After 25 years, the North Mississippi Allstars celebrate a milestone on their latest album, Still Shakin'.
The loose musical collective, led by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson, released their debut album Shake Hands With Shorty in 2000. It was a Grammy nominee for Best Contemporary Blues Album, their first of five during a run of remarkably consistent high-quality albums, most recently with Set Sail in 2022.
The band made a name for themselves with a hill country blues sound that detoured easily into Southern rock, electric boogie, funk and much more. They were just as comfortable at a jam band festival as they were at the local juke joint.
Still Shakin' looks back at the past 25 years with nods to their prior albums and the rich musical tapestry they draw from.
Opener "Preachin' Blues" takes Robert Johnson's original and funk-tifies it to the max, with Luther Dickinson doing his best blues coo over Cody's unrelenting drum beat. Rounding out the current lineup of the band are multi-instrumentalist Ray Ray Holloman, whose pedal steel taps into the haunting original, and Joey Williams of the Blind Boys of Alabama.
Beyond the official band members, North Mississippi Allstars have always been a family and communal affair with a wide array of guests on every album.
Frequent contributors Sharisse and Shontelle Norman join Luther on the Junior Kimbrough number, "My Mind is Ramblin'." Anchored by Holloman's rolling bass line, it's a summer breeze in a song.
Other than perhaps R.L. Burnside, there is no bigger influence on the music of NMA than Kimbrough. His songs are a huge part of the hill country blues idiom, and you can hear his rolling and hynotic guitar style in nearly everything the band produces.
Williams takes the lead vocal on "Pray for Peace," a new version of the title track in NMA's 2017 album, Prayer for Peace. The song's subject matter is a perfect fit for the member of the spiritual gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama.
In a nod to the band's jam music ties, Widespread Panic lead singer Jojo Hermann guests on "K.C. Jones (Part II)" along with Phil Lesh's son, Grahame Lesh on bass. The liner notes show that the album is dedicated the late Grateful Dead bassist, but this version of the song comes from Furry Lewis' late 1920s recording.
Never a band stuck in the past, NMA build R.L. Burnside's "Poor Boy" out of a squelchy synth bass line from Holloman. Burnside himself released music that updated the blues for modern audiences, like the dance and hip-hop fusion of 1997's Come On In. "Poor Boy" features vocals and guitar R.L.'s son Duwayne.
Still Shakin' is everything you want in a North Mississippi Allstars album. Loose, bluesy, funky and friendly. It sounds like a group of friends, who happen to be exceptional musicians, hanging out and playing the music that is deeply embedded in their culture and community, because that's exactly what it is.
Must Listens
- "Preachin' Blues"
- "My Mind is Ramblin'"
- "Pray for Peace"
- "K.C. Jones (Part II)"
- "Poor Boy"
- "Don't Let the Devil Ride"
- "John Henry"
