Two blues legends bring a trove of music history to the Golden State stage.

For Charlie Musselwhite, the blues is more than just a musical genre.

"The blues is an attitude," Musselwhite says. "The blues is your buddy in good times and your comforter in bad times. It's a way of living life."

Musselwhite is a master of blues harmonica who brought his instrument and the depth of blues to a wider rock audience in the 1970s with gender-bending, influential recordings as leader of his own band. 

This weekend he pairs up touring in support of their latest collection 100 Years Of Blues with an equally recognized blues master, guitarist Elvin Bishop, who did the same to spread the genre during the stadium-rock era as a member of the seminal Paul Butterfield Blues Band.

"Elvin is always a joy to play music with," Musselwhite says. "Musically it’s like fallin' off a log. This is just us sitting down to play the music that we love and resonating together effortlessly."

"The blues is music from the heart instead of the head," says Musselwhite. "B.B. King could sing ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ and it would come out sounding like the blues."

Charlie Musselwhite and Elvin Bishop play 7pm Saturday, May 24 $40-$95 Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $40-$95. 649.1070 goldenstatetheatre.com.