GA-20
“Sounds like something Junior Wells would have done if he ever recorded with Fat Possum!” –American Highways
GA-20 was formed by friends Pat Faherty and long-time Charlie Musselwhite guitarist Matthew Stubbs in Boston in 2018. The band is named after a legendary Gibson amplifier made in the 1950s, and the project was born out of a love of the heavy traditional blues, R&B, and rock & roll of the same era. Joined by drummer Tim Carman in 2019, GA-20 is a trio of two guitars, vocals and drums. Raw, passionate, and honest performance, both on stage and in the studio, is the only goal.
GA-20 released their debut album Lonely Soul in 2019, and the album debuted at #2 on the Billboard blues charts. “Live: Vol. 1”, released the following year, debuted at #1 on the Billboard blues charts and brought the band’s live sound to a wider audience. Medium.com declared, “This is the kind of music that travels through time while taking from the era where it was born and turning it into something fresh. Dirty and raw…timeless and modern.” Last summer, GA-20 debuted at #1 again with the new album “GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It…You Might Like It!” a 50th anniversary celebration of Hound Dog Taylor.
Many other critics also celebrate the authentic sound produced by the band. “GA-20, led by blues guitarists Matthew Stubbs and Pat Faherty, mines the 1950s and 1960s territory where blues, R&B and rock & roll came together in both a sensual and fiery way,” writes Mayer Danzig, of Twangville. And Blues Blast Magazine wrote of Try It…You Might Like It that it is “a superb release, an outstanding throwback to the harsh but irresistible intimacy of Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers. This is pretty much an essential purchase for any fan of classic Chicago blues.”
Stubbs has spent the past 13 years as guitarist for blues legend Charlie Musselwhite. During that time, he has also backed up and toured with such blues giants as John Hammond, James Cotton, Junior Watson and James Harman. Stubbs also leads his own original instrumental psych-rock band, The Antiguas.
