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THURSDAY
You get the blues watching PBS’s The Blues. If not from the hokey re-enactments (thank you, Wim Wenders), the lack of archival footage, the abundance of bad editing, and the National Public Radio tone, then from the absence of the reel you know should have been made: the one called “Hacks.” A director could have staked out the House of Blues for a summer, capturing the likes of Aerosmith, Jonny Lang, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Robert Cray, and the John Belushi-less Blues Brothers. The episode could have been divided into three chapters: Bar Bands, Lemon Squeezers (focusing on the facial contortions of guitar soloistshilarious, that section), and the Merchandisers of the Blues (from slavery and poverty come coffee mugs and tote bags). Yes, at times it might seem that the blues have become one long beer commercial. But then there is the bluesy, garage-rock dynasty known as Holly Golightly, Billy Childish muse and reverb goddess in her own right. Never mind her duet with Jack White; Ms. Golightly has been pitching perfect nuggets since 1991. She’s the scene’s Glinda the Good Witch, sprinkling street cred over the Converse-clad Dorothys in her newly broadened audience. Her latest platter, Truly She Is None Other, is as good a place to start as any for all you wannabesoffering a mix of spare lust, ’50s twitch and twang, and moonlit blues. Live, she is all rock. And she will complaina lotif you don’t dance when she plays with Ko & the Knockouts at 9 p.m. on the Black Cat’s Backstage, 1811 14th St. NW. $8. (202) 667-7960. (Jason Cherkis)