{"id":129438,"date":"2023-06-06T15:40:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T20:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=129438"},"modified":"2023-06-06T15:40:32","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T20:40:32","slug":"blues-icon-charlie-musselwhite-joins-the-hill-country-picnic-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/blues-icon-charlie-musselwhite-joins-the-hill-country-picnic-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Blues Icon Charlie Musselwhite Joins the Hill Country Picnic Family"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Musselwhite will perform Saturday, June 24, 2023 at 6:45 pm with guitarist Kirk Fletcher<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Seventy-nine-year-old Charlie Musselwhite<\/a><\/strong> has been around the musical block for decades, sharing stages and studios with fellow artistic giants, winning fistfuls of awards, and generally epitomizing \u201ccool.\u201d I remember the buzz that ensued at the 2021 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic<\/strong> when he was spotted backstage, hanging out and laughing with Kenny Brown <\/strong>and the gang of folks lounging around behind the barricades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLook, it\u2019s Charlie Musselwhite! I bet he\u2019s going to sit in!\u201d I heard lots of excited voices predict. And he did. It\u2019s one of countless memorable Picnic moments that make this one of the best weekends of the year in my book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke to Charlie on a Tuesday morning as he was preparing for a quick West Coast tour before returning home to Mississippi to play the Picnic. His schedule remains full for the rest of the year as well, and he shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TLV: You have legendary status and have been doing this for a long time. What keeps you motivated and energetic and wanting to keep doing it?<\/strong>
Charlie Musselwhite: <\/strong>Well, I just love the music. And to me, Blues is more than just music. It has a lot of substance to it. It feeds the heart and soul, and it\u2019s not a fad, you know. [Some] styles of music come and go. Blues is not a fad. It\u2019s always here, always has been, and always will be. And it might not be the Top 40, but it\u2019s here forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most interesting things to me about Blues is how many sub genres there are within the overall genre of Blues. And since we\u2019re talking about the Hill Country Picnic, can you talk a little bit about specifically the Hill Country subgenre?<\/strong>
Well, it\u2019s just delightful music. And I like all the different styles, from urban to country to jazz Blues. If it\u2019s got the feeling in it, that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. And Hill Country Blues is loaded with feeling. In some instances, it\u2019s almost like trance music. It just draws you in. It\u2019s just a wonderful experience, and people feel drawn to it. When they hear it, they get hooked on it and they got to have more of it. That\u2019s the beauty of it. People really resonate with it. Some people when they hear it for the first time, it\u2019s like they\u2019ve been waiting for this and finally they find something that speaks to them on a heart level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw you sit in at the Hill Country Picnic a couple of years ago in 2021. Is that the only time you played [the Picnic]?<\/strong>
That was the only time I\u2019ve been there, and I\u2019m really looking forward to coming back. I have a real powerful memory of that. A nice time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think is different about the Hill Country Picnic? How does it stand out from other festivals?<\/strong>
Well, it didn\u2019t have a commercial feel to it, and [there\u2019s] a camaraderie. Everybody\u2019s so happy to be there in front of the stage and backstage, the people working, the people playing there, the people that come to hear the music. It\u2019s like they all come together to constitute one spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is your first time being on the bill and having your own set. Can you tell us what to expect and what musicians may be playing with you?<\/strong>
An old friend of mine, Kirk Fletcher, is a guitar player from California, but he lives in Nashville now. He\u2019ll meet me there and we\u2019ll play as a duo together. He\u2019s played in my band and we\u2019ve toured together before. He\u2019s an old friend. He started out playing guitar in his dad\u2019s church. So he has a gospel background, which is really good for Blues. I remember Muddy Waters once said, \u201cIf you want to learn how to sing, go to church.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Kirk has that background and he\u2019s just a fabulous guitar player. I mean, amongst guitar players he is revered. A lot of the people out there might not know him yet, but he\u2019s just a great guitar player and one of the nicest people you could ever meet in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirk knows all the styles too, from not only gospel, but country Blues to city Blues to Chicago Blues to, you know, Delta Blues, whatever you want to name it. He knows it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so you\u2019re doing a duo. Will you have any special guests or anybody sitting in with you?<\/strong>
Well, if that if that happens, it hasn\u2019t been planned yet, but you never know. And then Blues, it\u2019s kind of open to that sort of thing, but we\u2019re prepared to do a whole set just the two of us, and I\u2019ll play some guitar too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s talk about Kenny Brown. When we saw you at the Picnic last time, it looked like you were pretty good friends, so I\u2019m curious of what your relationship is with Kenny.<\/strong>
I was just trying to remember how long ago and where was it we first met. It\u2019s been so long ago that I\u2019m not clear on it now, but we must have known each other for at least twenty, maybe thirty years, something like that We all were immediate friends, like you didn\u2019t have to get to know each other. We just felt like we knew each other immediately, and I\u2019ve always liked his style of playing. His attitude toward music just makes sense to me. He and Sarah are just really fine folks. Henrietta and I really love those people. And enjoy working with them and being friends with them and seeing them anytime we can.
