Scissormen Fit Big Shoes

The duo/band Scissormen is comprised of the vocals and guitars of Ted Drozdowski and the drums of R. L. Hulsman and have been laying down their North Mississippi Hill Country inspired blues for several years including having made several recordings. Now under the imprint of the VizzTone Label Group, Scissormen have a combined CD/DVD release, Big Shoes: Walking and Talking the Blues. The CD is a live concert recorded at the Key Palace Theatre in Redkey, Indiana, while the DVD is a Robert Mugge produced film that intersperses the concert performances with a slide guitar workshop at Indianapolis’ Slippery Noodle Inn and an appearance at Cleveland, Ohio’s Beachland Ballroom.

Drozdowski is a music journalist as well as a musician with a defining moment when he became acquainted with some of the musicians of the Hill Country such as R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough and Jessie Mae Hemphill (becoming acquainted with the latter after her stoke curtailed her music making career). The musicians and their songs shaped Drozdowski and his approach that although his playing perhaps rocks a bit wilder than those of his influences. But from them he learned to tell a story through the songs and his playing and he also realizes that he isn’t an academic recreating past musical glories, but uses his personalized adaptation of the style of RL Burnside especially to forge his own musical vision, aided by Hulsman’s very adept support, at time just pounding the groove and at other times adding a parade type rhythmic counterpoint.

The songs are mostly originals by Drozdowski (a few with Hulsman) with one direct cover with several benefiting from spoken introductions that help set the mood. If not as compelling a singer as his musical idols, Drozdowski more than an able one who performs with style, dynamism and a subtlety that may not always be obvious. The recording opens with the title track where Drozdowski tells about when asked about his right to play the blues, it’s a free country, but he is going to do it his own way to fit his own big shoes. Without going into a track by track listing, I should mention some highpoints which include the brooding slow blues The Devil Is Laughing, inspired by R.L. Burnside; the rollicking cover of Burnside’s Jumper On The Live; Tupelo which sounds inspired from a brooding John lee Hooker blues on the flooding of Tupelo, Mississippi that mixes contemplative moments with others marked by hard driving slide as he chants ‘didn’t it rain, oh lord”; Jessie Mae his loving remembrance of Jessie Mae Hemphill; and Whiskey and Maryjane, which he needs to cure his pain that is a hard rocking number.

I had the pleasure of seeing Scissormen and the CD captures the energy and passion of their live performances quite adeptly. The DVD is a fascinating mix of concert film that give a sense of their showmanship in addition to musical skill as well as the folks operating the venues they are seen performing at. So we have Drozdowski chatting with the owner of the Key Theater and including a discussion of the replica plantation cabins constructed to house traveling musicians; learning about the Slippery Noodle’s history as well as see him walking out to the audience, playing slide with a beer can while laying on a chair and more. There are nuggets that can be drawn out of the interview segments, but the video of performances are the real treasure of the DVD of Robert Mugge’s latest film. Certainly the combination of CD and DVD makes this quite an attractive package of the music of a duo that is doing its best to provide their own interpretation of this aspect of the blues tradition. Scissormen certainly fit their own Big Shoes on this dynamic recording and video.

I received a review copy from a publicist for the release. Here is a video of Scissormen.

Jessie Mae Hemphill Got Her Blues Right

It had been some time since I listened to Jessie Mae Hemphill. When I went out for a few errands the other day, I saw her CD, “Get Right Blues” (Inside Memphis) and took it to play in my car CD player, and it brought back some good memories of her and her music.

Jessie Mae Hemphill grew up in a musical family of great renown in the Hill Country of Northern Mississippi. Her grandfather was a famed fiddle player as well as led a fife and drums band that Alan Lomax recorded during his pioneering field trips to Mississippi for the Library of Congress in the 1940s. Her auntie, Rosa Lee, was later recorded by Lomax in the 1950s. Most of the members of her family were multi-instrumentalists and the anchor for their music was anchored by the fife and drum bands that Jessie Mae played in as well as the blues. One can hear her music shaped around the percussive rhythms fostered by the the fife and drum bands that played (and still play) a significant role in the lives of the Hill Country folk. This was reflected in her guitar playing as well as the bells she wore on her ankles or a foot tambourine. She also played a bass and/or snare drum, using a foot pedal. This writer hears the influence of Mississippi Fred McDowell in her playing and her slide playing, although one would not claim she was McDowell’s equal. Her rough edged vocals was the source of why her music was so appealing as her simple, driving accompaniments.

She was first recorded by George Mitchell and later by David Evans who issued 45s by her on the High Water label and then an LP on High Water. She acquired the nickname She-Wolf that suggested her fiery and flamboyant personality and she recorded an album for the French Vogue label that was critically received but had little exposure in the United States. In 1991, High Water issued Feelin’ Good, that was the 1991 WC Handy Award For Best Acoustic Blues Album. She was one of a number of blues performers who participated in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival that year that had plenty of focus on the blues. Her performances displayed the personality that actually could be heard on her recordings. Her performances often were dynamic and compelling. Shortly thereafter, in 1993, she suffered a stroke that shortened her musical career and she died a few years back.

In the notes for Get Right Blues, David Evans states these are previously unissued performances. Some of them, like the driving Steamline Train, recalls similar performances on Feelin’ Good. With Evans on second guitar and Hemphill also playing bass and snare drums, she builds up an irresistible pulse here as she adds a simple guitar riff in her response to her vocal line. Shake Your Booty (Shake It Baby), has a simple one-chord accompaniment . Go Back To Your Used To Be is a slow solo blues and has her playing foot tambourine to support a haunting vocal. On Take It With You Baby, she plays a droning one-chord accompaniment on a Diddley Bow. She performed a nice straight rendition of Baby Please Don’t Go, while on Lord, Help the Poor & Needy, she heart-fully delivers the song’s message accompanied solely by her tambourine. Part of her appeal might be the often simple lyrics and the sincerity evident in her vocals, set against the sometimes simple, yet rhythmic backing. Compton Jones joins her on the gospel number, He’s a Mighty Good Leader with such simple rhythmic backing. Livelier is All Night Boogie (Jessie’s Boogie), with a quicker tempo reminiscent of the opening track. Loving in the Moonlight in contrast has more of a slow-drag backing. Another highlight is Honey Bee, an adaptation of a Memphis Minnie recording with a wonderful vocal even if her accompaniment is pretty basic.

Listening to this album brings back memories of those magical Folklife Festival performances and my time talking with her. I know at times, the festival staff felt she lived up to her “She-Wolf” nickname, but I found her fascinating as she talked about her background, her aunties, and music. If one can locate Feelin’ Good, I would recommend that first (and amazon shows it in print as I write this), but this is a very enjoyable recording in its own right and is available as both a CD and downloads. BTW, there is a terrific biography of her at http://www.jmhemphill.org/.


I likely received a review copy of this several years ago.