The Nightcats might not have nine lives, but the blues band has at least two.

A musical partnership of more than 30 years ended in January when guitarist Charlie Baty retired. Singer and harmonica player Rick Estrin figured it was the end for Little Charlie and the Nightcats.

But an accomplished young blues guitarist happened to be available. Chris “Kid” Andersen had recently left Charlie Musselwhite’s band.

Although Estrin was making plans for life after the Nightcats, he was intrigued to learn that Andersen might be available. Andersen and Estrin discussed other matters on the phone before Estrin made the surprise offer.

“I thought about it for about one and half seconds, and I said ‘I’ll do it,’ ” Andersen recalled. “It seemed almost like fate. I had just left a band and was looking for something else to do, and there it came. I couldn’t ask for a better gig.”

The band ” which has a rhythm section of bassist Lorenzo Farrell and drummer J Hansen ” added Andersen in May, toured over the summer and has recorded some new songs. An album is due out in the spring.

“We lost one genius and got another genius,” Estrin said on his cell phone as he worked his way through airport security in his hometown of Sacramento. Apparently a guard deemed Estrin’s quiver of harmonicas suspicious.

“I didn’t get the full-body cavity treatment, so I guess it was OK,” Estrin joked, sounding like one of the lines that punctuate his songs.

Estrin’s lyrics always have a punch line.

“All the shenanigans and the clever humor is really just a ruse to get people into diggin’ really deep blues, because that’s what Rick really excels at,” Andersen said. “He’s just a deep, soulful bluesman. He’s just bad ass.”

Estrin’s harp style is like the late ’50s Chicago sound of Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williams II. Estrin said the addition of Andersen will move the Nightcats sound forward about a decade.

“There’s still some of that swing element, some of that jazz element, but not as much,” Estrin said. “It’s more modern blues, not modern blues like blues rock, but modern blues like 1960s Chicago blues. I wouldn’t call it funk, but it might be a little more danceable.”

One rehearsal was all it took to incorporate Andersen into the band.

“We went through about 50 songs, some I already knew,” Andersen said. “I’ve seen the band a million times. We pretty much instantly jelled. It was a natural fit.”

While the band embraced the new guitarist, Alligator Records President Bruce Iglauer needed persuasion.

“(Iglauer) came out and saw the band when we were in the Midwest in August just to make sure Kid was up to par,” Estrin said. “Then he saw us again in October at the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival, and we kicked ass on that thing, so he was really happy.

“I’ve known Bruce a long time, and I envision him and Chris having an ongoing relationship. We’re making the record in Chris’ studio. Chris will be doing the physical mixing and stuff like that. I can see Bruce sending some of his other acts to Chris for recording purposes.”

Estrin said he’s feels like he is starting a new career. He nearly was set to try something different.

Estrin had spent some time touring with Mark Hummel’s Harmonica Blowout (which will appear Feb. 14 at Harrah’s), fronted a Brazilian blues band for nearly a month, and has nearly completed an instructional harmonica DVD.

“When Chris told me he was available, it just seemed like a perfect fit, and there was no question about it,” Estrin said. “He has his own style. He doesn’t sound like Little Charlie, but he’s got the same level of musicianship and also the same excitement factor, which is a rare thing. It’s turned out to be even better than I’d imagined.”

Tommy Castro, who will finish up Saturday’s show at Harrah’s after Rick Estrin and the Nightcats play, agreed.

“Like Rick says, it’s the same thing; it’s not really any different than it was before,” Castro said. “Charlie was a little older, a little more seasoned player, but this Kid’s got as much talent as anybody I’ve heard play the guitar. So the Nightcats move on. That’s really cool.”

Blues guitarists typically come from such places as Mississippi, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans. But how many come from Scandinavia? More than you might expect.

Chris “Kid” Andersen grew up in the county of Telemark in Norway, a nation that loves the blues. (Telemark also was the hometown of Snowshoe Thompson, the famous postal carrier of the Sierra Nevada in the 1800s.)

“Blues is pretty highly esteemed in Norway,” Andersen said. “There are about 70 blues societies and at least 20 or 30 blues festivals, and I lived close to the biggest one.”

When he was a boy, Andersen befriended Morton Omlid, who plays in Spoonful of Blues.

“He gave me records by Otis Rush, Little Walter and Buddy Guy,” Andersen said. “The first time I heard blues, I was just mesmerized by it. As soon as I was out of high school, I moved to Oslo, where I wanted to play music full time.”

Andersen became a member of the Muddy Waters Blues Club house band, which played nightly and featured prominent guest frontmen. Andersen learned his trade from the likes of “Homesick” James, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Nappy Brown, Jimmy Dawkins and Jimmy Robinson.

“I learned to play from their records, and they didn’t really give a f— about that,” Andersen said. “It’s a good foundation to know the stuff off the records, but they said ‘That’s how we played it that day.’ Homesick James hardly ever played the 12-bar blues. It was always 113⁄4 or 131⁄2. We got really good at following him after a while.”

Andersen became so good that James offered him the chance to fulfill his lifetime goal: Move to America. However, James was 96 years old, and Andersen figured the gig wouldn’t last too long, so he turned it down.

A longtime Chicago bluesman, whom Andersen did not want to identify, also invited him to play in his band.

“But the thing was, he had just gotten out after serving four years in prison for murdering his old guitar player,” he said. “I was 18 years old and from a town of 1,500. I was looking for something a little safer.”

When he received his third U.S. job offer from saxophonist Terry Hanck, the Norwegian said he would.

“He didn’t seem like the murderous type,” said Andersen, who, since moving to California six years ago, has blossomed into a prestigious guitarist.

After Andersen played with Hanck for a while, Musselwhite invited him to play in his band. As was the case a few years later with Rick Estrin and the Nightcats, Andersen didn’t even have to audition.

“Charlie’s style is different from every other guy’s,” Andersen said. “If you put one of his records on I can tell if it’s Charlie in one second. He’s really adventurous and experimental, whereas Rick is very much in the tradition of Little Walter and Sonny Boy (Williamson II), but Rick is the baddest at that. I love that sound, and Rick just kicks everybody’s ass. You almost can’t compare the two because they’re so different.”