Charlie Musselwhite understands the timelessness of the blues.
It first reached him more than 50 years ago in Memphis and Chicago, when Musselwhite would take his harmonica and sit in with the giants. It remains with him today, when Musselwhite can record with the likes of the traditional gospel group the Blind Boys of Alabama and tour with rocker Ben Harper and play to a diverse audience either way.
“Used to be, when you got to a concert, it was just one age group,” Musselwhite told me a few years back in an interview. “I’m still surprised to see really young kids at my concerts. I mean, whole families will be there.”
A blues elder statesman, he has refused to rest on his laurels. That decision, while conscious, was hardly calculated.
“It seems like the spirit of the music will just lead you where it wants to go,” Musselwhite said. “We just go in as best prepared as we can be, and we just start fooling around and see where it takes us.”
The music will be taking Musselwhite up and down the West Coast for the next few weeks as he takes part in Bay Area bluesman Mark Hummel’s annual Blues Harp Blowout tour. Dedicated this year to the pioneering work of Chicago’s Little Walter, the tour’s harmonica stars also include Billy Boy Arnold, Sugar Ray Norcia and Curtis Salgado. Northern California dates include Saturday at Folsom Lake College in Folsom, January 26 at the State Theatre in Modesto, January 27-29 at Yoshi’s in Oakland and January 30 at Moe’s Alley in Santa Cruz.
Born in Kosciusko, Miss., Musselwhite was raised in Memphis and, like Elvis Presley before him, became enthralled in the city’s blues and R&B scene. Harp in hand, he began playing around town in his teens, occasionally sitting in with the likes of Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson.
By the mid-’60s, Musselwhite had followed blues to Chicago. There, he fell in with the group of young white players — Paul Butterfield, Michael Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, Steve Miller — who would kick off the era’s blues revival. Musselwhite released his debut album, “Stand Back,” in 1967.
He’s been at it ever since, recording for a dozen U.S. labels over the years. The blues market has changed a lot in that time, noted Musselwhite.
“There has been a change in people’s nightlife and going-out patterns,” he said. “Festivals are more important than ever.”
What hasn’t changed for Musselwhite — and, he said, an encouraging segment of the American population — is blues’ enduring appeal.
“I like to think that the music is timeless,” Musselwhite said. “Some music is like for the moment; a month later, it’s old news. And a lot of people like music like that. I like to think that my music is not in that category.”
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