Musco Center Presents Elvin Bishop & Charlie Musselwhite Duo 1.27

Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University presents the Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite Duo on January 27 at 4 pm. Blues Hall of Fame inductees guitarist Elvin Bishop and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite offer a sizzling blues jam session seasoned with decades of experience.

In their long careers, Bishop and Musselwhite have become synonymous with the blues tradition. "The blues cuts through and connects to listeners on a deeper level," said Richard T. Bryant, Executive Director of Musco Center. "These two are masters of their instruments and together they are simply sublime."

Their 2019 Grammy Award nominations for Best Traditional Blues Album proves their staying power. Rounding out the nomination category is Buddy Guy, who sold out Musco Center for the Arts in 2018. Bishop and Musselwhite will perform at Musco Center in their only joint Southern California show weeks before the 2019 Grammy Awards ceremony.

Elvin Bishop's passion and pursuit of the blues first led him to the South Side of Chicago after humble beginnings on farms in Iowa and Oklahoma where he began sitting in on clubs with other guitar legends including Buddy Guy and Otis Rush. His time in the city evolved his playing into a unique Chicago blues sound that drifted further into progressive and experimental rock 'n' roll with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. His soulful guitar licks and rhythmic signature can still be felt today. As a member of the band, Bishop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

At the end of the 1960s, following his time with Paul Butterfield, Bishop moved west to San Francisco. As a regular at the famed Fillmore Auditorium jam sessions he played alongside Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, B.B. King and many others before embarking on a solo career. Entertainment Weekly described Bishop's music as "sheer, unpretentious joy."

After developing a sound on his harmonica influenced by Memphis rockabilly, western swing, and electric blues, Charlie Musselwhite continued his education in the Chicago music scene. Musselwhite developed his emotionally nuanced style alongside legends including Lew Soloff, Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Big Walter Horton. "Legendary is an overused term," exclaims Time Out New York, "but it's also the only word that suits this heavyweight blues harpist."

As a band leader and solo artist, Musselwhite has released more than 25 albums, as well as guesting on albums by many other notable musicians including Bonnie Raitt, INXS, Tom Waits and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2010, Musselwhite has recently toured with Cyndi Lauper and collaborated with Ben Harper, winning a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Blues Album for their collaboration Get Up!

Tickets for January 27 are on sale now for $25-55 and may be purchased through the Musco Center online at www.muscocenter.org or by calling the box office at 844-OC-MUSCO (844-626-8726). All print-at-home tickets include a no-cost parking pass. Musco Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Chapman University at 415 North Glassell, Orange, Calif.

Since it opened on March 19, 2016, Marybelle and Sebastian P. Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University has been hailed as "an ideal opera house, potentially the best in the West and maybe even something more" by the Los Angeles Times.

Designed by renowned architects Pfeiffer Partners, with acoustics by world-renowned Yasuhisa Toyota of Nagata Acoustics, Musco Center boasts an intimate seating chamber with 1,044 seats on three levels and a full-scale stagehouse capable of grand spectacle or lush symphonic sound with its unique orchestral shell in place. Musco Center serves as a dynamic focal point for campus life and the broader community, giving notice that world-class arts education and artistic achievement have found a new home in Southern California.

For more information about Musco Center and its upcoming events, and to purchase tickets online, visit www.muscocenter.org.

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