On May 8, guitarist extraordinaire Luther Dickinson (North Mississippi Allstars, Black Crowes) will be releasing three records, all with different players and feels. One is an acoustic instrumental guitar record called Hambone’s Meditation. One is a band called The Wandering featuring female singers from Memphis and North Mississippi. The other is Old Times There…, the second record from South Memphis String Band featuring Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Jimbo Mathus. Hambone’s Meditation and The Wandering will be released on the North Mississippi Allstars label Songs of the South. Old Times There… will be released on Memphis International.
“I grew up on John Fahey,” says Dickinson. “Hambone’s Meditations is in his Tacoma tradition, but it was Jack Rose who made me realize that the medium of instrumental guitar was there for me to utilize. It had never occurred to me to try it myself and it was a satisfying relief when I did. I write musical ideas all the time and writing this record felt as natural as breathing. This record was very timely in my life as well. My daughter was just an infant as I wrote this material and I was still meditating on my father’s passing. The music fit the mood of the Mississippi winter of 2009.”
