releases October 10, 2024 All words by Dust. All music by Dust and Fred McDowell. Lead guitar on Juke Joint and Boxcars by Rick “Legs” Klaras. Mixed by Dust. Mastered by Adam Gonsalves. Cover by Drew Martin. Thank you Fred. You can never stand in the same river twice, but it has to start somewhere. To everyone that came before so we can stand here. — This record exclusively features samples from Mississippi Fred McDowell (and his wife, Annie Mae). Fred was a pioneer of the Hill Country Blues, a genre still played widely today throughout the Mississippi Delta. Fred taught himself how to play guitar, often using a beef bone as a slide. His signature guitar style was to repeat his vocal melodies on the guitar, creating an eerie call-and-response. I was hooked the moment I heard him. Modern music owes a lot to the blues. We may owe even more. It’s a genre born from the savage tragedy of slavery, the revenge for which was this beautiful sound, haunted by the past, yet welcoming in its expression of universal pain: the Blues. This record is my small way of saying thank you. To Fred, and every juke joint blues player that never got the shine they deserve.
