Chris Smither, a New Orleans-bred country blues musician, will captivate an Ames audience tonight with his “groove-driven” acoustic music.

“Smither needs no chemistry with anyone to be awesome; he just needs a stage and someone to listen,” said a reviewer for The Irish Times.

The MoonCookie Cafe will provide Smither with both a stage and an audience for his 8 p.m. show at the UU Fellowship of Ames tonight.

Smither, a High Tone Records recording artist, has been applauded by many audiences throughout his 20 years of performing.

Smither said in a press release that his uncle taught him the basics of instrumentation as a young child.

“Uncle Howard gave me a ukulele,” Smither said.

“He showed me how, that if you knew two chords, you could play a lot of the songs you heard on the radio. And if you knew three chords, you could pretty much rule the world.”

Smither said he started his performing career in Boston during the mid-1960s.

He jumped into the Boston performing crowd and began fascinating coffeehouse audiences with his “unique” acoustic style.

“I’d loved acoustic music, specifically the blues, ever since I first heard Lightnin’ Hopkins…My style, to a degree, came out of trying to imitate that sound that I heard,” he said.

By the early ’90s, Smither was on a full-time musician’s schedule. He returned to constant, nationwide touring and biannual album releases.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said this “gutsy” guitarist has found a perfect folk-blues synthesis over the years.

“Chris Smither is beginning to take on the mantle of an American national treasure. His early ’70s albums on Poppy were a revelation of their day, but since his second coming at the end of the ’80s he’s been going like a rocket,” said a reviewer of Folk Roots.

Smither’s songs have been covered by Bonnie Raitt, John Mayall, Rosalie Sorrels, Christine Collister and numerous other musicians.

The Woodstock Times said Smither is well known for his resonating voice and excellent guitar techniques.

“Smither is a one-man, one-guitar band with the sound of a great big crowd.

“He makes up for the limitations of the single instrument any way he can, tapping with his feet on a miked board, playing simultaneous bass lines with his thumb and melodic runs with his other fingers, and singing in a gravely, emotion-drenched voice,” a Woodstock Times reviewer said.

Tickets for tonight’s smoke-free concert will be sold for $7 at the door.

Ticket sales will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the MoonCookie Cafe, UU Fellowship of Ames, 1015 N. Hyland.