Single Premiere: Charlie Musselwhite ‘Lookout Highway’

Single Premiere: Charlie Musselwhite ‘Lookout Highway’

Rock & Blues Muse is pleased to exclusively premiere blues harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite’s title track “Lookout Highway” from his forthcoming album Lookout Highway set to release May 16th, 2025 on Forty Below Records. Musselwhite’s blend of Chicago and Delta blues mixed with Memphis soul is pure magic.

Recorded at Kid Andersen’s Greaseland Studio in San Jose, CA, Charlie lay down the tracks of the album with his long-time touring band, comprised of guitarist Matt Stubbs (GA-20), drummer June Core (Robert Lockwood Jr.) and bassist Randy Bermudes (James Cotton), along with Andersen who has been in and out of the band for many years. Their dynamic connection and energy is obvious from the first note. “We finished a gig at The Iridium in New York City and flew straight to California to record,” Charlie shared.

When asked how he chose the single “Lookout Highway,” Charlie said, “I didn’t pick ‘Lookout Highway’….it picked me when I wrote it. Many years ago I was walking by a church in Memphis and I heard a great beat they were using for a song. That beat lived in my head all these years until the lyrics finally came to me.”

The hypnotic groove on “Lookout Highway” sets the stage for Charlie Musselwhite’s emotive harmonica and soulful vocals. No one plays harp like Charlie. He’s a legend for his tone, his down and dirty feel, as if he’d picked up that harmonica on the cement beneath his feet and spit-shined it so it blew exactly how he felt.

Nothing gets past this 13 Grammy nominee’s line of sight with his harp in hand, and if the 13 Blues Music Award wins weren’t enough, he was also inducted into The Blues Hall of Fame. His collaboration with Ben Harper ‘Get Up’ won a Grammy.

“Lookout Highway”

 
Pre-save the single HERE

Musselwhite has been traveling the world’s highways and entertaining its audiences for nearly six decades. He’s a prolific songwriter who writes organic, compelling stories with ease. There is real emotional depth at the core of his songs.

Charlie’s career took off quickly soon after arriving in Chicago in the early sixties, where he was an integral part of the blues renaissance along with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, both genuine proteges of Little Walter, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. In 1967, at just 22 years of age, he released his debut album, Stand Back! to significant critical acclaim.

On a whim, Musselwhite relocated to San Francisco that same year. Contemporaries like Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield followed suit and were welcomed into the counterculture scene around the Fillmore West as authentic purveyors of real-deal blues.

Charlie has also collaborated with an eclectic list of incredible artists over the years, including Ben Harper, Cyndi Lauper, Eddie Vedder, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Gov’t Mule, INXS, Mickey Hart, and Japan’s Kodo Drummers, George Thorogood, Eliades Ochoa, Cat Stevens, Elvin Bishop and, close friend and best man at his wedding John Lee Hooker. In 2023, Musselwhite was cast in Martin Scorsese’s film Killers of the Flower Moon.

In an era when the term ‘legendary’ gets applied to auto-tuned pop stars, this singular blues harp player, singer, songwriter, and guitarist has earned and deserves to be honored as a true master of American classic vernacular music

Pre-order the album HERE

Charlie Musselwhite website