Nothing says “mountain soul music” quite like a custom-made barn-wood box guitar.

Local bluesman Kevin Van Dort loved the sound and feel of the four-string tenor instrument from the first time he picked it up. It now has become a permanent and unique part of his sound and style, along with the blues harp (harmonica), a ’59 Gibson electric, and a raspy, soulful voice that harkens back to early 20th-century Delta blues.

Van Dort is no stranger to the blues.

Born and raised in Kalispell, Van Dort has spent a lifetime working, traveling and trying to find his place in the world. After 15 years in Missoula, family brought him back home to the Flathead.

And back to singing the blues.

“Blues is my meditation,” Van Dort said. “I’m putting my heart into music.”

Van Dort grew up in a musical family with a father, aunt and uncle who were musicians. He got his start at home when “someone put a harmonica in my hand.”

Van Dort didn’t have any technical training and didn’t take any music classes while going to school. But when he was 15 he moved to Las Vegas with his family. Driving through the desert on the way to their new home, the family stopped to gas up. Van Dort bought a B.B. King album at the convenience store, listened to it for the first time in the car and never looked back.

“I got hooked on that music,” Van Dort said. “I felt a connection with it.”

The time in Las Vegas provided a lot of exposure to the blues community for the young Van Dort. He began wading into the water of live performance during that time, attending open microphone nights, playing blues harp and finding his voice. He also began learning to play the guitar.

Life after Las Vegas took Van Dort down many different paths and away from music for a time. He lived in Georgia for awhile before making his way to Missoula. He has worked as a restaurant manager, a traveling salesman, a tech support person and was even a “car head for awhile.”

“I was wearing a lot of hats,” Van Dort said. “The trick is trying to put [those skills] to use for myself now. It is the most difficult thing ever.”

Van Dort said it was his time in Missoula, professionally and personally, that led to the decision to put his whole heart into music. The supportive music scene there helped feed his devotion to the blues.

“[Music] is healing,” Van Dort said. “It helps deal with life’s challenges and loss and rough times by bringing an order and celebration.

“All people experience loss, and I want to speak to that, to lift them up.”

Every time Van Dort takes the stage his music speaks to life’s losses, his own included. His ’59 Gibson was first his aunt’s guitar. He inherited the instrument after she passed away.

Her passing, as well as the illnesses, struggles and passing of others close to him, have made for “significant loss” in his life. The blues, to Van Dort, is so much more than just another musical genre or history lesson.

“Blues to me is my saving grace, my meditation, celebration,” he said. “The blues allow me to reach out and affect someone else. Whether it’s getting people moving and grooving or giving them that moment when their eyes are closed and they’re just having an experience.

“Playing music makes me more compassionate and understanding. I have a broader view of the world and a more open heart.”

Van Dort now is back in the Flathead to share his experiences through music. He is dedicated to music full time; working as the technical manager for the Crown of the Continent Guitar Foundation, writing, playing shows and hoping to begin recording soon.

“There are sacrifices to make music but I feel a calling to do it,” Van Dort said. “It’s an ever-changing landscape, but that makes it exciting and rewarding. It’s scary and beautiful.”

Van Dort is in the process of putting a band together to play locally. In the meantime, his solo shows and songwriting have taken center stage.

“I haven’t found it easy to write,” Van Dort said. “I’m still trying to find my style.”

He hopes to have enough original material to begin recording what will be his debut EP; a project he wants to release by the end of the year.

His local fans and fellow musicians have been nothing but encouraging during the process, Van Dort added.

“There are so many artists in the community here who inspire me,” Van Dort said. “Now it’s just focusing on letting the music come through me and being happy with that process. I just have to get out of my own way. I still have a lot of learning and growing there.”

Van Dort’s next show will be at Kalispell Brewing Co. in Kalispell on Thursday, April 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. He will also perform May 15 at Casey’s Pub and Grill in Whitefish. All of his upcoming performance dates and details can be found at www.kevinvandort.com.

As for his crossroads, Van Dort said he’s just wanting to continue to perform, write and take everything else as it comes.

“I am trying to take things step by step and honoring where I’m at,” Van Dort said. “Letting the goodness and joy happen. I just want to find joy.

“What will come will come.”

Entertainment editor Stefanie Thompson can be reached at 758-4439 or ThisWeek@dailyinterlake.com.