Roy Rogers the latest, greatest slide guitarist

While Pinetop Perkins is still going strong at age 95, all that remains from his contemporaries are their stories, recordings and — most importantly — their influence.

If National steel guitarist Bukka White was alive, he would celebrate his 99th birthday on Nov. 12. Roy Rogers, one of today’s greatest country blues slide guitarists, listed White as one of his all-time favorites.

“Everybody is looking for something that rings true to them,” said Rogers, who performs with Perkins on Nov. 14 at the Crystal Bay Casino. “In my case, I couldn’t get enough of Elmore James and Muddy Waters. (Howlin’) Wolf, too. His early stuff had that slide.”

Rogers, who lives in Nevada City, explained why the slide guitar is an ideal instrument to play blues: With the slide, he said, “You can get between the notes. It’s very much mimicking the human voice. You don’t just hit a note. You can slash at it. You can come up to it or come down to it, staccato it. But mainly it’s how you can shift the tonality and get that in-between line, quarter-tone, half-tone, whatever you want to call it.”

While Rogers listed Duane Allman, he’s also a fan of many contemporaries

“There’s Derek Trucks, the son of (Allman Brothers drummer) Butch Trucks, and you’ve got Lil’ Ed (Williams), who is more traditional in the Chicago realm,” he said. “And of course Ry Cooder and David Lindley. I also like different style slide players. like the Indian guitarist V.M. Bhatt, who like Bukka White, played lap style. And Mick Taylor is a great slide guitar player, too.”

Rogers began playing guitar when he was 12. He picked up the slide at 15.

He has had reason recently to look at his own achievements when he attended a 40-year reunion at Vallejo High School.

“You cut through the mustard and say, ‘What have you done with your life?’ ” he said.

Rogers, who in recent years has teamed with other artists — Norton Buffalo, Ray Manzarek and Shana Morrison — to make several albums, plans to record his first studio CD in six years this December.

“I hope to have it out in the spring, March or April,” Rogers said. “It will probably include some very special guests. I like to mix it up. I’m not one to rest on my laurels. I like to push the envelope.”

Rogers said he has a clear choice as his all-time favorite slide guitarist: “Obviously Robert Johnson is at the top of the list.”

While blues aficionados like Rogers remember pioneers such as Bukka White, there is reason every music fan should know about him: White gave his cousin Riley his first guitar.

At the age of 85, White’s cousin is just a kid compared to Perkins. Riley is better-known as B.B. King.