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Cathy Ponton King hasn't just heard the greats. She has seen them — and played with them. The 54-year-old has opened for blues legends like Albert King, Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim.

"They took me under their arm," she says. "They nurtured me. They talked to me. Think about how lucky I am. I was there in first person with the changing of the guard."

Ponton King grew up in Hyattsville, and although she was playing for crowds of people at her grandmother's house by age 10, she majored in journalism at the University of Maryland. As news director of the campus radio station WMUC, she had access to the school's extensive vinyl collection. Shortly after graduation, she landed a job at ABC News, but a chance encounter with Muddy Waters at Georgetown's now-defunct Cellar Door changed her outlook.

"I knew the whole history of the blues before I met Muddy, but he was definitely a great influence on me," Ponton King says. "I was very lucky to get to sit there. It was like sitting at the knee of the master. You can imagine me, a young college student. I was just in awe."

It has been nearly three decades since that meeting, and the Vienna resident is still singing the blues. On Saturday, she and her band will take the outdoor stage at BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown.

"As a band, ultimately you want to play the best show you can," says drummer Antoine Sanfuentes. "But it's extra special when you play a venue like BlackRock."

While music is Ponton King's identity, those close to her express admiration for what she does when the amps are turned off. Last week, she organized a benefit concert for guitarist Dave Chappell (pronounced chapel). The Columbia-based axeman, one of the most respected guitarists in the Mid-Atlantic, recently had a baseball-size tumor removed from his left adrenal gland.

"D.C. is famous for its guitarists," Sanfuentes says. "There was a time when people would come to the area looking for the best guitar slingers, and I guess they still do. I would put Dave in that category."

Chappell is back to jamming and giving lessons, but the surgery left him with a serious financial burden. The concert, held at Surf Club Live in Hyattsville, raised an impressive sum, but exact figures were not available at press time.

The bill included several local favorites like Patty Reese, Junkyard Saints and the Nighthawks. Chappell, who plays with a handful of other bands, says that many friends and musicians contributed to the effort, but one supporter stood out.

"If I had to say that there's one person who jumped in to keep this going and make 50 phone calls, it's Cathy," he says.

Ponton King has a good heart, but audiences don't come out to see nice people; they pay to hear great music. Over the years, the band's lineup has shifted around, but Jim Robeson says the current combination of players is beyond solid. The bassist should know. He has won two Grammy Awards as an engineer at Springfield's Bias Studios.

"The musicianship is way up there on the scale," he says. "Cathy never sings a wrong note, and Jeff is great. It's a really hot band."

But a really hot band is nothing if its members don't get along. Sanfuentes attributes much of their success to a collection of personalities that refuse to give in to drama and squabbling.

"It's this family atmosphere that's cultivated with great players. At the end of the day, the band's really great because of Cathy," he points out.

The tight camaraderie and passion for playing translate into what Chappell calls a loose, entertaining live show.

"People aren't jumping around doing cartwheels, but the music is there," he says.

Fully aware of her position as a female blues artist, Ponton King doesn't shy away from expressing her disdain for the current state of gender and sexuality within the music industry. She points at media outlets like Rolling Stone for encouraging the trend.

"They put sex objects on the cover sometimes, and I think it's a shame that women aren't appreciated on just their artistic value," she says. "If you're a woman musician, they first thing they want to judge you by is what your sexuality's worth, where men are not held up to that same standard. I feel sometimes that I have to work five times as hard to get one third as far."

Her opinions are strong, but she's still proud of the female rock tradition that characterizes her style. Comparisons to like-minded artists Shelby Lynne and Lucinda Williams flatter her. But the most obvious parallel, at least sonically, is Bonnie Raitt. Just a few years Ponton King's senior, Raitt carries herself with a similar sass and soulful melodies. The BlackRock Web site is even promoting the singer as "D.C.'s version of Bonnie Raitt."

Statements like these are nothing new. Ponton King jokes with crowds that she's her sister, "Second Raitt."

"I would love to meet her someday. I put her music on the highest level of admiration, but when people in the audience ask me to play her songs, I just smile," Ponton King says.

Although she creates television content for Verizon FiOs, Ponton King has dedicated much of her adult life to music. After just a few years at ABC News, she resigned to tour the East Coast with her old band The Rhythmasters. Eventually, the allure of the road wore off, and Ponton King settled in Northern Virginia with husband Jeff King and daughter Carianne. Her band is in high demand around the area, and they have found a home at Flanagan's Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda.

"It's a really good strategy to have an anchor club where your regulars know you're always going to be," she says. "Every table is reserved. It's always sold out."

So far, national recognition has remained just beyond Ponton King's grasp, but she doesn't seem to mind.

"It would be fun to be on the merry-go-round and grab the brass ring, but it's the journey not the destination," she says. "If the rest of the world hasn't discovered me, that's their problem."

She pauses and laughs, realizing the rock star cockiness of what she has just said.

"Does that make me sound like I'm full of myself?"

Cathy Ponton King and her band will hit the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday at BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. Admission is free. Call 301-528-2660 or visit www.blackrockcenter.org.