Expect a high-powered evening of great music when Providence-based blues trio GA-20 takes the Narrows Center stage on Saturday, September 26. The Fall RIver, MA show wraps up the U.S. leg of the band’s current tour, which continues in Europe with stops in Denmark, Sweden, France, and the UK in October.
It’s an impressive run for a band that plays more than 100 live shows a year, this time in support of their new album, Blues Now. It’s all par for the course for guitarist and founder Matt Stubbs, who formed GA-20 in 2017 between gigs with blues legend Charlie Musselwhite. Musselwhite will join the band at the Narrows show for an evening that promises plenty of grit, groove, and old-school electricity.
GA-20 brings the blues back to basics: two guitarists – Stubbs and Cody Nilsen – drummer Josh Kiggans, vintage amps, and enough raw energy to make the music feel a little dangerous. The band upped its game in ‘26, signing with New West Records, appearing on CBS Saturday Morning, and landing cover photos in Vintage Guitar and Guitar Player. This week, the group will be showcased at AmericanaFest in Nashville, further cementing its rising status.
I spoke to Stubbs while the band was barnstorming through the Midwest, ahead of a show in Milwaukee, WI, where they were opening for Devon Allman. He explained how Musselwhite got involved with their latest project. “I've worked with Charlie as his touring guitarist for 18 years, and played on a few of his records,” he noted. “GA20 started at the end of 2017 when Charlie made a record with Ben Harper and was going out on the road with Harper for a year. So, I had a year off ahead of me, I didn't want to get a day job, and had to figure out a way to earn some money. So I started GA20 when I was living in Boston.”
Stubbs says his original goal was simply to get some gigs around town and pay the bills while waiting to return to work with Musselwhite. “And then fast-forward, after that year with Ben, I was juggling both, going out touring with Charlie and with GA-20. It grew kind of organically, and we got a record deal, and we were touring.”
The concept for the new album developed gradually. “I always wanted to produce a record with Charlie. I produce all the GA-20 stuff, and I always loved Charlie's first record, Stand Back, probably my favorite record of his. So, it was always in the back of my head (to record an album with him) if the opportunity were to come up, and GA 20 seemed like a good vehicle.”
Stubbs proposed the idea a few years ago. Musselwhite liked it, and the musicians eventually found time to record together. “He flew up to Boston, and we went into Rare Signals Studio in Cambridge,” said Stubbs. “We booked it for six days, went in, and played – we recorded it the old-school way, with everyone in one room live and minimal overdubs. It was all just kind of organic, trying to get it to sound like those classic blues records.”
The result is a sound that feels vintage, yet fresh – and notably popular among a younger generation of blues fans. We’re not quite talking teenagers, but GA-20’s audience includes plenty of listeners in their 20s, 30s and 40s, as well as a more traditional (ok, older) blues demographic.
The band’s collaboration with Musselwhite runs deep. “I joined his band when I was pretty young, so traveling, being around each other so much – whether it was in airplanes or vans or backstage – he influenced me,” said Stubbs. “He was there in Chicago in the sixties around all these larger-than-life, blues legends like Buddy Guy and BB King. Not only did he get to see them, but he was buddies with them. They were like drinking buddies, jamming together, and all that. So hearing all those stories kind of puts a different perspective on it when I hear him talk about these guys.”
Stubbs is equally influenced by Musselwhite’s distinctive musical style. “There’s also Charlie's approach to playing blues or music in general. He leaves a lot of space, he has a real signature sound,” added Stubbs. “If a movie comes on, I always know it's him – if he's on the soundtrack, I hear the harmonica. He's really developed a specific sound, which I think is really important, more so than maybe being the fastest player or playing the most notes. He's very soulful, and I think that's a really important thing.”
With youthful energy on their side, GA-20 continues to expand its audience while introducing younger fans to Chicago blues. Stubbs isn’t surprised that the band has connected with a younger crowd. “To begin with, we're on the younger side of it, as far as blues bands go. I think a lot of times people are not familiar with blues – or maybe they know a little bit about it – there's a stereotype of what blues is or what it sounds like: slow, down and out, or it's not a good time. And it's kind of the opposite. All the stuff that I've always been attracted to and listened to, a lot of it really just sounds like early rock'n'roll.”
“It's where rock and roll came from. It's upbeat, it's high energy, it can be loud. That’s where GA20 is coming from.”
Click here for tickets to the Narrows Center show.
Check out the band’s appearance on CBS Saturday Morning here.
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