Matthew Stubbs and the Antiguas release their self-titled debut today. Stubbs has served as the guitarist for Charlie Musselwhite for over a decade and the instrumental album combines psych rock with acid blues and Afrobeat. Stubbs thinks of the Antiguas as a timeless musical statement that nods to the past but lives in the here and now.

“It’s meshing vintage sounds with modern tweaks,” says Stubbs. “It's lo-fi inspiration with hi-fi sonics and production.”

Although this night did not turn out exactly how it was intended, it was still a beautiful night of sweaty blues. It was supposed to be a double bill of John Hammond and Charlie Musselwhite, two members of the blues hall. Unfortunately, John Hammond had to cancel due to the sickness of his wife. As Musselwhite would later tell us, it was the first time Hammond had canceled a gig in over 50 years.

All I heard on the streets of Seattle this summer was how great the Bumbershoot lineup looked and that this was one of the best years in recent memory. While 2014 marked only my second year at the music and arts festival that takes over Seattle Center on Labor Day weekend, when I compared this year’s lineup to last year’s impressive collection of artists, I couldn’t help but shake my head sadly.

Ben Harper has teamed with renowned harmonica master Charlie Musselwhite to create Get Up!, a piercing song-cycle of struggle and heart, slated for release by Stax Records/Concord Music Group on January 29th, 2013.