Among all the instruments related to the power and the intensity that Blues music generates, there is no doubt whatsoever that Harmonica is right up there, with its unique sound able to capture feelings and moods in the most minute details, expressing melancholy and joy in equal strong and convincing way, like no other instrument is able to do.
In the last 6 decades-plus of Harmonica Blues, nobody can denie that the name of the American artist, singer/songwriter and Harmonica Supremo Charlie Musselwhite has sat and still sits comfortably on top of the rank of the most talented and inspirational Harmonica Blues players of the last century.
With an infinitesimal number of accolades received throughout Musselwhite's remarkable career to date, the Mississippi-born 81-years-old, who has shared a stage with some of the greatest names in music business, from Eric Clapton to Ben Harper or from Cyndi Lauper to B.B.King, just to mention a tiny handful of them, has never considered, not even for a minute, to slow down, both in as recording and performing as a solo artist or as occasional luxury sideman for fellow music artists of any kind , continuing instead to relentlessly tour the United States and many more countries of the world with the same passion, talent and love for Blues that he displayed since the very beginning of his career, back in the late 1960's.
It is because of that very same passion and love for Blues that Musselwhite is now ready to reveal to the world his brand new album, due to be released on 16th May and called Look Out Highway, an album that incorporates, on so many aspects, what Blues means to Charlie Musselwhite still now as it has for all of his life and career so far.
Look Out Highway is a record that exudes the true spirit of Traditional Blues all around, with Musselwhite dipping into Chicago and Delta Blues with such effortless class into the 11 songs part of this precious and meaningful chapter in the longstanding career of a true living Blues legend like Musselwhite most certainly is.
Recorded in San Jose, California at Kid Andersen’s own studio, Look Out Highway sees for the first time Musselwhite recording with his live touring band of brothers, a band with whom Musselwhite has been performing for quite some time, now and also a band that, from time to time, has also seen Andersen himself making a few appearances on stage.
Whilst for those who know well Charlie Musselwhite, as an artist, will come as no surprise the amount of stamina that, despite his respectable age, the American singer/songwriter put in his vocal delivery and famously into his Harmonica playing any given time, this new record will be able also to surprise a few for the exquisite songwriting exhibited by Musselwhite, across the whole of Look Out Highway.
In Bluebird Reviews' opinion, Musselwhite's new album is a total declaration of love for the Blues and for what Blues has meant and still means for the American artist; between the lines of songs like the album's title-track (...Well, my home ain’t here, it’s way down the road...) or Baby Won’t You Please Help Me (...I was born in Mississippi, I was raised in Tennessee, seems like every place I've been... Look like the Blues keep trailing me...), there is the whole spirit of the Blues, the desire of sharing that love with audiences all over the world, feeling almost the Blues as a surrogate lifelong artistic partner, here portrayed also as a metaphorical lover, as one may or not interpret, through the lyrics of songs like Hip Shakin' Mama (...I can't believe all that mess, it belongs to you. Man on the run, blues in the wind, Hip-shakin' mama, try me once again. I'm a man on the run, I got blues all in the wind...) or Storm Warning (...she's got long, wavy hair, she's got ruby red lips, she's got lightning in her eyes and thunder in her hips. Storm warning, my baby blowin' back into town, I see clouds in the horizon, soon the rain will be pouring down...).
Look Out Highway has the inner power to connect anybody wirh the Blues in a way that very few artists are able to transmit to their audiences, in the same way that Musselwhite does; the intensity, the meaning, the soul and the passion that every song part of this album displays is heartwarmingly sincere, honest and pure and one can genuinely sense it, whether or not you are a fan of the Blues ss a genre.
Of all the fabulous records Musselwhite has recorded to date in his career, Look Out Highway stands right up there with some of the best work the American Harmonica Maestro has ever done. Paraphrasing one if the album’s songs, Storm Warning, who knows, for Charlie Musselwhite and Look Out Highway, there could be a Grammy nomination in the horizon...
Look Out Highway is due to be released on 16th May 2025 and it is available to be purchased via Forty Below Records