[The Picnic] is such a great thing they\u2019re doing, and Sara is a real motivating force behind it, too. You know, it\u2019s not just Kenny. He\u2019s a musician, and she\u2019s the business side of it. And they really are a great team. Just like me and Henrietta are a great team. I couldn\u2019t get it done without her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was curious to know currently what you\u2019re listening to? Let\u2019s say you\u2019re going on a road trip, and you need some jams. What would you be listening to right now?<\/strong>
Oh gosh, I listen to all kinds of stuff. This morning I was listening to Hank Crawford doing a tune called \u201cDon\u2019t Cry, Baby.\u201d It\u2019s an instrumental, but I was listening to it for ideas. I\u2019d like to play something like that sometime. It\u2019s not really Blues, but it\u2019s jazz. To me, a good jazz player is playing Blues with different chord changes. I just love all kinds of stuff, you know, big bands from the 40s to RL Burnside, even hillbilly Blues. Anything with heart. Anything they\u2019re playing from the heart, that\u2019s for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You recently relocated back to Clarksdale. I\u2019m curious to know, as an internationally renowned musician with a long career like yours, how has the identity of Mississippian affected your experience as a musician and interacting with other people?<\/strong>
There\u2019s a lot to unpack there! [Laughs]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ask because sometimes when I travel, I get mixed reactions from people finding out I\u2019m from Mississippi, and a lot of times it can be negative. So I\u2019m just curious what your experience is?<\/strong>
To me, it\u2019s always seemed like anybody from Mississippi is always from Mississippi, no matter where they go. You\u2019ll meet somebody and they\u2019ll say, ohh I\u2019m from Iowa or something, and then later you find out, well, actually they\u2019re from Nebraska, but they just named the last place they lived or something. But somebody from Mississippi, that\u2019s where they\u2019re from, no matter where they go. They always say they\u2019re from Mississippi because people from Mississippi have a kind of pride that other people don\u2019t seem to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And people are curious about Mississippi. When I\u2019m in other countries, they know the Blues comes from Mississippi, and a lot of them have these incorrect stereotypical views. I have to correct them over all that. Mississippi seems to have a mystique about it. People feel curious about it. They want to experience it. Last night I met a couple from England and two young ladies from Holland. They came to Mississippi to experience the Blues, to see where it came from. So that\u2019s a wonderful thing. Mississippi has a powerful history in music and art unlike any other place. People here seem compelled to create, whether they\u2019re trained or not, they just want to create with this painting or portrait or music or whatever they want to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, it\u2019s in our blood. I think, you know, it\u2019s something in the air we breathe.<\/strong>
Yeah, I know. I tell people you can feel the Blues just coming up out of the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I like that. What other projects do you have going on?<\/strong>
I have an album in the can, as you say. I don\u2019t know when I\u2019m going to release it, but it\u2019ll be my next band album. The last one [Mississippi Son] was just more of a solo thing. I was playing guitar and overdubbing my harmonica on it, but it won some kind of an award. [2023 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album of the Year]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of many!<\/strong>
I\u2019m keeping busy, you know.
I just look forward to meeting you all and hope everybody will come to the Picnic. It\u2019s just guaranteed a wonderful time and a memorable experience. And we\u2019ll play some Blues for you, all right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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