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''Up and Rolling'' is the tenth studio album by American band
North Mississippi Allstars North Mississippi Allstars is an American blues and southern rock band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is currently composed of brothers Luther Dickinson (guitar, lowebow, vocals) and Cody Dickinson (drums, keyboards, elect ...
. It was released on October 4, 2019, through
New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...
, making it their first album for the label. Production was handled entirely by Cody and
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 the lead guitarist for The Black Crowes. He hosts ''G ...
, assisted by Kody Harrell, except for the song "Living Free" co-produced by Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell. It features contributions from Tierinii and Tikyra Jackson of Southern Avenue,
Cedric Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel '' Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanato ...
and Garry Burnside,
Charles Hodges Charles Edward Hodges (born June 29, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American organist and songwriter. He is known for his high tone on the Hammond B3 organ, that appeared on records by Al Green, and other musicians signed to Hi Records. Hodge ...
,
Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...
,
Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...
,
Othar 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. Earl ...
,
Duane Betts Duane Betts (born April 16, 1978) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is a member of the Allman Betts Band, and leads Duane Betts and the Pistoleers. He was also a guitarist and singer for the Dickey Betts & Great Southern, l ...
and Roosevelt Collier. In the United States, the album made it to several ''Billboard'' charts, peaking at No. 66 on the
Current Album Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
, No. 78 on the
Top Album Sales Top Album Sales is a music chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine starting in December 2014. It is a weekly chart documenting the best-selling albums on a weekly basis in the United States. Up until December 2014, this had been documented by th ...
, No. 2 on the
Top Blues Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
, No. 24 on the
Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...
, No. 3 on the
Heatseekers Albums Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
and No. 15 on the
Tastemakers The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...
. In 2020, the album was nominated for 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 Blues Rock Album at the 41st Blues Music Awards and for a
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 ...
at the
63rd Annual Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...
, but lost to
Albert Castiglia Albert Castiglia (born August 12, 1969) is an American blues singer, songwriter and guitarist. Castiglia has variously worked alongside Junior Wells, Sandra Hall, Aron Burton, Pinetop Perkins, Melvin Taylor, Sugar Blue, Phil Guy, Ronnie Earl, B ...
's ''Masterpiece'' and
Fantastic Negrito Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz (born January 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Fantastic Negrito, is an American singer-songwriter whose music spans blues, R&B, and roots music. His 2016 album '' The Last Days of Oakland'' won a Grammy award f ...
's '' Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?'' respectively.


Recording

The record was partially inspired by old photographs taken by Texan photographer Wyatt McSpadden in 1996, who visited the Dickinson brothers around the time of formation the North Mississippi Allstars to document the
hill country blues Hill country blues (also known as North Mississippi hill country blues or North Mississippi blues) is a regional style of country blues. It is characterized by a strong emphasis on rhythm and percussion, steady guitar riffs, few chord changes, unco ...
scene in
the Magnolia State Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississ ...
. The images inspired the Dickinsons to revisit the sound of regionally renowned artists like Otha Turner and
Junior Kimbrough David "Junior" Kimbrough (July 28, 1930 – January 17, 1998) was an American blues musician. His best-known works are "Keep Your Hands off Her" and "All Night Long". Early life Kimbrough was born in Hudsonville, Mississippi, and lived in the no ...
("Lonesome in My Home") that were hugely influential on their band. Unlike the previous album, 2017's ''Prayer for Peace'', this one saw an increase in the band's lineup. The Dickinson brothers duo were joined by bassist Carl DuFrene, fife player Shardé Thomas and vocalist Sharisse Norman. Previously, DuFrene was one of the guest musicians on the 2015 album ''Freedom & Dreams'', while Thomas and Norman were featured on ''Prayer for Peace''. Main recording sessions took place at Zebra Ranch Studios in
Independence, Mississippi Independence is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Tate County, Mississippi, United States. The settlement is approximately south of Cockrum and east of Coldwater along Mississippi Highway 305. Although an unincorpora ...
with Kevin Houston. Mavis' vocals were recorded March 11, 2019 at
Chicago Recording Company Chicago Recording Company, or CRC, is a recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1975. Boasting twelve studios, CRC is the largest recording company in the Midwest, and the largest independent studio in the country. History Early histor ...
by engineer Mat Lejeune, assisted by Jonathan Lackey. "What You Gonna Do?" and "Mean Old World" were recorded at Sputnik Sound in
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
by
Vance Powell Vance Powell is an American six-time Grammy Award winning record producer, engineer and mixer. His credits include Phish, Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, The White Stripes, Arctic Monke ...
, assisted by Mike Fahey. "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" and additional drums were recorded at Checkerboard Lounge in Southaven by Cody Dickinson. "Out on the Road" was recorded at Harmony Hill Recordings in Nashville by Luther Dickinson, at Brooklyn Recording in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
by Andy Taub and at Checkerboard Lounge in Southaven by Cody Dickinson. Betts' guitar part was recorded at Pacific View Studio in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
by
Stoll Vaughan Stoll Vaughan is an American singer-songwriter from Lexington, Kentucky. He is the great-nephew of United States Senator John Sherman Cooper. Vaughan began his professional music career as guitar player for the Indiana band Chamberlain. He at ...
. On June 26, 2019 '' Paste'' magazine premiered the first single from then-upcoming album - a cover of
The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...
’ "What You Gonna Do" from their 1965 album '' Freedom Highway''. Along with the song, release date, track listing, cover art, and tour dates were revealed.


