There's a simple, poignant line in the old Mott the Hoople song "All the Way From Memphis" which sums up the vagaries and challenges that come in choosing a musical life: "It's a mighty long way down rock and roll." For Jack Yarber, aka Jack Oblivian, that long way began as a child.

Don Perry

Jack Yarber (Jack Oblivian) has made his own brand of Memphis music for years and developed a following among garage-rock aficionados and in Europe.

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"Like most kids, you decide you like rock and roll, and you want to be a part of it. When I got my first guitar, I wasn't like Mozart. It didn't hit my hands and suddenly magic came out," says Yarber. "I realized, 'Damn, you actually gotta figure out how this thing works.' It's taken a long time for me to do that. I might not even be there yet."

Yarber is, of course, being modest. At 42, and a three-decade veteran of the Memphis music scene, he figured things out years ago, helping define the sound of influential rock outfits like the Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivians.

Though much revered by fellow musicians and worshipped by a hardcore contingent of European fans, outside of a few garage rock hotbeds, Yarber remains a mostly unknown figure in America. That could very well change with the release of his new solo album, The Disco Outlaw (Goner Records). Yarber will celebrate the occasion with a concert at the Hi-Tone Café on Saturday.

A native of Corinth, Miss., the small town environs provided Yarber some serious challenges in getting on the right musical path. "Good music was pretty scarce there," recalls Yarber. "I had a guitar teacher for a while. And I wanted him to show me how to play the Rolling Stones and the Kinks, but all he wanted was to teach me Def Leppard."

In seventh grade, Yarber formed the first of a succession of bands with his cousin, called The End. The teen combo even came to Memphis to record at the famed Sam C. Phillips studio in 1985. "We were so young we didn't know any of the history of the place or the (Sun) musicians. When we were there, the only thing we recognized was a Cramps record on the wall, and a Jerry Lawler record."

While The End's single didn't exactly light up the charts, Yarber did move to Memphis in 1987, and kept playing with groups like Johnny Vomit and the Dry Heaves and Rin Tin Horn.

Yarber and his cousin parted ways in 1989, and a couple months later he met another aspiring musician, Greg Cartwright. The two would partner up, riding shotgun for the next decade in the Compulsive Gamblers and the Oblivians.

While both those bands would eventually break up, leaving behind important bodies of work, Yarber had -- by the mid-'90s -- begun releasing sporadic solo records on the L.A.-based Sympathy for the Records Industry label (while also playing with Memphis perennials like '68 Comeback and Panther Burns).

But it wasn't until 2006's The Flipside Kid -- a terrific collection of tracks recorded at various studios with a revolving cast of characters -- that Yarber seemed to take his solo endeavors seriously.

Touring in support of the disc -- mostly in Europe -- over the course of the next two years, Yarber formed a close musical bond with his backing group the Tennessee Tearjerkers, especially its newest member, transplanted Knoxville guitarist John Paul Keith.

After one long overseas jaunt in 2007 Yarber came back to Memphis and began pouring out the songs that would form the basis of The Disco Outlaw (with Keith co-writing a couple of tunes).

Recording at Memphis' Rocket Science Audio and at his home studio, Yarber and his cadre of backing musicians -- which include Keith, bassist Harlan T. Bobo, and organist Adam Woodard -- fashioned a sonic and thematic tour de force.

From the opening, biographical rave-up "Ditch Road" to the neorockabilly gem "Switchblade Comb" to the rootsy road lament "Homesick Gypsy," to the smoky narcotic swirl of "Blood Bank Blues," the album moves in manifold directions, hitting one high note after another.

"I never really have one single thing I do," says Yarber. "I'm always jumping around to different things musically. And with this group of guys, I was finally able to do everything I wanted on an album."

Despite the album's clear influences -- Flaming Groovies, T-Rex, Dan Penn -- Yarber's work never feels like karaoke. Neither a stunning singer nor a virtuoso musician, Yarber possesses something far rarer: an inherently soulful sense about his art, something that's helped him create his own distinct brand of blues. "That only starts happening when you realize what your limitations are, and you try to keep within that, and do the most with what you have. I mean, I've definitely got a lot of limitations," he says, laughing.

While Yarber's solo record is out this week through the local Goner label, another focus of late has been a full-scale reunion of the Oblivians after more than a decade apart. The group will pair up with fellow '90s garage rockers, Detroit's the Gories, for a handful of U.S. shows in June (including a pair of sold-out gigs at the Hi-Tone) and a tour of Europe. The two groups also plan to record at White Stripes leader Jack White's newly opened Nashville studio later in the year.

The reunion bug certainly appears to be in the air for Yarber. Following the Oblivians dates, he and Cartwright will also be staging a one-off gig with Compulsive Gamblers in Memphis, performing as part of a festival celebrating the long-lamented Antenna Club in August at Midtown's Nocturnal.

In the meantime, though, Yarber has the CD release show on Saturday and a European tour of his own to book for the fall. Though he's not one for making big career plans, Yarber says he is intent on making another record -- and another, and another one after that.

For him, that long way down rock and roll will likely go on for a while.

"I don't know what else to do," he says, chuckling. "At this point, I'm kinda entertaining myself. And if some other people are entertained along the way, I'll take that too."

Jack Oblivian and The Tennessee Tearjerkers, John Paul Keith and The One Four Fives.

Saturday, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone Cafe, 1913 Poplar Ave. Cost: $5. For more information, call 278-8663.