Shamus “S.P.” Hogan’s inspiration for playing the blues mirrors that of countless players before him: a woman.

“The blues kind of took me by surprise,” Hogan says. “Sounds pretty clich?, but I found the blues because my baby left me.”

After buying a house in Greenfield with Hogan, his girlfriend up and left him—for another woman.

“She realized that she had been ignoring these types of feelings for a long time, and that she had to explore this side of her personality,” says Hogan.

Although he wishes her nothing but the best, he was devastated by the loss. So he turned to blues music as an outlet for the pain. He says he’d listened to it in the past, even while taking turns in hardcore and traditional rock bands, but never truly appreciated it, believing it to be too simple and preferring instead to play “faster music.”

But now he was truly “feeling the blues,” and it all made sense to him. Songs began flowing out, so he decided to share some of them at area open mics, where he says people seemed to truly relate to what he was emoting.

“I got so much more of a response from this music than I had from any other music I had played in the past,” he says. “I think it had to do with the fact that my blues were undeniably real, and listeners could sense that.”

One thing quickly led to another, and he began playing solo shows regularly. For Hogan, the experience of taking the stage and laying things bare was his therapy: the blues were making him happy.

Hogan soon formed the S.P. Hogan Blues Band with drummer Rob Charette, bassist Mike Flanary, and Leonard Burlingame on blues harp. Flanary is a recent addition, so the band is now working on fitting in new bass lines, allowing Hogan “more freedom” on guitar. They’re also working on more collaborative tunes, as most of their current material was written during Hogan’s solo days.

“They’ve done a great job meshing their styles with my songs,” Hogan says, “but we’re always looking to mix it up a little and expand on the original sound.”

Hogan says that in addition to being inspired by his ex, he finds musical inspiration in the “old Delta country blues guys,” like John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Kimbrough, and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

“I wasn’t too interested in Chicago-style blues or roadhouse stuff,” says Hogan. “That all seemed too happy for me. I was playing blues because I was in pain, and those partying blues tunes just didn’t do it for me.”

The S.P. Hogan Blues Band plays Sam’s Pizza in Northampton on Sunday, Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. For songs and shows, visit www.myspace.com/sphoganblues.