Just a little while into my first conversation with Angela D'Ambrosio, I thought: Yeah, she sounds like she sings some mean blues.

Hers is that raspy type of voice that sounds like what I've heard of Janis Joplin in old video footage, minus Janis' Texas drawl.

And that suits Angie fine. Not only is she really a blues singer, under her nom de guerre of Angel Blue, but she does a heck of a Janis impression, both in song and persona. We'll get to that a bit later.

For now, let's talk about her band, Angel Blue and the Prophets. They're wrapping up work on a new album, "Bottom of the Bottle Blues," and plan a CD release party on Dec. 2 at the Hard Rock Cafe at Station Square.

"What I like about the CD is that you don't hear too many people coming up with original blues," she says. But that's exactly what she's working on: her own compositions, lyrically, with some musical assistance from her band's drummer, Scott McLean. And seeing as how she's the voice here, "These songs are coming from a woman's perspective."

Except, that is, for the title track, for which she drew inspiration from a scene one New year's morning ... you can picture it. Not only does the song "Bottom of the Bottom Blues" have a cool enough name to lend itself to the whole album, it will feature a pretty cool guest guitarist: Reb Beach, the Pittsburgh native of Winger, Dokken, etc. fame.

The album, in fact, is full of guest guitarists from Pittsburgh's rock/blues scene, including Buddy Hall, Frank Giovi, Randall Troy, Lee Cherry and Craig King. Her goal is to showcase some noteworthy axemen.

"There is fabulous talent here," she says. "We probably have more talent here in this little city than in many of our surrounding states. I believe that firmly."

There's some talent in her working band, too, including a pair of guitarists who look to have a bright future, considering their head start on stage: Lee Hindman is 18 and Dan Parks is 17.

"Between the two of them, we have a real nice sound," Angie says, noting they drew their blues influence at young ages from Stevie Ray Vaughan; and in turn from his big influence, Jimi Hendrix; and in turn from Jimi's influences, people like "Muddy, B.B. and Robert Johnson."

The other Prophets are Scott, who studied at the Berklee School of Music, has his own private studio and has recorded a solo CD, "Rock and Roll Karma"; and bass player Jonathan Smith, a longtime veteran of the regional musical scene. The sound is fleshed out by Joe Maryanski on saxophone and Jeff Conners on keyboards and harmonica.

While they're finishing the CD, band members continue to play at venues around the area, showcasing their instrumental skills while backing an emotional, distinctive vocalist.

So, why does Angel Blue sing the blues?

"By happenstance," she says. See, Angie was in a wreck a number of years ago, and her injuries changed her from a soprano to sounding more like Janis. "I thought, my voice is ruined."

She'd sung before, but stopped for a while, until an impromptu performance at a party. A gentleman within earshot sidled up to her and said, "How would you like to help me out with a festival? I'm in a blues band."

As Angie tells it: "I said, 'What's the blues?'"

The guys in that band showed her, playing classics from T-Bone Walker, Muddy Waters and the like. So Angie learned some tunes and belted them out for the festival, a charity event benefitting an organization that helps children who've lost a parent.

Ironically, around the same time, her mother, the late Margaret D'Ambrosio, told her: "If I die tomorrow, I want you to sing."

"She knew me better than myself," Angie recalls.

So she followed her mother's wishes, forming her own band a few months later and starting to adapt some of her poetry to original blues lyrics. (Margaret also was a talented poet, and Angie is planning a recording featuring her mother's work.)

The band adopted the moniker of Angel and the Blues Prophets. "People started to call me Angel Blue," Angie says. "They said, 'You're going to be the next Barbara Blue,'" a reference to the Memphis-based blues singer who happens to be another Pittsburgh native.

Later down the road, she altered the name of the band slightly to become Angel Blue, and the result can be heard shortly on "Bottom of the Bottle Blues."

Oh, more about her and Janis: Angie is putting together a show for April 7 called "Cheap Thrills (Are You Experienced?)," a dual tribute in which she'll be Miss Joplin and Craig King will be Mr. Hendrix. Plus, we might hear from Mr. Vaughan, too.

So, there are a couple of more dates to mark on your calendar: Dec. 2, 2005, and April 7, 2006. Or, if you want to hear a rousing performance before then, check out Angel Blue and the Prophets live.

And hear a voice that's made to sing the blues (and Janis Joplin tunes).

PHOTO: Angel Blue performs blues festival this spring in Marietta, Ohio. By attribution, it's from the Web site http://www.dustyblues.com. Please check it out!