Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition will perform a free concert on Thursday, June 14, at 7 p.m. in the Bologna Performing Arts Center on the Delta State University campus. The performance is sponsored by the Delta State Special Programs Committee.
The late Memphis producer Jim Dickinson once called Jimbo Mathus “the singing voice of Huck Finn.” Outside the South, Mathus is likely known as the ringleader of the hyper-ragtime outfit Squirrel Nut Zippers. In his native Mississippi and throughout the South, however, Mathus is a prolific songwriter and the torchbearer for Deep South mythology and culture. Huck Finn, ringleader, songwriter, torchbearer – quite simply, he is a genuine Mississippi treasure.
He masterminded the Squirrel Nut Zippers, something that started as a fun little art project but eventually sold over a million albums in the 1990s. Since then, Mathus has released recordings of his own in a style he rightfully describes as Mississippi Music – something he started doing in between Squirrel Nut Zipper projects – recording three albums as James Mathus and the Knockdown Society from 1997 to 2002, including the timeless Play Songs for Rosetta. He has also stayed busy with numerous side-projects in addition to his ongoing solo efforts, working with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Elvis Costello and Buddy Guy. Mathus played guitar on Guy’s critically acclaimed 2001 album Sweet Tea and can be heard performing rhythm and slide guitar on the blues master’s Grammy-winning 2003 record Blues Singer.
Jimbo Mathus remains a powerhouse. His latest band, The Tri-State Coalition, features solid talent cut from the same Delta cloth whose sound is “…a true Southern amalgam of blues, white country, soul, and rock-n-roll.” The band received critical acclaim for Confederate Buddha, released in May 2011, and is wrapping up work on its highly anticipated upcoming effort, White Buffalo, which promises much more of genre-defying “catfish music” that Mathus fans have come to know and love.
This is one of only a few shows that Jimbo & the Tri-State Coalition will be playing in the Delta on this tour so catch him while he’s in town.
