Long before Pokey LaFarge, Dustbowl Revival, The Wiyos, The Lazybirds and others fueled the current early Jazz, Jump Blues and Roots Rock revival, Squirrel Nut Zippers had it all going on back in the ’90s, bringing a Punk attitude to their ’30s Swing/Blues/Jug-band jams. At the height of their popularity, the Zips performed on national TV shows and A Prairie Home Companion and played at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration.
Eventually, as all good things shall pass, original Zip member Jimbo Mathus broke free and began to do his own thing, leaving the aforementioned genres behind him. Mathus, who will bring his Tri-State Coalition band to the Southgate House on Tuesday night, went on to work with acts such as Buddy Guy and Elvis Costello while beginning to release his own albums. Recently he collaborated with North Mississippi Allstars guitarist Luther Dickinson and Blues artist Alvin Youngblood Hart to record as the South Memphis String Band.
Mathus returns to his electric guitar-driven Mississippi Rock & Roll roots on his latest Fat Possum Records album called Dark Night of the Soul. The sometimes-swampy grooves bring to life songs such as “Fire in the Canebrake,” “Burn the Ships,” “Casey Caught the Cannonball” and “Butcher Bird.”
JIMBO MATHUS plays Southgate House Revival on Tuesday, April 22. Tickets/more info
here .
This article appears in Apr 16-22, 2014.
