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GA-20 is an American blues band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band is named after the guitar amplifier manufactured by Gibson from 1950 to 1961. They primarily play Chicago blues.

Background

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Matthew Stubbs formed GA-20 in early 2018 during a hiatus from playing guitar with Charlie Musselwhite, due to Musselwhite touring with Ben Harper[1]. Stubbs sought to put a new project together to do blues gigs aside from his Psych-Rock group The Antiguas. Stubbs met vocalist Pat Faherty through his many local Boston gigs. Faherty was a regular at these gigs and even took guitar lessons from Stubbs.[2] Early performances by the band had a rotating group of musicians with Faherty and Stubbs as the core members. Some early performances used different drummers and various other musicians including Matt Prozialeck on harmonica, sometimes playing as a four-piece band. They adopted the name GA-20 in early 2018. The group became a trio by 2018 consisting of two guitars and drums. About a year after their formation, they scored a deal with Karma Chief Records.[3] The group has been described as a trio that plays stripped down 1950s/1960s-style Chicago blues with a lot of distortion and no bass.[4]

Career

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After signing with Karma Chief Records in December 2018, the band released the single "Naggin' On My Mind" which featured Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson.[5][6] [7][5] It was recorded at Q Division Studios in Somerville, Massachusetts and was produced by Stubbs. Musselwhite performed harmonica on the track, Dickinson was on slide guitar and Chris Anzalone was brought in to play drums. During the session Matthew Prozialeck provided background vocals and played harmonica on what would become the B-side to "Naggin' On My Mind". Additional recordings from this session became the Lonely Soul album.[8]

Their first record a 7" single was released in August 2019 with "Naggin' On My Mind" and "Sit Down Baby" on Karma Chief Records.[9] Their debut album Lonely Soul was released on October 18, 2019. The album debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Blues Chart. In September 2020 they released an EP called GA-20 Live Vol. 1. The EP debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

Their August 2021 album GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor: Try It...You Might Like It! also debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart of September 4, 2021 and was the first album ever to be played in its entirety on the Dr Boogie radio show.[10] Released to mark the 50th anniversary of Hound Dog Taylor and the HouseRockers, Taylor's first disc, the GA-20 tracks are cover versions of songs from both that album and Taylor's second record Natural Boogie. In September of 2022 the band released the studio album Crackdown which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. They followed up Crackdown with the live record Live In Loveland, which debuted at number 2 on the Billboard Blues Chart.

In July of 2024 it was announced that Tim Carman would be replaced, on drums, by Josh Kiggans.[11]

Recognition

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In 2018, GA-20 were nominated for a Boston Music Award for Blues Artist of the year.[12] They have been nominated for the award 7 years in a row. Winning Blues Artist of the year in 2019[13], 2021[14], 2022[15], & 2023[16]. They were nominated for their first Blues Music Award in 2022 for Best Emerging Artist.[17] In 2023 GA-20 was nominated for Blues Band of the year and the album Live In Loveland was nominated for Live Blues Album by the Blues Blast Awards.[18]

Their 2021 album Try It... You Might Like It! received 4 star reviews in both The Guardian[19] and Rolling Stone France.[20]

Band members

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  • Matthew Stubbs, guitar (2018–present)
  • Pat Faherty, lead vocals, guitar (2018–present)
  • Josh Kiggans, drums (2024–present)

Past members

  • Matt Prozialeck, harmonica (2018)
  • Chris Anzalone, drums (2018–2019)
  • Tim Carman, drums (2019-2024)

Discography

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Singles
Act Release title Catalogue Year Fmt Notes #
GA-20
featuring
Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson
 "Naggin’ On My Mind" Karma Chief Records KCR12004dig1 December 2018 Digital [21][22]
GA-20
featuring
Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson
 "Naggin’ On My Mind" / "Sit Down Baby" Karma Chief Records KCR-105 August 2019 Vinyl [9]
Albums
Release title Catalogue Year Fmt Notes #
Lonely Soul Karma Chief Records KCR12004 October 2019 LP, CD, Tape, Digital Peaked on Billboard Blues Albums at #2
GA-20 Live Vol. 1 Karma Chief Records KCR110 September 2020 EP, CD, Digital Debut on Billboard Blues Albums at #1
Try It...You Might Like It! GA-20 Does Hound Dog Taylor Karma Chief Records KCR12017 August 2021 LP, CD, Digital Debut on Billboard Blues Albums at #1[23]
Crackdown Karma Chief Records KCR12007 September 2022 LP, CD, Digital Debut on Billboard Blues Albums at #1[24]
Live In Loveland [recorded 1/09/20] Karma Chief Records KCR12016 March 2023 LP, CD, Digital Debut on Billboard Blues Albums at #2

References

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  1. ^ https://www.vintageguitar.com/48826/ga-20s-matt-stubbs-and-pat-faherty/
  2. ^ https://www.vintageguitar.com/48826/ga-20s-matt-stubbs-and-pat-faherty/
  3. ^ Michael, Marc (February 20, 2019). "Naggin' On My Mind". Chattanoogapulse.com.
  4. ^ "Top 10 Local Acts on the Rise | Improper Bostonian". Improper.com.
  5. ^ a b Vanyaland, February 1, 2019 - Studio 52 Featured Band of the Week: GA-20
    Electric blues duo of Matthew Stubbs and Pat Faherty play Toad in Cambridge tonight (February 1)
  6. ^ With Guitars, February 16, 2019 - New Blues single from GA-20’s Naggin’ On My Mind w/ Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson
  7. ^ The Joy of Violent Movement, /February 17, 2019 - New Audio: JOVM Mainstay Matthew Stubbs Teams Up with Pat Faherty, Charlie Musselwhite, and Luther Dickinson on a Boogie Blues Number by William Ruben Helms
  8. ^ "GA-20 – Lonely Soul (2019, Red Translucent, Vinyl)". Discogs.
  9. ^ a b "GA-20 – Naggin' on My Mind (2019, Blue, Vinyl)". Discogs.
  10. ^ "La playlist du lundi 4 octobre 2021". Rtbf.be. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  11. ^ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1023808753085871&set=pb.100063702667006.-2207520000&type=3
  12. ^ Wbur.org, September 21, 2018 - Here Are All The 2018 Boston Music Awards Nominees, BLUES ARTIST OF THE YEAR By Amelia Mason
  13. ^ https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-2019/
  14. ^ https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-2021/
  15. ^ https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-2022/
  16. ^ https://bostonmusicawards.com/bma/boston-music-awards-2023/
  17. ^ "Blues Music Awards". Blues.org.
  18. ^ https://www.bluesblastmagazine.com/2023-blues-blast-music-award-nominees/
  19. ^ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/aug/14/ga-20-try-it-you-might-like-it-review-hound-dog-taylor-chicago-blues-alligator
  20. ^ https://www.rollingstone.fr/ga-20-coming-back-to-my-roots/
  21. ^ "Boomkat: Independent Music Specialist". Boomkat.com.
  22. ^ iTunes - Naggin’ on My Mind (feat. Charlie Musselwhite and Luther Dickinson) - Single GA-20
  23. ^ "Blues Albums". Billboard.com. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  24. ^ https://pavementpr.com/artists/ga-20/
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