Larger-than-life blues figure Popa Chubby has a lot of reasons to feel lucky this year. 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of his emergence as a powerful force in the venerable New York blues scene with his very own band, and his own unique brand of hard-hitting, face-melting, blues-rockin' funky soul. And he'll celebrate this major milestone the only way he knows how, with a CD Release event at 8 p.m. Friday at the Mauch Chunk Opera House in Jim Thorpe for his smokin' hot new studio album, "I'm Feelin' Lucky."

"It's been 25 years and I'm still standing," declares Popa Chubby, and considering the long and rugged road he's had to travel, that in itself is a miracle. From his beginning in the late '70s as a "bad kid with an afro and a brand-new Gibson Midnight Special guitar" to his stint as a punk rock sideman for Screaming Mad George and Richard Hell, to signing a deal with Sony and releasing one of the top-selling blues albums of 1994 (the phenomenal "Booty And The Beast"), Popa Chubby has seen it all and lived to tell about it on well over a dozen studio albums."I'm Feelin' Lucky" contains some of his best and most deeply felt writing. "The Way It Is" is an "urban soul ballad," he said, "that's about those times when you realize that you're all messed up and there ain't nothing you can do about it ... that's the blues right there." The title track is a major slice of funk with heavy wah wah pedal guitar playing and "great New Orleans-style lyrics.""I'm A Pitbull (Nothin' But Love)" may be the song closest to his heart: "I work with people at a pit bull rescue who work with these dogs and train them to be service dogs for veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. There is not a more loyal, devoted and emotionally intuitive dog." It's these very same qualities in Popa Chubby's own gracious persona that have been drawing fans to his music for over two decades.Tickets are $20 and available 24/7 on the Opera House website,

www.mcohjt.com, by visiting SoundCheck Records in downtown Jim Thorpe from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., or at 570-325-4009.The Opera House box office is open from noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday at 570-325-0249. The facility is open from noon until 5 p.m. on show days, and tickets are available for most shows at the door at showtime.