Chattanooga-based roots group The New Quintet has unleashed their debut single, a joyful and energetic composition paying respects to legendary guitar picker Mississippi John Hurt with “Mississippi John” off their forthcoming full-length Some Ya Do. Some Ya Don’t. releasing December 6th on EarthTone Records.
“Mississippi John Hurt was my gateway into pre-war blues music, and he has heavily influenced my guitar playing," said bandleader Nicholas Edward Williams. “I wanted to reference some of my favorite songs he did, play on a little of his picking style, and talk about what it’s like to listen to John, who feels like an old friend sitting on the porch next to you on a warm southern day.”
Recorded live at Tiny Teeth Studios in Chattanooga, engineered by guitarist Cody Ray, and mastered by Grammy-winning AirShow Mastering in Boulder, CO, there are no overdubs and no divider panels on “Mississippi John”.
The group stood in a circle, recording into a handful of microphones and feeding off of each other to capture the raw authenticity of their live stage appearances. The end product is an organic, punchy, infectious, and nostalgic sound that is somehow all their own.
It is perhaps the unique instrumentation of The New Quintet as a roots string band with clarinet, combined with sublime three-part harmonies that lends this ragged feel-good composition to feel like a different experience. The song traverses between ragtime, folk and swing, and features every instrument and voice equally, which sounds both intentionally structured yet loose enough for busking on the street
The group’s layered collaboration throughout are led by the picking and singing of Nicholas Edward Williams (guitar, harmonica, vocals) and galvanized in the golden familial harmonies of Emma Dubose (fiddle, vocals) and Jade Watts (upright bass, vocals). Taking care of genre-redefining melodies and evolving textures are Cody Ray (guitar) and Gordon Inman (clarinet), who are both masters of their craft.
The song includes solo sections that showcase the prowess behind each instrument, and display how effortlessly each member takes their varying musical backgrounds into consideration, yet combine in full transparency to create a sound entirely their own.