I headed up North this afternoon to catch Charlie Musselwhite's set at the Blues Jam, Greeley's summer blues festival. Charlie's tone was superb; huge and rich.
He was playing through an unmodified Fender Red Knob Twin amp, known as the Evil Twin. Musselwhite used the same model amp to record his recent album "Delta Hardware." The amp is a high gain beast; a super loud guitar amp that just does not seem like a good choice for harp. But Charlie is, well... Charlie. He gets good tone with anything.
He opened his set with the song River Hip Mama, which happens to be the same song my band Roadhouse Joe opens every show with. Standing 20 feet in front of Charlie Musselwhite and listening to him play that song was thrilling and inspiring. His encore at the end was Christo Redentor. Everything in between was a clinic in third and fourth position harp mastery.
The picture above was taken tonight with my cellular phone, so the quality is not first rate. However, it clearly shows the Fender Evil Twin amp.
UPDATE: Gary Onofrio, the maker of the "Sonny Jr." harp amps, claims Charlie Musselwhite as an endorser of his products. He explains on Harp-L that Musselwhite uses different amps only when "he has to fly." I checked with the organizers of the Greeley Blues Jam and found that Charlie Musselwhite specifically requested the Fender Red Knob Twin amp OR Sonny Jr. Cruncher weeks before the event.
UPDATE 2: Here are some photos taken at the Blues Jam by blues bass man Pierre Allard:
That rhythm section of Mike Phillips on bass and June Core on drums ain't too shabby either. June Core used to work with Robert Jr Lockwood and Johnny Shines. He's also a former Nightcat. They are great guys!
ReplyDeleteHey Joe!
ReplyDeleteStubby on the Gibson SG was killin', too. He had a great driving tone. Very impressive. He was playing through a Fender Twin Reverb reissue. The bass amp was a big Eden stack.
That is Matt Stubbs. I wasn't sure. Every time, I see him he looks different.
ReplyDeleteAwesome photo!
ReplyDelete