:: North Mississippi Allstars - Polaris

North Mississippi Allstars

Luther & Cody Dickinson, the sons of famed Memphis producer Jim Dickinson, formed The North Mississippi Allstars in 1999. They recruited bassist Chris Chew to complete the line up and their first two albums ‘Shake Hands With Shorty’ (2000) and ‘51 Phantom’ (2001) both received lavish media attention and Grammy nominations. Guitarist Duwayne Burnside joined last year and hailed as “a culmination of all their efforts, archival and innovative, tempered by history and sparked by a sense of risk and experimentation” their third album ‘Polaris’ was born. There’s definitely a strong Southern USA, blues and roots rock twang here. The guitars range from grunt & sharp edged to soft & fuzzy, yet the predominant tone is undoubtedly the electric slide pounce of tracks like ‘Eyes’ and the title track (if you remember what the electric slide on Jimmy Barnes’s ‘Driving Wheels sounds like, it’s uncannily similar to that). Rhythms range from the strong country swagger of ‘Time For the Sun to Rise’ to dead ahead rock, as does instrumentation, attitude and intent, but contemporary country rock is without a doubt, the primary flavour of this dish.

Evan Alexander is a freelance journalist, an accredited composer/songwriter, frontman for Brisbane Alt/Indie Rock outfit AGE 6 (www.age6.com.au), and a solo performer. Contact Evan via Heapsaflash Music at heapsaflash@hotmail.com