Fignus emerged on the Boston scene in the ’90s as an accomplished pop-punk songwriter. In 1984, his “Girl with the Curious Hand” won MTV’s “Basement Tapes” competition and led to a major-label deal. Now, with this indie release, he’s rebuilt himself as a roots musician, riding roughshod on an easy-to-digest but sophisticated blend of blues, folk, Cajun, and old-time music with a rock-and-roll heart. The 12 songs, which tell the story of a protagonist whose life is tossed by a Louisiana flood, were in the works well before Katrina. Fignus’s clear-toned, flexible voice puts his story of loss, faith, and hope across with ease, and his ensemble’s playing is always dead on — precise, spare, yet loose enough to serve the backcountry spirit that the lyrics evoke. The central cut is “Trouble on the Levee,” where the rising water becomes a metaphor for life’s pains. But by the end of the disc — after we’ve had doses of Cajun swing and some barrelhouse boogie — Fignus’s Johnnie Boudreaux is on the road to personal redemption through love, sweet, love.

Digney Fignus | “Steppin’ Out” benefit for Dimock Community Health Center at Boston Sheraton Hotel, 39 Dalton St, Boston | November 4 | 617.442.8800 x 1006

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