Anyone who still thinks the blues is music for older generations should check out the debut album of Philadelphia’s Gina Sicilia, 22, Allow Me to Confess (Swingnation).

“I’ve been singing all my life, and I always listened to older music,” she says. “When I was 13 [or] 14, I got a blues CD with Bobby Bland and B.B. King, and that did it for me.”

Sicilia’s album features eight original tunes. Dave Gross, who also plays guitar on the record, produced the album. “David’s a great performer and guitar player. He helped me arrange the music,” she says. “Here’s a guy who listens to music made in the 1920s. You gotta love the influence of older music.”

Sicilia’s album follows in this same tradition. “I Ain’t Crazy” is a big band plea to her man. “Rest of My Days” is a ballad perfect for holding someone close. “I listened to Otis Redding and James Brown, and ... I tried to write what I was listening [to],” she says.

Sicilia started attending club jam sessions while she was in college. One particular jam led to her band’s formation. “Warm Daddy’s in Philly is this great place where I jammed. I got to meet a lot of great musicians,” Sicilia says.

While Sicilia is on tour, one thing she hopes doesn’t happen is that she is compared to other Caucasian females who have made a name for themselves in the blues world — ladies with names like Bonnie and Susan. “I don’t sound like anybody else,” she says. “That’s always one of my major goals. I have my own style.”