Blues music grew out of hardship, a triumph of the artistic spirit over challenges, suffering, and adversity.
Acoustic folk bluesman Kelly Joe Phelps might downplay any suggestion that such dramatic notions apply to him, but earlier this year he stared into the void and considered a future in which his ability to play guitar was gone.
Diagnosed with ulnar neuropathy, a condition that left his right hand and arm paralysed, Phelps was unable to pick up a pencil, hold or use a knife, or even strum a guitar, let alone contemplate the complex finger-picking dexterity for which the acoustic and slide guitarist is known.
Forced to take a break from touring in January this year, Phelps spent four months rehabilitating, reacquainting himself with his guitars and practising to attain the performance levels required to get back out on tour and play the blues.
''It was a frightening experience. At the height of the condition, I had virtually no use of the right hand.
"No strength, no sensation, couldn't hold anything, grip a thing. You know, it can be anyone's guess as to how long, or whether it will even heal.''
In Phelps' case it took four months to rediscover his rhythm and graft his return to the guitar.
''Slowly the feeling and strength came back. I spent a lot of time with doctors, physios, sorting it out and building my strength.
''I look at the experience as a lesson. My body telling me that I needed a break. You know, a reminder to pay attention to your needs.
''My playing style of guitar - I spend a lot of time crouched over it, hunched, squeezing those strings. Wringing out all the emotion, rawness, and authenticity that I can,'' Phelps says.
It's no wonder Phelps' right side wanted some time out from the blues. The American musician and songwriter has been a solo artist for almost two decades.
He released his first album Lead Me On in 1994 and, after initially gaining notice as a lap slide guitarist, branched out to recording more conventional acoustic blues, folk and country albums, touring solidly since.
Along the way he has toured alongside blues and country luminaries, such as B. B. King, Lucinda Williams and Madeline Peyroux, recorded with Townes Van Zandt, jazz musician Bill Frisell and been signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings.
U2 guitarist The Edge has also touted Phelps' ability as ''a great example of what the modern blues is all about. His music has all the authority of the great blues without any hint of rehash or retread''.
Hailing from a blue-collar town in Washington state on the western seaboard of the US, the 54-year-old was a jazz musician playing bass guitar for 10 years before striking out on his own as an acoustic singer-songwriter.
He has been back touring since September, playing across Australia before landing in Auckland earlier this week. He says he suffers no enduring effects from his debilitating disorder.
''I haven't had a single bit of trouble. What the experience did mean is that I was given a chance during that time to understand how important, just how much playing music meant to me.
''I've never had any trouble before and out of nowhere, this happened and I couldn't play, couldn't do a single thing with the guitar.''
Speaking on the phone from his Melbourne hotel where the softly spoken and understated Phelps has a night off from performing, after a weekend residency playing the Blues at Bridgetown Festival, near Perth, he says the enforced layoff left him reinvigorated.
''It's been one of those backwards blessings. Now I feel certain aspects of music and touring, which I guess I maybe took for granted previously. I'm feeling real good to be back on the road.''
It is Phelps' first visit to these shores and the tourist in him is ''definitely'' looking forward to the road trip.
Dunedin is the penultimate stop on the tour, which culminates with a concert in Wanaka at Rippon Hall next Sunday, playing alongside Wellington-based Irish musician Gerry Paul and Warren Maxwell, formerly of New Zealand bands Trinity Roots and Little Bushman.
What can people expect at a Kelly Joe Phelps gig?''It will mostly be songs I've written from the last 10-12 years or so, but the majority will be from my latest album Brother Sinner and the Whale.''
The album draws heavily on gospel influences and is also loosely based on the Book of Jonah from the Bible. Phelps, however, is reluctant to draw any parallels between his own recent experiences and the ordeals faced by the prophet.
''I'm not here to write the big hit song. I view my craft as akin to writing poetry.
''I've always been more concerned about that - the poetry aspect of music - and using all the tools I have to write and put forward a poem that speaks from the heart.
"Leaning on the gospel side of music is about dealing creatively with those things at the forefront of your mind and heart.
''I've journeyed through all these years, striving forwards, towards being a smarter musician. I would hope that all that work I have put in would show.
''The end result is going to be that much more honest and it allows you to be so much more passionate as a performer.
"It's about striving to be better, a more honest musician, and more honest with myself.''
Catch him
Kelly Joe Phelps plays: North East Valley Baptist Church, Dunedin on Saturday, November 30 Rippon Hall, Rippon Vineyard (with Gerry Paul and Warren Maxwell), on Sunday, December 1.
