Mountain music with a rock and roll edge
The music of Blue Mountain, as the band's name suggests, is part North Mississippi
country blues and part old mountain songs carried to Appalachia from the
British Isles. That the product of such a union would be the rocking sound
on the band's first three records — Dog Days, Homegrown, and
Tales of a Traveler — is no surprise given the musical interests
and backgrounds of Cary Hudson and Laurie Stirratt. In 1988, Hudson and
Stirratt formed the Hilltops with John Stirratt and drummer Hank Sossaman,
and helped spark a hot music scene in Oxford, Mississippi. The Hilltops
released a cassette, Holler, in 1989, and the cd Big Black River in 1991.
The band reconfigured in the early '90s when Stirratt's brother John began
playing with Uncle Tupelo, leaving Hudson and Stirratt to emerge as the
principals in the band. Blue Mountain began developing a sound out of the
Hilltops aesthetic: original songs written in a traditional spirit, but
with the edge of rock 'n' roll. |
