Jason Eady – Mississippi

I was scrolling through Tidal when I came to the “Suggested new albums” section and for some reason, this album caught my attention. I had not heard of Jason Eady. I played it and I was instantly engaged. It reminded me of Tony Joe White, Bonnie Raitt, and J. J. Cale: swampy, funky country, and a bit of the blues.

Eady has a pleasant baritone voice with a little bit of Willie Nelson’s drawl. There are gorgeous slithering guitar riffs, gospelish backup vocals, funky keys, and a wicked groove from the rhythm section. This is a well-executed album. It sounds like a band and not just a singer-songwriter.

Mississippi was produced by Band of Heathens‘ Gordy Quist. I am unfamiliar with Band of Heathens, but this album has piqued my interest. The band is Jason Eady on vocals and acoustic guitar; Dave Jimenez on electric, acoustic, and slide guitars; Trevor Nealon on keyboards and piano; Nick Jay on bass; Clint Simmons on drums; Branden Lewis on trumpet; Courtney Patton and Kelley Mickwee on harmony vocals.

Per Jason’s website:

“Mississippi is an album I’ve been wanting to make for a long time. I’ve always been a lyrics first kind of writer, but this time around it’s all about the sound. Growing up in Mississippi, I was raised around that groove centered music and it’s always been a very big part of what I do. I’ve usually had at least one song on each album that touched on this sound, but this time I went all in. This was a fun album to write because I completely shifted gears and let the music decide what the words were going to be. The words had to fit the music, which is the opposite of my usual process.“

This album is totally about the groove. But that does mean it is lyrically dumb. I haven’t listened to Eady’s music before so I have no idea if this album is representative of his catalog. This is going to be on my favorites of 2023.