Critical reception

''Up and Rolling'' was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 84, based on four reviews.
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
's Thom Jurek said that the album "clears away decades of cobwebs, dust, and wisteria vines from the doorway to the past: It's a family reunion offering that looks to the
Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Americ ...
's history and mystery for both its inspiration from the past and guidance to its present". Hal Horowitz of ''
American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...
'' praised the album saying: "It's an album that both looks backward and forward, reprising the dusky feel of the music that first inspired the Dickinson brothers to start their band while pushing it into electric boogie and even psychedelic directions its founders might not have imagined". Doug Collette of ''Glide'' found the album "decidedly tighter and more focused piece of work than their last two albums". ''
Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...
'' reviewer stated: "a passionate and muscular record that oozes cool in every note". With four out of five star rating given, the album was chosen as one of AllMusic's 'Favorite Blues Album's.


Track listing


Personnel

*Cody Dickinson – drums,
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
organ, bass, vocals, producer, recording (tracks: 7, 11) *
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 the lead guitarist for The Black Crowes. He hosts ''G ...
– guitar, vocals, producer, recording (track 7) *Carl DuFrene – bass * Shardé Thomas
fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, vocals *Sharisse Norman – vocals *Tierinii Jackson – vocals (tracks: 3, 4, 10) *Tikyra Jackson – vocals (tracks: 3, 4, 10) *
Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...
– vocals (track 3) *
Jason Isbell Michael Jason Isbell (; born February 1, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is known for his solo career, his work with the band The 400 Unit, and as a member of Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007. Isbell h ...
– vocals and guitar (track 6) *
Cedric Burnside Cedric O. Burnside (born August 26, 1978)''Jefferson Blues Magazine, Jefferson'' interview. Issue 141, March 2004Swedish original via Google Translate is an American electric blues guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter. He is the son of blues ...
– vocals and guitar (tracks: 7, 11) *
Othar 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. Earl ...
– vocals (track 12) *
Charles Hodges Charles Edward Hodges (born June 29, 1947 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American organist and songwriter. He is known for his high tone on the Hammond B3 organ, that appeared on records by Al Green, and other musicians signed to Hi Records. Hodge ...
– Hammond B3 organ (tracks: 3, 10) *
Duane Betts Duane Betts (born April 16, 1978) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is a member of the Allman Betts Band, and leads Duane Betts and the Pistoleers. He was also a guitarist and singer for the Dickey Betts & Great Southern, l ...
– guitar (track 6) *Garry Burnside – bass (track 8) *Roosevelt Collier – steel guitar (track 9) * Lawrence "Boo" Mitchell – co-producer (track 10) *Kody Harrell – assistant producer *Kevin Houston – recording, post-production editing *Chad Cuttill – post-production editing *Tom Roach – mixing *Mat Lejeune – engineering (track 3) *Jonathan Lackey – engineering assistant (track 3) *
Vance Powell Vance Powell is an American six-time Grammy Award winning record producer, engineer and mixer. His credits include Phish, Chris Stapleton, Jack White, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, The White Stripes, Arctic Monke ...
– recording (track 3, 6) *Mike Fahey – recording assistant (track 3, 6) *
Stoll Vaughan Stoll Vaughan is an American singer-songwriter from Lexington, Kentucky. He is the great-nephew of United States Senator John Sherman Cooper. Vaughan began his professional music career as guitar player for the Indiana band Chamberlain. He at ...
– recording (track 6) *Andy Taub – recording (track 7) *Tom Woodhead – mastering *Tom Bejgrowicz – art direction, design, layout *Wyatt McSpadden – photography *Jeff Stockton – photography assistant *Stuart McSpadden – photography assistant *Ernest Suarez – liner notes


Charts


References


External links

* {{Authority control 2019 albums New West Records albums North Mississippi Allstars albums Blues rock albums by American artists