It's two reunions in one weekend for Noah Hunt, as the popular blues/rock singer for the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band is back home on a short break.

        Tonight, he'll play the first of two nights at Stanley's Pub with master acoustic guitarist and expatriate Cincinnatian Jason Dennie, who now makes his home in Ann Arbor, Mich. Before Mr. Hunt hooked up with the KWSB in 1997, the Hunt-Dennie acoustic duo was one of the hottest acts in town.

IF YOU GO

Who: Noah Hunt and Jason Dennie; Noah Hunt & the 420 All Stars     When: 9 p.m. today and Friday (Hunt/Dennie); 9 p.m. Saturday (Hunt/All Stars)     Where: Stanley's Pub (323 Stanley Ave., Columbia Tusculum     Information: 871-6249     Tickets: $7 at the door

        Despite singing all over the world with Kenny Wayne, Mr. Hunt admits to being a little nervous about his shows tonight and Friday.

        “Jason and I haven't played together since like 1998,” he says. “He's been rehearsing and I've been rehearsing, but we haven't been rehearsing together.”

        And playing in a duo is a pretty naked way to be out there in front of people.

        “I forgot how it was when you have to be all the rhythm (guitar) by yourself while Jason takes the lead. I was thinking, "My god, I've got to really work hard.' ”

        He says they'll do a lot of the Long Black Train, album, some pieces from Mr. Dennie's latest CD, Just Enough, and “I'll do some old favorites.”

        Among them may be an acoustic version of his big song with the KWSB, “Blue on Black.”

        “We may take some limited requests,” he says, adding that he hopes the crowd is there to listen to the music. “We want people to come down and have fun. But if you want to socialize, maybe just hang on back. We want it just to be very laid back, just good friends playing good music.”

        Saturday, things get a lot louder, as Mr. Hunt cranks it up with another local favorite, the 420 All Stars, a blues/roots/rock band that features members of Uncle Six, the jam band he was fronting before taking the KWSB gig.

        It's only been a few months since he played out with that group, but he's pretty excited. “The All Stars thing is gonna be kind of cool, too. We've got a lot of new material we'll be testing out,” he says, adding that a 420 All Stars CD is in the works.

        He's looking forward to getting a nice long chance to play with all of his old friends, savoring the differences between the two performance combinations.

        “Every night will be different stuff,” he says, adding that even the same stuff will sound different. “ "Long Black Train' — with Jason, it's like a Johnny Cash song, and when the band does it, it's like a Social Distortion song.”

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