Pop-Up Performance Series: Layla Musselwhite

Layla Musselwhite is a New Orleans-based singer-songwriter and slide guitarist. Drawing on a rich musical legacy via her father, blues legend Charlie Musselwhite, Layla grew up on the road steeped in the music of the greatest blues artists of our time. Charlie’s innovative playing led him to share stages and travel the world with artists like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Big Mama Thornton – & John Lee Hooker was Charlie’s best man when her folks decided to make it legal. These artists were legends to many and family to Layla. As a teenager, she started getting lessons in Mississippi hill country guitar from Charlie, and her solo shows reveal her understanding and deep respect for early blues rhythms and melody, with a contemporary, soulful voice that sends chills down the spine.

You’ve got to hear her play slide. Brian Stoltz from the Meters said when they shared a stage at Chickie Wah Wah that she was “The real thing – lots of guys try to play like that, and they can’t. She’s got it. Amazing.”