Hill country blues
The North Mississippi Allstars pay tribute to their “ancient and futuristic” roots
ÒIT was a perfect Sunday afternoon that rolled into the evening,” Luther Dickinson recalls of the day Wyatt Mcspadden came to North Mississippi in 1996. The Texan photographer had arrived to take pictures of local musicians. Singer-guitarist Dickinson, along with his drummer brother Cody, took it upon themselves to act as guides, introducing him to blues greats RL Burnside, Otha Turner and Junior Kimbrough. “Everybody was just hanging out, playing music,” says Luther, who’d recently formed North Mississippi Allstars with Cody. “We all ended up at Junior’s juke joint.”
Mcspadden shared a few images with the Dickinsons, but forgot about the rest until he tracked Luther down in 2017. “Wyatt showed me all these photos and they blew my mind. We decided to make music to accompany them, in a fantasy way. Like, what would’ve been on the radio that day? I’m a sucker for a concept record.”
Up And Rolling, the North Mississippi Allstars’ latest, is housed in Mcspadden’s striking black-andwhite image of Kimbrough’s club, with the brothers just visible on the front porch. The LP features various guests, among them Mavis Staples, Cedric Burnside (grandson of RL, who died in 2005) and Sharde Thomas, Otha Turner’s grandaughter.
It’s a warm, rootsy, effervescent set of covers and originals that extends the rich heritage of the surrounding hill country. Luther calls it “modern Mississippi music, ancient and futuristic”. The spirit of Kimbrough, Burnside and Turner is palpable. “Otha was like a grandpa to me,” Luther explains of the late fife and drum master. “He was a real mentor. I was 18 or 19 when I first recorded him. I went down to his farm and that’s when I first met Sharde. She was only about eight then, dancing to the music. Shortly thereafter she became Otha’s apprentice. Now she’s the queen of the hill country blues.”
“It’s so important to keep Otha’s memory and tradition alive,” says Thomas, who features on Burnside’s “Peaches” and her grandfather’s own “Call That Gone”. “I just latched onto Otha and started playing. I became his shadow. Then Luther and Cody would come over and play music. They were like big brothers to me. Whenever Luther wants to jam, I’m always down for it.”
As for Burnside, the Dickinsons learned to tour when the singerguitarist took them out on the road in 1997, in the earliest days of North Mississippi Allstars. “RL’S mood was infectious,” Luther laughs. “Wherever he was in the world, he could make people feel like they were at his house party, sitting in long chairs on a Sunday afternoon.”
Mavis Staples is another old family friend. Her guest appearance on a handsome new version of “What You Gonna Do”, initially from The Staple Singers’ 1965 classic, Freedom Highway, is a highlight. Similarly, a smoky revamp of “Mean Old World” (with Jason Isbell and Duane Betts) taps directly into the lineage of their late father, the celebrated producer and session man, Jim Dickinson.
“That song was originally an outtake from the Layla… album,” explains Luther, “recorded on the day of Jimi Hendrix’s funeral [October 1, 1970]. Derek & The Dominos all went, but Clapton heard they wanted him to play, which he didn’t want to do, so he stayed in Miami. The only people in the studio for ‘Mean Old World’ were Duane [Allman], dad and Clapton.”
Above all, Up And Rolling is about community, connections and the unifying power of Mississippi blues. “There are a lot of dark things in Mississippi history,” says Luther, “but the music brought everyone together. And it still does that. We’re just trying to spread a little love.”
“There are a lot of dark things in Mississippi history, but music brought everyone together”