The morning after Nighthawks guitarist Jimmy Thackery flew the coop from the band he co-founded nearly 17 years earlier, he woke up "scared to f-ing death."

That was 1987. He's gotten over it.

Since launching a solo career in 1992, he's released a string of critically acclaimed blues records under "Jimmy Thackery and the ... " monikers.

Sunday, Thackery (joined by longtime drummer Mark Stutso and new bassist Chris Grant) brings his hot licks and cool leads to The Coffee Pot in Roanoke.

Q: Tell me a bit about your new record, "Healin' Ground."

A: It comes out on April 26 and I'm really happy with it. I decided to record in Nashville with producer Gary Nicholson and their "A-team" hotshots. They raised the bar, man. I love making records. It's mind numbing, but the end result can be, hell — better than sex! During the sessions, there was this sort of unconscious transference between my co-writers and myself and the lyrics came out to be "a statement of redemption." Fitting.

Q: How many albums have you been on?

A: Man, I've lost count. I have more records than John Lee Hooker! (Laughs) I started doing this in 1974. I think it's been about 10 since 1992, when I went solo.

Q: I was a senior in high school then.

A: Well, I was a grown man with a drug and alcohol problem. (Laughs.) But I gave up my evil ways. (Laughs harder.)

Q: What's your favorite part about touring?

A: Getting to see all the great people I've met all over the world. After the Nighthawks, I realized I was going broke calling them on the phone. The road's not for everybody and I've chewed through so many people who thought, all their lives, that that's what they wanted to do. But in the end they couldn't handle it. I've been doing this for so long, I just don't think I know any better.

Q: What made you decide to leave the comfort of the Nighthawks, a fairly well-established and well-received group, to pursue what looked to be a very uncertain future?

A: Even Leonardo da Vinci, after finishing the Sistine Chapel, must have said, "I need to go do something else." We did roughly 300 shows a year. When I was off and back home, I'd get antsy after three or four days. We'd all have our "summer vacation projects" going, and the more I did those I realized that there is a life beyond the Nighthawks. When I did get over the decision to pull the trigger, it was the best thing that'd ever happened. It was a sad but amicable split and they're still going. One monkey don't stop no show. (Laughs.)