North Mississippi Allstars is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...

band from

Hernando, Mississippi Hernando is the county seat of DeSoto County, on the northwestern border of Mississippi, United States. The population was 17,138 according to the 2020 census records. It is located on the south side of the Memphis, Tennessee metro area. U.S ...

, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers

Luther Dickinson Luther Andrews Dickinson (born January 18, 1973) is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the North Mississippi Allstars and the son of record producer Jim Dickinson. He is also known for being a guitarist for The Black Crowes. He hosts '' Guita ...

(guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, electric washboard, vocals). Their most recent album '' Set Sail'' was released in 2022.

History

The group was formed in 1996 by brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson (sons of Memphis musician and producer

Jim Dickinson James Luther Dickinson (November 15, 1941 – August 15, 2009) was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Biography Dickinson was born in Li ...

), along with bassist Chris Chew, with the intention of combining the

and bluegrass of the

North Mississippi North Mississippi is a region in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Mississippi, consisting of Alcorn County, Mississippi, Alcorn, Itawamba County, Mississippi, Itawamba, Lee County, Mississippi, Lee, Pontotoc County, Mississippi, Pontot ...

region with

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and other modern forms. Their first album '' Shake Hands with Shorty'' was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Their later albums '' 51 Phantom'' and '' Electric Blue Watermelon'' have received nominations in the same category. The group also won a

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

for Best New Artist Debut in 2001. Starting in 2000, the Dickinson brothers and Chew have also participated in supergroup The Word with Robert Randolph and

John Medeski Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...

. The band made its network television debut in 2000 on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'' and served as the house band on the program ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'' for a short period in 2004. Guitarist Duwayne Burnside, son of Mississippi blues musician R. L. Burnside, has often collaborated with the group, and was added as an official member in 2003–2004. The band backed

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including New wave music, new wave, blues, and country music, country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Gramm ...

on the album '' Master of Disaster'' and the associated tour in 2005. North Mississippi Allstars albums are known for featuring many guest stars; for example, their 2005 album ''Electric Blue Watermelon'' included guest appearances by

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

, Robert Randolph, the

Dirty Dozen Brass Band The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is an American brass band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensemble was established in 1977, by Benny Jones and members of the Tornado Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen incorporated funk and bebop into the traditional D ...

, and traditional musician

Otha Turner Othar "Otha" Turner (June 2, 1907 – February 27, 2003) was one of the last well-known fife players in the vanishing American fife and drum blues tradition. His music was also part of the African-American genre known as Hill country blues. Ea ...

. Luther Dickinson joined the Black Crowes in 2007 and devoted time to both bands until 2011; he appeared on three Black Crowes studio albums. During that period, Cody Dickinson and Chris Chew formed the side project Hill Country Revue. Chew left the band in 2015. Since then, the Dickinson brothers have led the group with a rotating cast of supporting musicians. Their 2017 album '' Prayer for Peace'' reached number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Blues Albums Chart. Their 2019 album '' Up and Rolling'' was selected as a "Favorite Blues Album" by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Members

;Current members *

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, vocals, cigar box guitar, drums, bass (1996–present) * Cody Dickinson –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, vocals, guitar, synthesizer (1996–present) ;Former members * Chris Chew – bass, vocals (1996–2015) * Duwayne Burnside – guitar, vocals (2003–2004) ;Timeline

Discography

Albums

*'' Shake Hands with Shorty'' (2000) *'' 51 Phantom'' (2001) *''

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris (Latinisation of names, Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an ...

'' (2003) *''Tate County Hill Country Blues'' (2003, Private Release) *''Hill Country Revue - Live at

Bonnaroo Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

'' (2004, live) *'' Electric Blue Watermelon'' (2005) *''Paradise Boston, Ma 11.12.05'' (2006, Instant Live) *''Keep On Marchin': Live in Burlington, VT 11.11.05'' (2007, 2 CDs live) *''Mississippi Folk Music'' - Volume One (2007) *'' Hernando'' (2008) *''Do It Like We Used to Do'' (2009, 2 CDs and DVD live set) *''Boulderado: Live at the Fox'' (2010, 2 CDs live) *''Live in the Hills 6.26.10'' (2010, official live bootleg as North Mississippi Allstars Duo) *'' Keys to the Kingdom'' (2011) *''Live In The Hills II 6.24.11'' (2011, official live bootleg) *'' World Boogie Is Coming'' (2013) *''Freedom & Dreams'' with Anders Osborne (2015) *'' Prayer for Peace'' (2017) *'' Up and Rolling'' (2019) *'' Set Sail'' (featuring Lamar Williams Jr.) (2022)

EPs

*''Shimmy She Wobble'' (2000) *''Instores & Outtakes'' (2004) *''Electric Blue Watermelon Screwed and Chopped EP'' (2005) *''Upstairs At United, Vol. 4'' (2012, live)

Awards and nominations

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Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album was awarded from 1988 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Contemporary Blues Performance and in 1989 was awarded to a song rather than to an album. The award was ...

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for Blues Rock Album , , rowspan="3", , - , rowspan="2", 2018 , ''Prayer for Peace'' , , - , North Mississippi Allstars ,

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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for Best New Artist Debut , , , - , align=center,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

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References

External links

* *
Zebra Ranch studio

Hill Country Revue Official Website

North Mississippi Allstars collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive {{Authority control American blues musical groups American blues rock musical groups Jam bands Musical groups established in 1996 Rock music groups from Mississippi American southern rock musical groups Hernando, Mississippi ATO Records artists Artemis Records artists New West Records artists