Delbert McClinton began his performing career in the late 1950s, when he was just 17 years old. And amazingly, he's still at it today, more than 50 years later, at age 68 — making music that’s still vital and compelling. McClinton sings and writes with a passion and urgency that could put some of today’s 30-something artists to shame.

A great testament to McClinton’s commitment to his music is that he kept plugging away, playing smoky clubs and cutting records, even though he didn’t really experience commercial success until he was about 50 years old. He first caught the ear of the masses when he sang a duet with Bonnie Raitt, “Good Man, Good Woman,” in 1990, a performance that snagged a rock-duo Grammy Award. And then he won some Grammy statues of his own this decade in the Contemporary Blues category — for his albums “Nothing Personal” (2001) and “Cost of Living’ (2005).

But McClinton, who comes to The Ark for a sold-out show on Wednesday, is not strictly a blues artist. A big part of his appeal — and his unique artistry — is the ease with which he slips in and out of blues, country, R&B, folk, gospel, rock 'n' roll and even the occasional jazzy touch.

That eclectic spirit can be heard on his latest release, “Acquired Taste,” his first studio album since “Cost of Living.” The disc was produced by Don Was, the former Detroiter who's helmed discs by the likes of Raitt, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Kris Kristofferson and many others.

But McClinton’s facility with various styles never results in an album that sounds like a self-consciously-genre-hopping patchwork. Instead, he seamlessly integrates them into a complete, organic whole, sometimes fusing together those styles in the same song.

Some of the highlights of “Acquired Taste” are the gutbucket blues of “I Need to Know,” the swingy “People Just Love to Talk,” the Latin-inflected “She’s Not There Anymore,” the sultry-jazzy “Starting a Rumor,” the honky-tonkin’ “Can’t Nobody Say I Didn’t Try” and “Mama’s Little Baby.” On the latter, he takes the old tune “Short’nin’ Bread,” gives it a syncopated, New Orleans-funk groove, and pens a new set of adult-themed lyrics about a girl who likes to have a good time. But the disc also includes a few piano-based ballads about crying in your beer over the gal that got away.

Listen to Delbert McClinton's "Acquired Taste"

And his band, Dick50, plays the songs with the kind of immediacy you might expect to hear at a rowdy roadhouse joint. That’s partly because McClinton wisely subscribes to the philosophy that an over-rehearsed band can sometimes make the song sound too slick — or, even worse, insincere.

"When I go and record, I don't like for the band to know the songs real well," McClinton told CMT.com. "Maybe they've heard them with just a guitar and piano. Then we go in and try to get as much spontaneous creativity in how we want to do it. It doesn't always work. Sometimes you've gotta go back and fool with it and say, 'I want to try this a little bit different. I think we did that a little too slow.'"

Serious Del-Heads know that McClinton honed his talents as a youngster by playing in a house band that backed blues giants like Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson and Jimmy Reed. And, as legend has it, he gave harmonica lessons to a young John Lennon in 1962.

Although he didn’t taste success as a recording artist until ’90 or so, McClinton scored some nice royalty checks after Emmylou Harris took his baleful “Two More Bottles of Wine,” countrified it, and parlayed it into a No. 1 hit on the country charts in 1978.

McClinton’s musical mindset can be traced back to his beginnings in Lubbock, Texas — birthplace of other rock notables like Buddy Holly and Joe Ely. It was in the mid-‘70s that he began to make a name for himself in the blues and roots rock circles outside of Texas by recording a series of soulful, blues-based albums. Given that he was playing off-mainstream music and hadn’t yet notched a hit, he did some serious label-hopping over the years before landing at his current label, New West, this decade.

New West seems a good fit for an artist with McClinton’s rootsy sensibilities, as it’s also home to similarly-minded artists like Kristofferson, Steve Earle, the Flatlanders, Buddy & Julie Miller and former Jayhawks Gary Louris and Mark Olson.

Collaborating with Was on “Acquired Taste” took McClinton in some new directions — which he welcomed.

“That was a good thing, because it kind of got me off my a--,” said McClinton in an interview for his current New West bio. “Since ‘Cost of Living’ (in ’05), I’d been writing, but I couldn’t get motivated to go into the studio. During those years, I was trying to reinvent myself a little bit, and even the thought of it was very daunting.

“At the same time, I knew I had bits and pieces of songs I had started that, to me, were very much unlike most of the songs I write. They were kind of outside the box…..So this (album) definitely does stand apart, without a doubt.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.

PREVIEW Delbert McClinton Who: Eclectic, Grammy-winning, roots-music hero who began performing in the late 1950s and is still making vital music today at age 68. What: A heady mix of blues, funk, soul, country, gospel, roots rock and the occasional jazzy flourish. Where: The Ark, 316 South Main Street. When: Wednesday, 8 p.m. How much: SOLD OUT. Details: 734-761-1451 / The Ark web site.

Delbert McClinton performing "Starting A Rumor" in August: