Songwriter and musician Alex Maryol, who started playing the guitar when he was 7, will prove that age is just a number at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Buffalo Valley Inn.

At 18, the Santa Fe, N.M., native released his debut CD, “They Call Me Lefty.” By 19, he was playing an average of five nights a week at the area’s most popular bars and clubs. As a 20-year-old, Alex had played at New Mexico’s acclaimed Thirsty Ear Festival alongside several of his heroes: Alvin Youngblood Hart, Corey Harris, Kenny Brown and Cedric Burnside. After his performance, Maryol garnered the attention of the international media, including Austria’s Concerto magazine.

Maryol became interested in the blues later in his career. He heard Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Johnny Rivers in his father’s company growing up but discovered the Rolling Stones as a freshman in high school.

“Really all modern music ” rock, funk, all of it ” can be traced back to the blues,” he said.

Exploring roots musicians such as Robert Johnson, R.L. Burnside and Stevie Ray Vaughan has inspired Maryol’s original compositions ” high-energy electric blues rock.

Maryol’s 2003 sophomore release, “Make Everything Alright,” testifies to his originality, taking the roots of blues and twisting them into a sound all his own, Southwest rock, acoustic groove and pure energy.

Gary Miller, of the blues Web site http://www.blueswax.com, said Maryol “proves he has the feeling, attitude and sensibility that it takes to sing and play the blues.”

SoulFeel, winner of the Post Independent Locals Choice for Best Band, will open the show with funky roots rock with a twist of Delta blues. The band features drummer Dane Wilson, also picked Locals Choice Best Musician.

Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 the day of show. For more information about Maryol and his band and to hear samples of his music, visit his Web site at http://www.alexmaryol.com.