Finding hope in the blues Harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite finds ‘Sanctuary’ in dark but uplifting music

Some view the blues as depressing.

Charlie Musselwhite would beg to differ. The veteran harmonica player sees the musical style as uplifting, and said that’s why the blues are globally popular.

“Everyone can identify with it, everywhere I go around the world,” said Musselwhite, 60, in a phone interview from his San Francisco Bay-area home. “It’s about life, and everyone has these common experiences. But the blues always give you hope. They say, ‘It’s tough, but we can get through it.’ ”

Musselwhite will be bringing the blues to the Maine Center for the Arts in Orono on Tuesday, Oct. 12, along with New Orleans keyboard genius Dr. John and up-and-coming belter Shemekia Copeland. “Celebrating the Blues” will start at 7 p.m. at the Hutchins Concert Hall.

Musselwhite goes way back with Dr. John and Copeland as well.

“Dr. John is a great musician and a great guy, too,” he said. “He’s a good friend, and we have a great time on the road together. I’ve always known Shemekia and her dad [the late blues guitarist Johnny Clyde Copeland], and she’s a good friend as well.”

After dabbling in Tejano, Cuban and Brazilian music, Musselwhite is back with the blues on “Sanctuary,” his first album for David Byrne’s Realworld label. Of it, Jeff Johnson of the Chicago Sun Times wrote, “Once every few years, a blues album comes along that’s so overwhelming[ly] powerful, so moving that it transcends the genre and gains across-the-board acclaim. Harmonica great Charlie Musselwhite’s … ‘Sanctuary’ refutes any critic who dares to say they don’t write great blues songs anymore.”

Musselwhite is basking in the glow of such critical acclaim.

“A good review always makes you feel better,” he said. “I’ve been really happy about the way it’s been received. People listened to it, and got it.”

“Sanctuary” is not party blues. The quiet, intense album features four Musselwhite originals and covers of songs by Randy Newman, Townes Van Zandt, Sonny Landreth and Ben Harper. Using his low-pitched or spoke-sung vocals, Musselwhite serves as tour guide down lonely highways late at night.

“The overall mood is dark,” he understated. “But it’s not depressing; it just reflects the times we’re in. I want the listener to think of this as a place to rest. After all, the spirit of the blues in general is about keeping on, keeping on.”

Musselwhite and producers John Chelew and Chris Goldsmith made the song selections for the album. The harmonica player was accompanied in studio by guitar ace Charlie Sexton, bassist Jared Michael Nickerson and drummer Michael Jerome, with guest performances by Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

“Looking back, the music seemed to have its own momentum,” Musselwhite recalled. “The project knew where it was going, and took us there. We couldn’t do any wrong. We just followed the will of the music.”

“Sanctuary” is just the latest development in Musselwhite’s storied career. He has released more than 20 albums over the past 38 years, and has earned 14 W.C. awards and six Grammy nominations. He’s recorded with artists as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, John Lee Hooker, INXS and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Musselwhite is almost a history of the blues in himself. He was born in the Mississippi Delta. He grew up in Memphis, befriending the Memphis Jug Band’s Will Shade and Furry Lewis. When the law suggested he move on, he went north to get a factory job in Chicago, but instead he ended up a fixture at the blues clubs on that city’s South Side, playing with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Hooker and Little Walter.

After his 1966 Vanguard debut album, “Stand Back!,” achieved underground success, Musselwhite’s path was set. He soon moved to the San Francisco music scene, where he has been ever since.

Did Musselwhite have any sense that he was a rare white musician in a genre pioneered by blacks?

“I was so wrapped up in enjoying myself and hanging out,” he said wistfully. “I didn’t have any perspective when I was in the middle of it. I wish I had paid more attention. I wish I’d had a camera or a recorder to capture all those moments. Maybe someday there’ll be a way to download my brain.”

Musselwhite has seen the blues take off over the decades.

“When I started out, it wasn’t anything like it is now,” he said. “There were no magazines, books, societies and festivals dedicated to the blues. It’s flourishing compared to then. The blues never go away, because they’re not a fad.”

Whatever he does next, Musselwhite will be playing the blues.

“I’ve always liked the blues,” he said. “Even if I was in some other line of work, I’d be playing the blues for my friends. Luckily, things seem to fall into place. Love of the music just brought me here. I’ve had no plan. I just kept going through the doors it would open.”

Tickets for “Celebrating the Blues” are available at the Maine Center for the Arts box office, by calling 581-1755 or by accessing www.mainecenterforthearts.org. Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.