GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite’s BLUES NOW is built around a simple idea: keep the band lean, leave room in the arrangements, and let the interaction between guitar, harmonica, and voice carry the record. That makes Junior Wells’ 1965 Hoodoo Man Blues a useful predecessor. The two albums come from very different moments, but both treat electric blues as band music first, with little interest in unnecessary studio polish.
Readers’ Pick: GA-20 with Charlie Musselwhite – BLUES NOW
You picked GA-20 with Charlie Musselwhite – BLUES NOW as your favorite new release for the week of July 31, 2026.
GA-20 with Charlie Musselwhite – Blues Now
It’s chemistry. Matthew Stubbs and Charlie Musselhite have worked together off-and-on for at least 15 years, with Stubbs initially a sideman in Musselwhite’s band. Now, with Stubbs new role as lead guitarist for GA-20, the pair are once again tearing it up on their new album, Blues Now. Musselwhite himself, at age 82, has ascended […]
The Twangville 2026 Album Preview-Side B
Here are some albums that we’re looking forward to hearing in the back half of 2026… Material Witness by William Matheny (10 July) William Matheny brings pure rock and roll spirit to Material Witness, leaning heavy on electric guitars and hearty, driving rhythms. His lyrics crackle with authenticity and a wisened view, proving there’s still […]
Charlie Musselwhite and the Long Memory of the Blues
In Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the Delta air hangs thick and the ghosts don’t bother hiding, Charlie Musselwhite sits easy and watches it all come back around. “I’m in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This is where I live,” he says. “Clarksdale just keeps getting better… we really love living in the Delta.” That’s not nostalgia talking. Not quite. […]
Colin James – Chasing the Sun
To say that Colin James is big in Canada is an understatement. With eight Juno Awards (Canadian Grammies) and 31 Maple Leaf Blues Awards, James might be the most prominent member of a healthy Canadian blues scene that has included the likes of Steve Dawson, Colin Linden, Sue Foley, Jim Byrnes, JW-Jones, Big Dave McLean […]
Bill’s Badly Belated Blues Based Best of 2022
Ok, so it’s February. Kind of late for a year-in-review special. But, I was traveling for my day job, the one I get paid for, so that’s why I’m late. So, I’ve been doing these blues-based years in review for a few years now, and I’m not sure I ever explained the methodology I use, […]
New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers, Vol. 2
Sequels are so often disappointing, but not this time. Last October, Stony Plain released a great set of jam sessions featuring blues masters Charlie Musselwhite and Alvin Youngblood Hart, together with former Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, North Mississippi Allstars brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and their father Jim that were recorded in 2007. Now, […]
Bill’s Blues-Based Best of 2020
Well, it’s over. We got through it, and, while it 2020 was a monster in so many ways, there were some choice blues albums that hit the street. Below is a dozen of my favorite blues (or ‘bluesy’) albums of 2020. Sonny Landreth – Blacktop Run. It’s a great album for when you’re on the […]
New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers – Vol. 1
There are jam sessions, and then there are JAM SESSIONs. When you get blues masters Charlie Musselwhite and Alvin Youngblood Hart together with former Squirrel Nut Zipper Jimbo Mathus, North Mississippi Allstars brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson and their father Jim, you’re gonna have a JAM SESSION. That’s what happened in the fall of 2007, […]