The Fabulous Thunderbirds have long been considered one of the premier blues-rock bands. But leader and frontman Kim Wilson begs to differ.

“To me blues and rock are like oil and water — You can’t play them both at the same time,” he said recently. “You think back to the originators, the great ones, and every one of them had their own thing. To my mind there aren’t a lot of people singing blues nowadays — They’re singing church, singing pseudo-gospel, and they’re calling it blues. So, if someone asks what we play, I just say it’s good music.”  That’s what they’ll play at the Narrows Center on Thursday, Feb. 19, and at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, NH the following two nights.

The original Thunderbirds broke out of the now-legendary Austin, TX club scene in the late 70’s, but Wilson’s memories aren’t all rosy.  “Don’t get to thinking it was easy. It was a very trying time; I can remember playing with (Chicago bluesman) Eddie Taylor at Antone’s and there’d be five people there. I spent some time wondering what I was doing with my life. It wasn’t until Muddy Waters put his stamp of approval on us that things started happening. He took us on tour to the East Coast, and it was crazy — our drummer quit in the middle of the tour. But we came back to Austin thinking that we were somebody. They always say that your success starts away from home, and that’s how it was for us.”

The last thing they expected was a Top 10 single on the pop charts. But the T-Birds managed that with 1986’s “Tuff Enuff” — due to label complications, a song that sat nearly a year before it was released. “We knew we had a good record, for awhile we went around playing it for all our friends. I remember one night I was at a hotel, and I left my jacket in the bar, then I get a knock on my door and it’s Brenda Lee returning my jacket. So, she got to hear it as well.”

Commercial success proved to be a mixed blessing. “I can tell you that I’m still living off that record, and it made a big difference in terms of still working. People still know that song, and they still know ‘Wrap It Up’ (the Sam & Dave cover that was the follow-up single). We opened up for a lot of great acts, like Eric Clapton and Bob Seger, though I personally felt we should have been headlining more. We were a little mismanaged at the time.”

There was also pressure for a follow-up hit. “I’ll never forget one night having dinner with (the head of their label) and he comes up and whispers in my ear, ‘Give me another one just like that last one.’ That was the whole problem with pop music at the time.” Indeed, you’ll never hear the current band play “Powerful Stuff,” a minor follow-up hit, which Wilson says he always thought was a lousy song.

A long string of personnel changes began soon after: Founding guitarist Jimmie Vaughan left in 1989 (initially to work with his brother Stevie Ray), and a number of heavy hitters passed through the ranks including New England guitarists Duke Robillard and Kid Bangham; and Rolling Stones/Allman Brothers keyboardist Chuck Leavell.  The names of the current members (guitarist Johnny Moeller, bassist Steve Kirsty, pianist Bob Welsh, and drummer Rudy Albin) may be less familiar; but at seven years it’s the longest-standing lineup, and Wilson swears it’s the best that’s ever been.

“The cool part is that we can do anything — blues, rock and roll, anything in between. I’ll tell you honestly that I would like to finish my career with these guys. However long that is, and it’s gonna be awhile.”