Photography Courtesy of Timothy Ivy Mississippi’s first grain-to-glass distillery uses Delta-grown rice. Ancient mythologies are rife with images of majestic birds, a species that symbolized freedom, power, and wonder. The mighty griffin. The…

This is a story about how a trombone-playing Englishman found his way to the Mississippi Delta and came to call it his home. That Englishman is called Bob Dowell and in 2008, he found himself on a ship setting out from the port of San Diego. The ship…

At 73 years old, you can still count on Mac “Dr. John” Rebbanack to zig instead of zag, to shift gears in mid-turn. So it’s really no surprise to find him following up his stellar Dan Auerbach-produced 2012 album, Locked Down, a record that found him…

www.graceaskew.com There are two Grace Askews on display on the Memphis native’s third full-length album, Scaredy Cat. One is the budding TV star who came to national prominence last year on the reality game show The Voice by knocking “These Boots…

For more than 12 years, Mike Mattison served as the lead singer of the Derek Trucks Band—the guitar prodigy’s jam-friendly collective that melded roots rock and world beat on a half dozen studio albums and countless tours in between his treks with…

Warren Haynes & Co. embrace their influences by shouting to the past. The band kicks off a fresh round of touring next week, Feb. 6, in Columbia, SC. BY TOM SPEED On a warm September night in 1994, The Rolling Stones brought their Voodoo Lounge Tour…

Valerie June grew up in Humbolt, Tenn. That’s just north of Jackson, home of Carl Perkins and damn near smack dab between Nashville and Memphis. She sounds like it too, with her Dolly Parton twang and Memphis soul groove. She’s put out records on her…

When guitarists Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono formed The Mother Hips from their dorm room at Cal State-Chico nearly 25 years ago, they probably didn’t envision putting out their 8 studio album in the year 2013, much less the fact that it would be…

“All I know is that I’m tired of being clever/Everybody’s clever these days,” sings Zooey Deschanel on “Never Wanted Your Love,” from Volume 3, her latest release with M. Ward under the moniker She & Him. At first blush, the line suggests self-aware…

http://www.alligator.com/artists/JJ-Grey-and-Mofro/ Since 2007’s Country Ghetto, JJ Grey’s name has appeared on album covers and concert marquees along with his band’s name, Mofro. Indeed, the constitution of the band has been in flux much of that…

Over five discs and exhaustive liner notes, the 25-year history of Athens, Ga. rockers Bloodkin is revealed in all its glorious excess, anguish, frustration and triumph on One Long Hustle. Such is the prodigious creative output of this criminally…

Charlie Mars has been writing songs and playing in bands since he was a high schooler growing up in Laurel. That has been quite a few years ago now, and his career has seen quite a few transformations over those years too. But he hit his stride with…

Guitarist Jimmy Herring has made a career as a stalwart of the jam-band scene. He's played with the Grateful Dead and the Allmans. He was a founding member and crucial cog in the wheel of the seminal and highly influential proto jam band the Aquarium…

Folksinger Caroline Herring has quietly but steadily been building a canon. It began back with her debut record, Twilight, in 2001. From the start she received many accolades, including “Best New Artist” at SXSW. Since then, the praise has continued…

Charlie Mars spent the better part of the last decade nestled in the comfy confines of Oxford, Miss. serenading swooning Ole Miss coeds with a winning smile and seductive pop songs. Not bad work if you can get it. But during that time, he also…