Hernando : North Mississippi Allstars : Review : Rolling Stone

Named after the All Stars' North-Mississippi hometown, Hernando opens with "Shake," a song stuffed full of blues roots and recent branches. Cody Dickinson's thumping drums and his brother Luther's rusted slide guitar are as authentic as the juke joints where they studied under local gurus Othar Turner and R.L. Burnside. But then Luther's solo turns all '67 Hendrix, with squealing harmonics and hairpin curls. The Dickinsons and bassist Chris Chew know the old ways by heart, but they've also grown up on Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Mountain, and it shows in rough, righteous ways. "Keep the Devil Down" is plantation voodoo soaked in Blue Cheer. "Blow Out" is the kind of rockabilly rumpus that Luther and Cody's dad, producer Jim Dickinson, cut for the waning Sun Records in the Sixties, except for the Keith Richards-style jabs in the guitar break. The Allstars have struggled to capture their stage electricity on record. But Hernando scores on this count, ending with the classy shock of "Long Way From Home," an acid-blues ballad with winding, scarred guitar — part Wes Montgomery, part Neil Young — showing that the Allstars know how to do more than just shake 'em on down.