When Black Crowes brothers Chris and Rich Robinson flew their separate ways last year, ending their 18 years of stormy but successful collaboration, it was singer Chris who seemed the more determined to explore new musical ground. His folky and soulful solo debut, New Earth Mud (Redline Entertainment), was preceded by an acoustic tour before its release last October, after which he embarked on an electric outing that, with its two long sets approaching the three-hour mark, seemed structured on the Grateful Dead model. But the addition of electricity did little to restore the gritty blooze-rock swagger of the Crowes.

Rich has been a bit slower out of the gate with his first post-Crowes incarnation, a band he’s dubbed Hookah Brown. But as they wrapped up their first tour of eight East Coast club dates at the House of Blues last Friday night, Robinson, always a stoic on-stage presence, led his new group through the kind of muscular, guitar-fueled workout Crowes fans have come to expect. And he appeared happy to be playing for a club crowd with none of the stress that comes with supporting a new CD or living up to the expectations of a new record deal.

It’s not that he allowed himself to be weighed down by his past. Stepping into the kind of stiff guitar groove that drove his previous band’s finest work, he simply seemed in command of those brawny Stones- and Zeppelin-derived riffs that defined the Crowes. There was a freeform aspect to the performance: at points he could be seen cueing the rhythm section through various passages, and bassist Fionn O’Lochlainn and drummer Bill Dobrow handled every curve Robinson threw them. As vocalist John Hogg pointed out, "We’ll learn this as we give it to you." And that often seemed to be the case.

Hogg, who previously fronted one of the Crowes’ support acts, the British band Moke, sings in a range reminiscent of Chris Robinson, but he never ventured as far as imitation. On the two Crowes songs Hookah Brown did include in their set — "Gone" and "Wiser Time" — he found his own voice by avoiding the higher end of the register. Still, there’s no denying the vocal similarities, especially when Hogg’s delivery is matched by Rich Robinson’s fluid riffing; and the difference between the acts occasionally got blurry.

Which shouldn’t be a problem for Crowes fans who have been looking to Chris to carry on that band’s legacy. Of course, that legacy reaches back beyond the Crowes and to the classic blues-based rock explorers from the late ’60s and early ’70s — from Peter Green–era Fleetwood Mac and Humble Pie up through the Allmans and the Stones. None of which accounted for Hookah Brown’s Jellyfish cover, "All Is Forgiven." That was just a little reminder that Rich has never stopped searching for sympathetic sounds.