Concerts

GA-20 brings the blues back to Boston

Come feel the groove.

Boston born GA-20 are masters of the Chicago blues sound. Courtesy

By Christopher Gavin

1 minute to read

Ohhh baby don’t you wanna go? Back to that same old place, sweet home…Allston.

GA-20 is bringing its raw, old-school bluesy grooves back to Boston for a hometown show at Brighton Music Hall on Dec. 17, where there will undoubtedly be some hot guitar licks to warm up the crowd.

The band, formed in 2018 by friends Pat Faherty and Matthew Stubbs (drummer Tim Carman joined the following year), are currently touring the country behind its second release, “GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It…You Might Like It!” an homage to the legendary Chicago bluesman in recognition of the 50th anniversary of his debut album.

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Naturally, GA-20 proudly displays its influences front and center. The group itself was formed to celebrate the heavy, traditional blues, rock & roll, and R&B of the 1950s and 60s in a new era, fueled by Faherty’s and Stubbs’ mutual adoration of greats like Buddy Guy, Earl Hooker, Junior Wells, Lazy Lester, and J.B. Lenoir.

Their first album, 2019’s “Lonely Soul,” debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard blues charts while “Live: Vol. 1,” released in 2020, entered at No. 1.

“A lot of other genres like traditional country and soul music have had these revivals lately, blues really hasn’t had that in a long time,” Stubbs, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island (Faherty and Carman are Boston-based) told What’s Up Newport in October. “GA-20, we’re doing it by trying to put out records that we want to hear.”

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