Charlie Musselwhite
January 31, 1944 - Present
Birthplace: Kosciusko, Mississippi

Harmonica player and vocalist Charlie Musselwhite was one of the first non- black blues artists to interpret the richly emotive harp styles of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller), and other great blues harp players. A Native American of Choctaw ancestry, Musselwhite, like Paul Butterfield, proved that non-black players could make a contribution to the form.

Musselwhite was born in Mississippi but grew up in Memphis, where he struck up friendships with Will Shade (aka Son Brimmer) of the Memphis Jug Band, Furry Lewis, and other old-time bluesmen. By the time Musselwhite moved to Chicago in 1962, he had mastered the rudiments of both harp and guitar, thanks mostly to Shade, and was eager to learn the finer points of the blues. Musselwhite performed on Chicago's legendary Maxwell Street for tips with fellow bluesman Johnny Young, and later worked his way into Chicago's black club scene, forging a working relationship with many of the city's bluesmen, including J.B. Hutto and Mike Bloomfield. In 1966 Musselwhite signed a recording contract with Vanguard Records and released Stand Back! Here Comes Charlie Musselwhite's Southside Blues Band, one of the classic blues albums of the decade.

Throughout the late '60s and '70s Musselwhite recorded regularly and toured extensively. He cut three more albums for vanguard, Stone Blues (1968) Charlie Musselwhite (1968), and Tennessee Woman (1969), plus a couple for Cherry Red Records, Louisiana Fog and Blues from Chicago, both in 1968, and performed at many of the period's biggest blues festivals, in the U.S. and abroad. In 1971 Musselwhite left Vanguard and signed with Arhoolie; he recorded two more acclaimed albums, Takin' My Time (1971) and Goin' Back Down South (1974), which artfully depict Musselwhite's by-now beautifully textured harp style.

Musselwhite also recorded for a number of other labels, including Paramount, Kicking Mule, and Capitol, though nearly all of these albums fell quickly into obscurity. He launched something of a comeback in 1990 when he signed with Alligator and recorded Ace of Harps, his best effort since his days as an Arhoolie artist. Musselwhite followed Ace of Harps with Signature, another acclaimed album on Alligator. Musselwhite continues to perform and record.