The Allstars' first release, Shake Hands With Shorty, was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album". Since then, 51 Phantom and Electric Blue Watermelon have received nominations in that same category. The group also won a Blues Music Award for "Best New Artist Debut" in 2001.
The band has been the backing band for John Hiatt, including appearing on the album "Master of Disaster".
All the members of the Allstars have also teamed up with Robert Randolph and John Medeski to form The Word.
In November 2007, Luther Dickinson joined The Black Crowes as lead guitarist, and has appeared on their albums Warpaint (2008), Before the Frost...Until the Freeze (2009) and Croweology (2010). Luther Dickinson currently devotes his time to both the Black Crowes and the North Mississippi Allstars. Cody Dickinson has also started a side project, Hill Country Revue, featuring Daniel Coburn, Kirk Smithhart, Doc Samba and Ed Cleveland. They are sometimes joined by Luther Dickinson and members of the Burnside family. They have released two albums, Make A Move (2009) and Zebra Ranch (2010),
The mid-90s were a special time for modern Mississippi country blues. RL Burnside, Jr. Kimbrough, Otha Turner and their musical families were at their peak; touring the world, making classic records and doing the all-night boogie at Jr's Juke Joint and Otha's BBQ Goat picnics -- the music and the culture rich as the black Mississippi dirt. Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson soaked up the music of their father, Jim Dickinson, and absorbed the North Mississippi Blues legacy while playing and shaking it down at the juke joints with their blues ancestors. Luther (guitar and vocals) and Cody (drums and vocals) joined up with bassist Chris Chew to form the core of their own band, The North Mississippi Allstars. Through the filter of generations of Mississippi Blues men, the Allstars pioneered their own blues-infused rock and roll and continue to do so.
The band hit the road with the release of their first record, Shake Hands With Shorty, Grammy-nominated for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” Bringing their hill country blues-infused rock & roll to stages all over the country and the world (including multiple tours in Europe and Asia), the Allstars quickly gained a loyal fan base, and to date have released six full-length albums. The bands’s third record, Phantom Record also received a Grammy nod.
Electric Blue Watermelon, their third album to receive a Grammy nomination, embodies the Allstars’ own sound. It reflects the band’s old times and lives growing up in their musical community in North Mississippi. “The record holds to the folk tradition of oral history,” as Luther Dickinson puts it. “Electric Blue Watermelon celebrates the lives and legends of men who are folk heroes in my community. If the traditions are passed down and kept alive, they can’t help but mutate and change.” Electric Blue Watermelon is certainly a departure from the blues tradition, but it is a record that reaches in the future and back into the past. It’s loud psychedelic southern folk rock blues.
Snakes In My Bushes
North Mississippi Allstars Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Snakes in my bushes, hanging down from the trees
Last snake charmer put them snakes on me.
Snakes in my bushes, spiders climbing up the vine
Snakes in my bushes, spiders climbing up the vine
Snakes run me crazy, murder on my mind.
Steak in the snakes, I’m on a snake killing spree
Find a snake doctor, get them snakes off me!
Dead snake keep livin’ til the evening sun go down
Dead snake keep livin’ til the evening sun go down
Won’t turn them loose, still they’re twitchin’ ‘round.
Snakes in my pillow, snakes underneath my bed
Snakes in my pillow, snakes underneath my bed
Goin’ snake crazy, snakes all in my head.
The lyrics to "Snakes In My Bushes" by North Mississippi Allstars is a blues song that depicts the image of the singer being surrounded by snakes in different parts of his life. The snakes that hang from the trees and crawl on the vines represent the difficulties that the singer faces in his external environment. On the other hand, the snakes under his pillow and bed signify the problems that are internal and hidden.
The line "Last snake charmer put them snakes on me" can be interpreted as someone else being responsible for the problems that the singer is facing. It could be an allusion to a person who deceived or betrayed him. The phrase "Snakes run me crazy, murder on my mind" suggests that the singer is at a boiling point, and he may not be able to handle the emotional burden that his problems are causing him.
The repeated line "get them snakes off me" shows the singer's frustration and desperation to rid himself of the snakes. The last line, "Goin’ snake crazy, snakes all in my head" could be an indication that the problems have started affecting his mental health.
Overall, the song conveys a message of adversity and the struggle to overcome it, which is a common theme in the blues.
Line by Line Meaning
Snakes in my bushes, hanging down from the trees
I have snakes in my bushes and they are hanging down from the trees.
Last snake charmer put them snakes on me.
I was put in a situation where I acquired snakes by the last snake charmer.
Snakes in my bushes, spiders climbing up the vine
There are snakes in my bushes while spiders are climbing up the vine.
Snakes run me crazy, murder on my mind.
The snakes are making me go crazy and I feel like I might commit murder.
Steady killing snakes, I’m on a snake killing spree
I am constantly killing snakes and it seems like I can't stop.
Steak in the snakes, I’m on a snake killing spree
I am putting my heart into killing these snakes and am constantly doing so.
Find a snake doctor, get them snakes off me!
I need to find someone who can help me get rid of all these snakes.
Dead snake keep livin’ til the evening sun go down
Even if I kill a snake, it doesn't stop moving until the sun sets in the evening.
Won’t turn them loose, still they’re twitchin’ ‘round
I don't let the dead snakes go and they still continue wriggling around.
Snakes in my pillow, snakes underneath my bed
There are snakes in my pillow and also underneath my bed.
Goin’ snake crazy, snakes all in my head.
I am going crazy from all the snakes and it's starting to affect my mind.
Contributed by Victoria V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.