We saw James Cotton and Charlie Musselwhite and their respective bands at the Minnesota Zoo June 16. Both are maybe a little past their prime (ahem), but both can still bring it.

These clips are from different shows in the same month (June 13 and 24, respectively), so they’re almost exactly what we saw.

Charlie Musselwhite and his band opened:

Mr. Superharp wrapped things up:

I don’t want to come across as a musical one-trick phoney, so I do try to mix it up with our Friday afternoon feature. We featured Warren Haynes last week, so I didn’t want to go that route again, but I am in the mood for some more sizzling fret work.

So I searched YouTube for some Derek Trucks to share. Lots of stuff popped up, but this is where I landed. It’s a duet, featuring Trucks … and Haynes. I considered looking elsewhere, but then I listened to the piece.

It’s just two guys playing acoustic slide guitar -- looks like maybe backstage. I can’t pass it up. Listen and you’ll understand.

Old Friend.

Check this one out. You’ll agree with me that it’s smokin’ hot!

It’s the Warren Haynes Band — fronted by Warren himself (duh), with the incredible Ruthie Foster on backing vocals — from their upcoming album, Man in Motion (out May 10). A week and a half before release, the album is already No. 1 in hot new releases in blues at Amazon.

The second song on the album is … River’s Gonna Rise.

I offer this one up with very little comment. It’s just a great Friday afternoon song -- here, performed live.

Bang along!

If we hadn’t already received our refund check, which renders tax deadline day anti-climactic, I might be tempted to pull out a tax-related song to celebrate the arrival of April 15. The only that one that comes to mind is the Beatles’ Taxman. So never mind.

How about a great tune from Gov’t Mule. Let’s invite Warren Haynes and the boys to celebrate Tax Day 2011 with Soulshine.

You’ve got to let your soul shine. It’s better than sunshine. Better than moonshine. It’s damn sure better than rain.