I have to tell you, I am just loving the new Delbert McClinton album. Not saying this because I’m getting any kind of kickbacks. I just love the guy. And this new one may be his best album ever.

You know what I love about Delbert? He’s been so great for so long, and yet he’s still out at the edges, and in an age where the airwaves are filled with absoolute total shit like Lady Gaga (I mean, really) and Britney and Miley and all these moronic dick-grabbing rappers, somehow it warms my heart to know that a guy like Delbert is still out there making records — sorry, making great records. Frankly I think Delbert likes being out at the fringe of the industry, and I think I like him better because of that too.

How do you even describe what he does or what he is? He’s mixing blues and rock and soul and country and a half dozen other things — so I don’t even know what you call him. He’s sui generis, as they say in French. Plus, he’s turning 69 years old in a couple of weeks, and he’s still rocking out. Plus, he shared a bill with the Beatles in Liverpool in 1962. How friggin cool is that?

Delbert’s 2005 album, “Cost of Living,” was an awesome piece of work, but the new one, “Acquired Taste,” is even better. Check it out. On iTunes, of course.