Product Description
NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS - STILL SHAKIN'
RELEASE DATE JUNE 06, 2025. ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!
North Mississippi Allstars
Still Shakin’
New West Records
In Faulkner’s Mississippi, where The Sound And The Fury resonates still, the North Mississippi Allstars kick off their latest recording, Still Shakin’, with “Preachin’ Blues.” In accelerando, it gets this hard-charging disc on its way. Those Dickinson boys, Luther and Cody, are up to their usual tricks. This time, they rope in outstanding performances by Joey Williams of the Blind Boys of Alabama and Ray Ray Holloman, guitarist for, of all people, Eminem. It’s what they call Modern Mississippi Music – a formula comprising Mississippi Hill Country plus Sacred Steel with (their description) stoner punk/low-rent psychedelic jams.
Whatever it is, it’s a helluva act. This recording faithfully replicates what I’ve recently seen on stage.
These songs are all great listening. A few that stand out (for me) are as follows: “Pray For Peace,” for starters. Williams sings that line as the Dickinson boys back him up. “I wish we could be color blind,” is a poignant cry as his guitar leads the ensemble through the gospel-style song call and response verses ending in a child calling out, faintly, “Daddy.” Cody’s daughter? Maybe.
“K.C. Jones (Part II)” borrows from the original song by Furry Lewis. Cody provides the vocals and the choo-choo drumming with bass help from Grahame (son of Phil) Lesh. I’d be remiss if I didn’t single out the title track – with backing vocals from Sharisse and Shontelle Morgan – for additional praise. An original? Yes, by those Dickinson lads. I also like the subsequent song, “Poor Boy,” which was penned by R.L. Burnside, with whom the Allstars have had a lot of experience.
“Don’t Let the Devil Ride” is a ‘traditional’ song, with a distinctly untraditional instrumentation, incorporating psychedelic flourishes and curious rhythm patterns. The final track, an instrumental called “Monomyth,” was inspired, they say, by waking up on the 15th anniversary of their legendary producer father’s (Jim Dickinson) passing, recorded on his baby grand piano.
This album comes some 25 years after their first, Shakin’ Hands With Shorty. Ever since, they’ve been hard at work creating their own distinctive sound and style of blues. They say they record to document their travels – “DIY by any means necessary,” is how they describe it. Recording vocals in hotel rooms using their kids’ plastic karaoke microphone, for instance. And anytime they encountered a cool keyboard, they’d quickly set up and record with it, to be worked later into a song or two.
This recording is great fun by great musicians. I feel it’s a departure from a typical blues album in that the sound is artfully textured – nuanced, even. Listen to it and see if you don’t agree and do catch them when they come to a venue near you. There are many on their current tour schedule.
– M.E. Travaglini