Anchorage Daily News

The thing about the blues is they're persistent. They don't woo you with flamboyance so much as charm you by sticking around.

So the blues smoldered rather than flamed when the Charlie Musselwhite Blues Band railed and wailed through nearly two hours of hard-luck, hardscrabble, down-home, mostly Delta blues at the Snow Goose Theatre on Wednesday night.

Songs like "Long Lean Lanky Mama" and "Church is Out" got people to their feet for sure. But Musselwhite sounds best when doing the mournful, driving tunes that throb to the bone while he moans on his blues harp. (If you think you know what a harmonica can do, you haven't heard Musselwhite).

Take the song "Strange Land" from his 1967 album, "Stand Back," as a testament to longevity. The tune tells the story of Musselwhite's move to Chicago as an 18-year-old looking for work but finding strangers and nightmares instead. The song carries the mighty sorrow of crumpled dreams conveyed through the remarkable voice of his harmonica. Here, even Matthew Stubbs' guitar work came off as delicious gruel rather than flashy dessert.

Not showmen in the least, the backup band played like pros accustomed to doing bar shows and blues clubs. Drummer June Core and bassist Mike Phillips laid out an inspired but controlled sound while Stubbs managed bodacious licks throughout the set. The crowd adored their solos and howled for more of Musselwhite's harp.

You see, the blues elder can sing, but it's his harmonica that tells the story of his life. Musselwhite appeared almost businesslike as he chose which harp to pull out of his silver box between lyrics. But when he put the palm-sized instrument to his lips, he conjured up another world altogether. A world of Mississippi blues and Chicago blues and blues with a tinge of rock, country and everything else it inspires.

If you haven't heard his albums, maybe you've heard Musselwhite's harp in Bonnie Raitt's "Longing in Their Hearts" or Tom Waits' "Mule Variations." Or how about the hit "Suicide Blonde" by INXS?

Blues fans who missed this week's shows where foolish, especially since it took Musselwhite 21 years to get back to Alaska after his first visit. You can still see local band Rebel Blues around town; it kicked out a high- energy show before Musselwhite and the band members kicked up their heals to the old-timer later.

Heaven knows the guy knows how to sink into the blues. Late in the set, while mourning the days gone by in the wistful "Blues for Yesterday" from his 2006 release, "Delta Hardware," Musselwhite revealed his laid-back stage presence for what it really is: the unruffled charisma of a bluesman who can not only remember "the days" but also bring them back.

Daily News arts reporter Dawnell Smith can be reached at adn.com/contact/dsmith or 257-4587.

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