Kinsey Report, a group formed from the popular blues family headed by Ralph Kinsey.

Since that time, Prince’s tours have been found frequenting many different parts of the globe.

“I love the way they treat you in Japan and Brazil; the lifestyles are really exciting,” Prince says.

Prince’s touring has also had its share of unfortunate incidents ranging from annoying equipment troubles, a broken nose in Poland and aggressive military police in Yugoslavia, shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“These guys broke my nose in Poland,” Prince recalls. “I think it had something to do with the alcohol and the language barrier. There was also a problem with some M.P.s in Yugoslavia, I think the music might have charged up some rowdy fans.”

Hard Time featuring Ron Prince, has visited the M-Shop on a few previous occasions, and they anticipate a great show. Prince says Ames has really appreciated the blues music during his past gigs.

“I think [Ames] is a significant place,” he says. “They seem to have a real strong blues community.”