Hype is as easy as the thesaurus on your desk — particularly if you're in the entertainment PR business and it's your job to drum up interest for your would-be or already-is star.

In the case of Chicago electric blues musician Studebaker John, who performs Friday in the Donald L. Oat Theater for the Norwich Arts Center's Blues On Broadway series, he's certainly got the chops and body of work that would justify all sorts of enthusiastic and adjectival blurbs.

Fluid on both guitar and harp, John modeled his style after Hound Dog Taylor and assembled his own band, the Hawks, after Taylor's House Rockers. In addition to performing fiery interpretations of blues classics — leading John to collaborations in the 1990s with the Yardbirds — he's also released 20 albums of featuring plenty of his own distinctive material. And filmmaker Atom Egoyan has used several of John's tunes in his movies.

Studebaker John, Blues on Broadway, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Donald L. Oat Theater, 62 Broadway, Norwich; doors open at 7 p.m.; $25 adults, $23 seniors, military, students, $20 Norwich Arts Council members; norwicharts.org/events.