Internationally renowned Hammond organ player Clayton Doley will bring his fiery brand of blues and funk to Corrimal RSL next week to play a free gig.

Sydney-based Doley, whose new album Bayou Billabong is due to be released on June 19 will be joined at Corrimal RSL by a red hot band, including the Illawarra's premier blues guitarist Illya Szwec, Matt "The Rumble" Morrison on drums, and Jan Bangma on bass.

Organised by the Wollongong Blues Club, the free gig on May 16 will feature the best songs from Doley's five albums, spanning a 20-year international career in blues.

Widely regarded as Australia's finest Hammond organist, Doley's talent has earned him spots on some of the world's biggest festivals including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Byron Bay Blues Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival and Tremblant International Blues Festival.

Doley has toured and recorded with artists such as Harry Manx, Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges, Joe Bonamassa, Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn, David Garibaldi, Nigel Kennedy, A Camp, Silverchair, The Divinyls, and Jimmy and Mahalia Barnes.

He has also had a long association with the Mighty Reapers and the late, great Jackie Orszacsky.

Doley's latest album was recorded in New Orleans and Sydney and captures the essence of New Orleans' blues piano and funk organ tradition while fusing contemporary Australiana and Americana. It features Jon Cleary's band, the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, as the rhythm section, the brass of The Treme Funktet, along with members of Galactic and Trombone Shorty's Orleans Avenue. Mahalia Barnes, Jade MacRae and Juanita Tippins feature on vocals, while virtuoso didgeridoo player Ganga Giri and the amazing lap slide guitar of Manx add to the mix.

Doley says he was about 10 when he first discovered the music that he felt the most connection to - piano players of late '50s and early '60s rock'n'roll such as Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.

"I loved that it was more about the energy than the skill and you could teach yourself how to play by playing along," he says.

"From there, as I got better, I played along to Chicago Blues records like Muddy Waters and tried to copy his piano player Otis Span. I discovered Hammond organ soon after."

Doley regards Booker T. Jones as the "absolute master of the Hammond organ", not so much for his technical ability but the range of tones and his use of the Leslie speaker and the volume pedal.

"He is my first idol and the player that I studied the most. Then all of the American jazz organists from the '60s, such as Jimmy Smith and 'Groove' Holmes for the bass pedal playing and fast lines."

Blues was not just about pain and hardship, but hope and optimism.

"Personally, I have not seen pain and hardship like the early African Americans but I can relate to that feeling that blues music can bring you happiness when all you feel is sorrow."

Doley says blues has taught him to appreciate family, friends and the gift of music.

When he first started playing the Hammond, the organ was very unpopular but he ignored the trends.

"People thought I was crazy for playing a heavy beat-up old organ when the lightweight synths were making new sounds. But I stayed true to myself and carried my Hammond to gigs in my old van.

"As times changed, and Hammond organ started becoming popular again, I had already had a head start on my peers."