Tedeschi’S Music Getting Some Attention

And the nominees for the best new artist Grammys are:

Bubblegum babe, Latina division, Christina Aguilera. Yep, heard of her. A lot.

Bubblegum babe No. 2, Britney Spears. Couldn’t help hearing about her.

Misogynist rap-rocker Kid Rock. Kind of wish we hadn’t heard of him.

Divinely slinky soulster Macy Gray. Simply loved hearing her this year, even if it didn’t happen nearly often enough.

And finally, gutbucket blues-rocker Susan Tedeschi.

Uh, who?

She may not have had the music videos or magazine covers or New Yorker profiles or screaming adolescent fans of Spears, Aguilera and Rock.

And Tedeschi’s music, a rootsy mix of traditional electric blues and straight-ahead old-school rock, isn’t the sort that sends spasms through the Mickey Mouse Club-Nickelodeon crowd, techno ravers, lounge and swing fans, rappers or much else.

But nearly two years after the initial independent release of her first album, “Just Won’t Burn,” followed by an insanely heavy touring schedule that has kept her on the road ever since, the 29-year-old Tedeschi is finally reaping some benefits from all her work.

One was a recent appearance on “The Late Late Show” on CBS with Craig Kilborn. During the taping at she belted out one of her best-known songs, “It Hurt So Bad,” written and produced by her drummer, Tom Hambridge.

The small studio audience went wild over the song, delivered in Tedeschi’s Joplin-esque howl, a big growly voice wildly out of synch with her skinny body and elfin blond looks. Afterward, she marveled over the nomination, which had been announced just a few days earlier.

“It’s an honor that’s actually pretty amazing,” Tedeschi said. “I haven’t sold as many records as any of those others. I haven’t done a video. But it worked out. It was exciting.”

Which is not to say she doesn’t have a lot of admirers, some in high places. In the past couple of years, she’s played with the Allman Brothers (where she met her current boyfriend, guitarist Derek Trucks), Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy and B.B. King; appeared at Lilith Fair (where she joined Sheryl Crow); recorded “Crazy” with Willie Nelson for his upcoming album of duets; and been on David Letterman and Jay Leno’s late-night TV shows.

Her beloved guitar, bedecked with stickers, is shown in the photo on the back of her CD and these days has a lot more autographs from her heroes written on its body. The John Hancocks include those of Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, John Hiatt, Dr. John and the Fabulous Thunderbirds’ Jimmy Vaughan.

She has equally rich musical influences, including great Delta and Chicago blues artists like Big Mama Thornton, Little Walter Jacobs, Willie Dixon, Bobby Bland and Koko Taylor; and pop, soul and gospel stars like Aretha Franklin, Linda Ronstadt, Mahalia Jackson and Etta James.

And though she’ll never be heard on Radio Disney, she has gotten good airplay for several of her songs on adult album alternative and rock radio stations. Not bad for a no-name from Norwell, Mass., with an independent release on little-known Tone Cool Records.

And she’s about to go back into the studio to record a new album, as soon as she figures out which studio she wants to record in. With her label pushing for a poppier sound, Tedeschi is trying to hew to her roots with a grittier sound. And she’ll be back on the road touring soon as well, except for Grammy night, when she plans to be at the ceremony.

Ask Tedeschi to handicap her chances of winning Grammy night, however, and she can give you both pluses and minuses.

“They do their dance moves, I don’t do the dance moves,” Tedeschi said. “But I’ve got Mickey Mouse stickers on my guitar, so maybe I’ve got a chance after all.”