It's easy to picture a schedule for the big summer amphitheaters containing the usual suspects -- Tom Petty, Jimmy Buffett, Lynyrd Skynyrd -- with the addition of one of their long-absent contemporaries: the J. Geils Band.

The gritty Boston blues-rock outfit packed arenas in the '70s and then transitioned into the MTV era of the '80s with the glossier sound of such hits as "Love Stinks" and "Freeze Frame." In 1982, the J. Geils Band was topping the charts with "Centerfold" and touring with U2 as its opening act.

Then it all unraveled, as the band's two main songwriters ran into the proverbial "creative differences." Singer Peter Wolf, who had come to the band as a painter and charismatic, blues-loving DJ from the Bronx, wanted to revert more toward his R&B roots, whereas keyboardist Seth Justman was more game for the more commercial sound.

In one of the more head-scratching solutions to rock 'n' roll problems, the rest of the group sided with the keyboardist and, thus, the face and voice of the band, "the Woofa Goofa," was out.

"I didn't choose to be a solo artist," Mr. Wolf says. "It was artistic differences and the band thought it best if they moved on. So I became a soloist not out of choice."

The J. Geils Band released one more album, in 1984, that went nowhere and then broke up. The singer ventured off to a moderately successful solo career starting with the hit "Lights Out." The members have reunited here and there, mostly for charitable events, but 27 years later, the J. Geils Band is virtually nonexistent, having never given in to the various offers and temptations to regroup as a full-fledged act.

"If we wanted to, we would have," Mr. Wolf says. "I think what we like about what we've done so far is that we haven't become a nostalgia act, but just get together at times when it makes sense."

So, rather than playing for thousands on a lawn, the 64-year-old singer is back in the clubs promoting his recently released seventh solo album, "Midnight Souvenirs" -- his first since 2002.

"The last record, 'Sleepless,' we worked hard on, and then the record company went out of business," he says. "It was received well by people who know about it but stayed pretty subterranean. As I thought about the next one, it seemed like the whole music industry seemed to be imploding. So rather than go to record companies, which seemed in a state of shock, I decided to do what indie filmmakers or playwrights do, which was to make the record and then find a home for it. The recording went quickly. Getting it all together and waiting for the right time and place is what really took the time. I guess with artistic endeavors, in the end, who's counting? What matters is the work."

And the work more than lives up to his reputation. "Midnight Souvenir" is a bluesy, sometimes countrified album that could fit, sonically, alongside the late '60s, early '70s Stones albums. It doesn't make any concessions to being modern.

"I take that as a compliment," he says. "There are certain recordings that have a traditional or classic feel to them, and you can listen to 'Beast of Burden' by the Stones or 'Wild Night' by Van Morrison and they could be released today, and have relevance. You can listen to 'Summer Wind' by Frank Sinatra, and it could released today. But there are certain recordings that have a big neon sign that says '80s. What I tried to do in these last several recordings was make a record that was able to not be affected by style or trend, but had more of a classical tradition to it, in the way that 'Heart of Gold' would sound as good today as when it came out, or Jimi Hendrix's recording of 'All Along the Watchtower.' "

As a solo artist, not to mention a music fan, he's been prone to collaboration since leaving the J. Geils Band, and on the latest record, he's joined for duets by Merle Haggard, Neko Case and Shelby Lynne.

"I'm happy with all of them," he says, "honored that the two ladies wanted to be involved, and, particularly, Merle Haggard, who is a mountain, an icon and someone I've been a fan of ever since I started playing music. I am a fan. I don't consider myself a musician. I consider myself a fan. Some people say they got into a band to meet chicks. I got into a band to just hang out with musicians. I got to be friends with Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, [the Rolling Stones], Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Irma Thomas, Neko Case, Shelby Lynne and now Merle -- for me it's a joy to have that kind of access with people I really admire."

When he plays Mr. Small's on Wednesday, the set list will include "Midnight Souvenir" songs, other solo material and songs that drew people to him in the first place.

"There are songs I've written that are part of my life, so it's a treat for me to get out there with a stellar band and do a song like 'Cry One More Time,' which was recorded by Gram Parsons, or turn around and call out 'Give It to Me.' The Geils Band ... I was the front person and spokesperson for 17 years. It was a very sad time for me when the band split. I hate to sound like a bad Hallmark greeting card, but the songs are the soundtrack of my life, so I try to round things off and include songs from the solo records and the Geils songs."

First Published: May 17, 2010, 8:00 a.m.