Sonic Lunch on Thursday a great chance to catch local blues guitarist Laith Al-Saadi

If you’ve never heard blues guitarist and Ann Arbor native Laith Al-Saadi, then where the heck have you been the last 30 years or so?

Al-Saadi will play his based-in-classic rock and the blues music Thursday at noon as part of the Bank of Ann Arbor’s free Sonic Lunch series.

A staple of the Michigan music scene for most of his life, Al-Saadi has shared the stage with greats like Buddy Guy, BB King, Taj Mahal, Kenny Wayne Shepard, Luther Allison, Son Seals and Johnny Winter. He plays a mixture of original tunes and covers, ranging from the Beatles to Joni Mitchell to Bob Dylan and beyond.

“I love the idea of playing music people want to hear and trying to do what you can to put your own kind of spin on songs that everybody knows,” he told AnnArbor.com in an interview in 2012.

“All I can do is make sure the music I play is as good as it can be and that I’m making people as happy as I can make them,” he said.

Al-Saaid has just released a new album, "Real," which showcases his work alongside a group of top-notch, nationally known session musicians.