A lot of people think they know the blues, but Larry McCray said he is determined to introduce listeners to something different.

There’s some rock, sounds of reggae, notes of jazz and a lot of soul in there, too. He’ll bring his collaborative music style to a concert at Fat Fish Pub at 7 p.m. Sunday.

“We’re not the kind of group that stands on their heads or has a lot of stage antics,” McCray said. “We try to deliver authenticity but we also try to bring a fresh twist.”

McCray first began developing his eclectic musical sound as a young child. He came from a musical family. Both his grandmothers were musicians. His father was a musician. His mother was a singer. One of nine, McCray’s siblings each played a different instrument.

“Where we grew up in rural Arkansas in the ’60s, music was something we did for entertainment, “McCray said. “There wasn’t much else.”

McCray’s older sister Clara taught him how to play and bought him his first guitar. McCray said Clara raised him along with her three children, the oldest of whom was only three years younger than McCray. To this day, he considers her his largest influence.

During this time McCray immersed himself in blues music. He and his brothers Carl, a bassist, and Steve, the drummer, formed a band called the McCray Brothers and spent a dozen years performing on and off.

McCray said he was deeply rooted in the music he had grown up around, the sounds of his siblings’ B.B. King and Albert Collins albums echoing through the house. But he wanted to make his music different.

“I wanted to expand on the blues that was already a part of my music and add a sophistication,” McCray said.

In 1987, McCray struck it big when he met record producer at a party in Detroit who took an interest in the McCray Brothers, leading to the release of the brothers’ first album “Ambition.”

Later that year, the band took the stage at the Chicago Blues Festival.

McCray has come along way from playing with his siblings in rural Arkansas. He’s recorded multiple solo albums and was named the Orville Gibson 2000 Male Blues Guitarist of the Year. He and current manager Paul Knoch started their own independent record label called Magnolia Records and produced an album “Believe It” that same year. He’s even played with many of the musicians who first inspired him during his younger years, including B.B. King, Albert Collins and Albert King, some of whom he played with on international tours.

He said he’s enjoyed playing on the West Coast, Canada and in Chicago, but his favorite concerts were in South America.

“I love South America because they have a genuine appreciation for the music, but they don’t have any preconceived notions,” he said.

Sunday’s performance at the Fat Fish marks McCray’s first trip to Galesburg.

“He keeps it close to the blues but branches out so not every show’s the same,” said Burl Varner, Fat Fish Pub co-owner. “He’s one of the hottest new guitar players we’ve seen in a long time. And he’s got the vocal skills to match.”

McCray said that’s one of his goals as a musician, to keep blues sounding new and relevant.

“Blues is definitely a music of today,” McCray said. “And we’re musicians trying to keep it on the forefront.”

Want to go?

Larry McCray at  Fat Fish Pub, 158 N. Broad St., doors open at 5 p.m. Concert beings at 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $20 in advance.