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The bluesman Curtis Salgado, the inspiration for John Belushi's "Joliet Jake" Blues, performed at the Utah Arts Festival on June 22.
Less than a month later, he had surgery to remove a cancerous mass from his lung. The same type of cancerous mass had been removed from his lung in 2008.
"I'm doing fine," said Salgado, who underwent a liver transplant in 2006 after being diagnosed with liver cancer the previous year.
The 59-year-old singer and harmonica player said in a phone interview he is fortunate to have avoided chemotherapy, since each time a cancerous growth was found, it was removed through surgery. He darkly joked that one day he might end up as just "an ear and one arm."
Salgado, winner of the 2012 Blues Music Award for Soul/Blues Artist of the Year, released his latest CD, "Soul Shot," on Alligator Records last year.
It's a rich sampling of soul music that Salgado enjoyed while he grew up in a musical family. Even though it is technically a soul record, his signature sound is still there.
"You find the blues in all music," he said.
When • Monday, 7 p.m.Where • The Sun & Moon Cafe, 6281 Emigration Canyon Road, Salt Lake CityTickets • $25 by calling 801-583-8331