Can a Brit really play authentic blues? Absolutely he can and he does!
Mississippi MacDonald
at Arlington Arts
on Saturday, February 8
Review by BRIAN HARRINGTON
Despite the name Mississippi is very much a British blues man. Can a Brit really play authentic blues? Absolutely he can, and he does!
I've heard people describe the blues as “depressing” or “all alike”, again Mississippi comprehensively disproves that.
His soulful vocals and superb guitar playing, which ranges from sensitive, intricate sections to powerful strident riffs set him apart from the crowd and have earned him many awards (two National Blues Federation awards in 2024 - Best Traditional Blues Artist and Best Acoustic Artist), these add to his first album being named as one of the top 10 blues albums of 2022, but topping all that (I suspect) he has spent much of the last year or so in Memphis recording an album with the legendary Al Green's band, surely the ultimate accolade and sign of his acceptance and standing in the international blues community.
Appearing tonight as part of a superbly tight four-piece unit, who provided some extremely skillful guitar, bass and drumming of their own, Mississippi's soulful vocals immediately won over the audience, playing mostly self penned songs he put on a tour-de-force of a show, opening with Blind Leading The Blind, a track from 2019 and I Was Wrong, from 2021.
The setlist covered all of his output to date and gave us a glimpse of the aforementioned forthcoming album recorded in Memphis in the form of the track My Bad Attitude.
Heading South, Howlin Wolf, Stop, Think About It, Elbow Grease and his cover of the Freddie King classic Ain’t Nobody's Business were all included tonight as was the excellent Dress For the Money (great advice for any aspiring performer).
Mississippi and his band absolutely earned their enthusiastically requested encore tonight.
Another great show at Arlington Arts.
Great stuff.
