Harmonica player, singer, and composer Charlie Musselwhite has gone deep into the blues with everyone from Big Joe Williams and John Lee Hooker to Tom Waits and Bonnie Raitt. But it is his own recordings that best reflect Musselwhite’s humor, pathos, and genuine understanding of the blues.

His Sanctuary follows the tradition of expressing and reflecting the times through the music. He uses Ben Harper’s “Homeless Child” to portray the desperation of life on the streets and in alleyways. Contributing to the album's generally sparse, moody feel is guitarist Charlie Sexton, who tours and records with Bob Dylan; he and Musselwhite allow lots of space for the tunes to resonate. “Burn Down the Cornfield” (a Randy Newman song that Etta James recorded in the '70s) is both frightening and enticing. “Train to Nowhere,” on which Musselwhite’s vocals have the appeal of J. J. Cale’s singing, has a spooky, existential feel. Backing Musselwhite on this song and the autobiographical “I Had Trouble” are the gospel vocals of the Blind Boys of Alabama. The only cooking song in the set and the most hopeful one, “I Had Trouble” tells of how Musselwhite found the blues, got foolish, went broke, and spent time in Cook County Jail -- but, with a little help from his friends, pulled through it all. It is both his own life story and his feel for the pulse of the times that makes Sanctuary one of Charlie Musselwhite’s most cohesive and interesting releases.

This DVD comes in a soft case and is autographed by Charlie himself.