One For The Weekend: GA-20 featuring Charlie Musselwhite

Blues harp hero Charlie Musselwhite joins GA-20 for their"Blues Now" LP on New West Records. Check out "Crazy Love"

GA-20 with Charlie Musselwhite

Blues Now

Released via New West Records July 31, 2026

BLUES NOW! The title says it all. Blues in all caps – honest, emphatic, and raw. This collaborative album unites GA-20, one of today’s most celebrated young Blues trios, and Charlie Musselwhite, a legendary statesman of the genre. Musselwhite’s name is synonymous with the blues, a harmonica virtuoso and esteemed vocalist with a 60-plus year career forged in authenticity and excellence. Charlie remembers seeing Buddy Guy playing in Chicago back in the early 60s right here. 

GA-20 burst onto the scene in 2018, garnering a quick reputation for dynamic live performance, built on a deep respect for the originators and an enduring commitment to carrying the torch forward. Together with BLUES NOW (New West Records), the Grammy award winning Musselwhite and Billboard chart-topping GA-20 shine with a chemistry that blends the spirit of the Blues pioneers with an electrifying modern energy.

With BLUES NOW, the collaboration between GA-20 and Charlie Musselwhite embodies a living musical conversation that spans generations. It is an ongoing dialogue and testament to the enduring spirit of Blues music. It reaffirms its timeless appeal and reminds us that the Blues is a living, breathing art form. It’s also a hell of a good time. 

You can pre-order GA-20's forthcoming Blues Now LP via Bandcamp right here.  Check out "Crazy Love" off the album below. 

Here's Charlie Musselwhite (far right) sharing a laugh backstage with S.P. Leary (left) and Billy Boy Arnold back in the day. 

Eliades Ochoa joined by Rubén Blades & Charlie Musselwhite on Guajiro album

Santiago sonero Eliades Ochoa's new Guajiro album is out digitally May 26, vinyl due June 9. Watch a documentary and clips.

Guitar slinger Harvey Mandel returns with "Who's Calling"

Who's Calling is innovative guitarist Harvey Mandel's second album for Tompkins Square.

Here's the scoop...

Harvey Mandel is among the most innovative guitarists to emerge from the Chicago blues scene of the late 1960s. His career began at Twist City and other local hotspots, sharing stages with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Buddy Guy. He came up in that scene alongside Charlie Musselwhite, Mike Bloomfield, Barry Goldberg and Steve Miller, leading to an invitation from Bill Graham to open for Cream at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium in August 1967. 

Mandel was a member of Canned Heat, appearing with them at Woodstock. He played on numerous John Mayall albums, and on the Rolling Stones' 1975 LP Black and Blue ("Hot Stuff", "Memory Motel"), having auditioned for Mick Taylor's job, which ultimately went to Ron Wood. 

Who’s Calling is the 16th album under Harvey Mandel’s name as a leader, and his second for Tompkins Square following the 2016 acclaimed comeback, Snake Pit. Joined by guitarist and co-producer Ryan Jewell (Ryley Walker, Laraaji) and bassist Andy Hess (Gov't Mule, Black Crowes), Who’s Calling finds the 77 year old guitar legend as vibrant and creative as ever. Despite unspeakable health setbacks and of course a Covid shutdown, Harvey has emerged miraculously stronger, proclaiming he’s never played better than on Who’s Calling. 

Get a copy of Harvey Mandel's Who's Calling album via Bandcamp right here. Check out the tracks "Lucky Sevens" and "Crazy Town" followed by Harvey's performance at Slim's from 2017 and an informative Australian radio interview from 1999 below. 

Happy Birthday Charlie Musselwhite!

Cheers to Charie Musselwhite on his 77th birthday. Here's "Cha Cha The Blues" feat. Harvey Mandel off his Stand Back! album. 

 

Ace Of Cups ready their way overdue debut album for fall release

San Francisco's legendary Ace Of Cups recently recorded their debut album with help from pals Taj Mahal, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Bob Weir. 

Here's the scoop from High Moon Records...
Ace Of Cups may not have been the first all-women rock and roll band, but they were the one that mattered within that bizarre wrinkle in time that constituted late 1960s San Francisco. Converging from a diverse set of backgrounds in the Haight-Ashbury just before the Summer of Love, these young women would constitute an independently-driven, uniquely-inspired organization, equally capable of feather-light poetry, funkier soul and further-out freakery than most of their more celebrated male compatriots within the psychedelic ballrooms. Yet despite the avowed interest of the industry and obvious hometown support, the original Ace Of Cups never got to release an album. Until now…

High Moon Records is honored to present the first full-length studio album by the mesmerizing Ace Of Cups. Produced by Dan Shea (Santana, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey),  and recorded at Marin’s Laughing Tiger Studios, the record’s twenty-one tracks span fifty years of masterful songwriting, that sound as timeless as they do cathartic.

Anchored by fervent playing and beautiful harmonies from the Ace, classic songs such as “Taste Of One,” “Pretty Boy,” “Circles” and “Simplicity” have been given new energy and focus while previously unheard newly written material reveals additional depth and soul.

Special guests include legendary players (and long time Ace of Cups friends)  Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, and Charlie Musselwhite as well as lead vocal turns by Bob Weir  on “The Well”,  Taj Mahal  on “Life In Your Hands”, Peter Coyote on “As The Rain”, and Buffy Sainte-Marie  on “Pepper In The Pot”. Despite the sheer number of songs and guests on the album, and the range of material, there is a remarkable consistency born from the band’s and musicians’ deep personal connection and musical bond. Pre-order the 2LP or 2CD version right here.



Ace Of Cups (High Moon Records)

LP 1 / CD1
Introduction: There’s a Record Being Made
Feel Good
Pretty Boy
Fantasy 1&4
Circles
We Can’t Go Back Again
The Well (feat. Bob Weir)
Taste of One
Mama’s Love
Simplicity
Feel It in the Air

LP2 / CD2
Interlude: Transistor
Stones
Interlude: Baby from the Forest of Knolls
Life in Your Hands (feat. Taj Mahal)
Macushla/Thelina
As the Rain (feat. Peter Coyote)
Daydreamin’ (feat. Taj Mahal)
On the Road
Pepper in the Pot (feat. Buffy Sainte-Marie)
Interlude: Breath
Indian Summer
Grandma’s Hands
Medley (The Hermit / The Flame Still Burns / Gold & Green / Living In The Country)
Outroduction: It’s Always Safe…
Music