North Mississippi All-Stars Carry On Blues Tradition

Heard any good washboard solos lately? Chances are you have not unless you caught the North Mississippi All-Stars live, whereas Luther Dickinson trades in his guitar for a rough and tumble washboard solo. Cody and Luther Dickinson, who are best known for fronting acoustic band Gutbucket, have turned their prodigious music talent to deep delta blues and formed the North Mississippi all-stars. After enlisting high school friend Chris Chew on bass, NMAS played blues festivals throughout the south, including the famous Sunflower Blues Festival in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Luther's electric guitar and a heavy sound to such unfiltered deep blues covers as Shake Em On Down and Drinkin' Muddy Water on their first Tone-Cool release, the EP Shake Hands With Shorty.

Dad Jim was a sessionman for artists as diverse as the Stones and Dr. John. Luther and Cody learned their chops firsthand and were at the mixing board for the likes of Beck and the Replacements by the time they were in their teens. "Shake Hands With Shorty" shows the kids that real blues music and electric guitar can co-mingle without getting too diluted in the mix.

Other CDs of note:

The Gift of Game - Crazytown (Columbia)

A hybrid of rap/rock from a band that's been chugging around L.A. for years. Some of "The Gift of Game" is hit or miss, but when it works, it's truly addictive, like the nightclub love song "Butterfly" and the truth in advertising "Players Only Love You when They're Playin'". The hometown dis "Hollywood Babylon" should be required listening for transplantees, as it lists the reasons people move to L.A. (which happens to be the same reasons to get the hell out.) Another example of the evolution of 20 years of rap/hip-hop, as white suburban kids who've grown up on a diet of rap and rock fuse it into their own sound. "The Gift of Game" isn't as graphically violent as anything by Eminem or as chock full o'swearing as Kid Rock, but vocalists Epic Mazur and Shifty Shellshock can turn a racy phrase or two

Let's Get It On - Step Kings - Roadrunner

The Stepkings, a three-piece band fresh out of the New York underground scene, unleash their fury on this 12 track collection. Things get off to a rousing start with "Vibe", which certainly lives up to its name. Fern's fast-paced vocals are punctuated by the one-two punch of Bob McLynn on bass and Mike Watt on drums. Stand-out cuts include the "I'm bad for you, I'll hurt you again" motif of "Move On" and "Recognition" which veers into Limp Bizkit terrain.

Go To Page: 1

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic