The crowd at Darwin’s Blues Club in Marietta was fairly light but  grew to a comfortable size for a Tuesday night as Dave Muskett  took to the stage and began to entertain. The listeners were with him from the beginning, most of them having seen him in Memphis at the International Blues Challenge in January

Muskett, accompanied by an excellent young harmonica player named Carson Diersing, seemed to be enjoying the intimate setting. He was loose and conversational. as he played a mix of covers and original acoustic songs, most in traditional Piedmont blues finger-picking style. The original songs from his excellent album “Live at the Slippery Noodle Inn” included “Sweet Mary Jane,” “Handyman Blues,” “She Can’t Give Me the Blues,” and the audience-participation favorite, “Pet That Thing.”

The covers ranged through a lot of folk and blues territory, including Taj Mahal, Doc Watson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Lyle Lovett, and Muddy Waters. It is obvious that Muskett has fantastic taste in music (his being very similar to my own.) He also has tremendous skill, the good sense to travel with a great harp player, and a lot of personality. It is easy to see how he has made it to the finals of the IBCs two times! He was a delight last night. Thanks to Darwin’s for having him out and I hope people spread the word so next time it’s standing room only!