Subj : Rock News To : All From : Piper Christian Vierik Date : Thu May 29 2003 06:59 pm NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS REACH FOR POLARIS Following on the heels of two Grammy-nominated albums, the critically acclaimed North Mississippi Allstars will release a third album, "Polaris," Sept. 9. "Polaris" will be the first record released as a part of the North Mississippi Allstars' new deal with Tone-Cool/ATO Records. "The first records were building blocks," guitarist Luther Dickinson said. "We've been thinking and talking about Polaris since 1999. We were on a three-record plan and we always knew that No. 3 would be our most ambitious album." The North Mississippi Allstars built a reputation as the most intri- guing act to emerge from the loam of Southern blues and roots rock, before even starting on its first album. Work, at that point, was largely a matter of imagination, but even as the group's first album, "Shake Hands With Shorty," was inspiring writers like Nick Tosches to hail the band as "a formidable and mesmerizing force," Luther Dickinson (guitar and vocals), bassist Chris Chew, and drummer/ pianist/singer Cody Dickinson realized "Polaris" was their ultimate ambition -- the album that would reveal a kind of creativity that Shorty and the follow-up, "51 Phantom," only touched upon. During the recording of "Polaris" the band drew more deeply from its roots -- roots that stem from growing up in the hills of Mississippi and from watch- ing dad, legendary producer Jim Dickinson, produce albums for some of rock's most groundbreaking acts like The Re- placements, Big Star and Spiritualized. All of this is re- presented on "Polaris," an album that includes appearances by the late, great Otha Turner and Noel Gallagher from Oasis. The biggest influence on the direction of the Allstars' music has been the notable addition to the band of guitarist/vocalist Duwayne Burnside, son of blues statesman RL Burnside. Duwayne's cousin Cody Burnside also guests by adding rap to the final track on "Be So Glad." With Burnside giving the band a two-guitar attack, the Allstars recently showcased a much bigger sound at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. NEW MCCOURY The Del McCoury Band has a new album ready for Aug. 12 re- lease. Dad Del, his sons Ron (mandolin) and Rob (banjo), fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Mike Bub have become un- likely heroes of the American roots music phenomenon that has grown out of the jam band aesthetic. Over the dozen years that have passed since the McCourys relocated to Nashville from their long-time Pennsylvania home, they've been at the forefront of bluegrass outreach, earning crit- ical acclaim and a growing audience through a unique com- bination of fidelity to the music's traditions -- includ- ing plenty of attention paid to the blues thread woven in by its creator, Bill Monroe -- and and a wide-ranging interest in material from outside the genre's sometimes narrow walls. Kicking their campaign into high gear in 1999 with "The Mountain," an album recorded with alterna- tive country hero Steve Earle, they've appeared with Earle and on their own on PBS and hip late night TV shows, traded licks with classical violinists on prime time net- work television, joined jam band favorites like Phish on stage, and toured extensively around the world, frequently appearing not only at bluegrass festivals but at rock clubs, too. The new album puts it all together with 14 songs that show off both sides of the ensemble's appeal. Filled with the bedrock virtuosity and "high lonesome" sound that has typified bluegrass since the days of Monroe -- with whom the elder McCoury once played -- this album builds on past efforts with the broadest array of contemporary material the group has yet engaged. Fol- lowing up on the success of their version of his signature "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," the band has turned again to singer-songwriter Richard Thompson for two more gems, while Charlie Stefl, who co-wrote "All Aboard," another hit from their most recent album, is back with the philosophical message of "Man Can't Live On Bread Alone." Other cuts come from some of Nashville's most respected songwriters, including Verlon Thompson, Shawn Camp and the team of Delbert McClinton and Gary Nicholson, while bluegrass tradition is represented by IBMA Hall of Honor member Don Reno's "The Angels Singing," rendered in vin- tage fashion with just guitar and mandolin accompanying the group's gospel quartet. In a typically sly turn, Grammy-winning gospel singers, the Fairfield Four, are enlisted to harmonize on a haunting secular number, "It's Just The Night," and as in the past, Ronnie McCoury contributes an original instrumental, "Hillcrest Drive," that seamlessly blends old and new into three minutes and 19 seconds of unbeatable drive and precision. GREEN EYED SOUL Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom is on tour in support of its new album, "Green Eyed Soul." Levy, a steady 25-year veteran of the blues scene, has played with B.B. King, Roomful of Blues, Karl Denson and others. In his capacities as organist, pianist, writer, arranger, sideman or soloist, producer and A&R man of more than 200 recording projects, Levy has been involved with traditional and contemporary blues, R&B, jazz, gospel, and "hard core" roots music from New Orleans, Memphis, New York, the West Coast, Texas and beyond. Piper Christian KC8TEZ --- SBBSecho 2.00-Win32 * Origin: Scanner Enthusiasts BBS - scannerbbs.dyndns.org (1:229/658) .