Jimbo Mathus

Few studio albums have had a birth process like Jimbo Mathus' new release, "Dark Night of the Soul," due out February 15, 2014. To create his ninth album, the singer-songwriter spent nearly a year going to Dial Back Sound Studio, near his home in Taylor, Mississippi, to work on new tunes. Dial Back Sound, however, isn't just any conveniently located studio, but one operated by Fat Possum Records' Bruce Watson, who offered Mathus this extended opportunity to create the follow-up to his highly-regarded Fat Possum debut "White Buffalo."
While Mathus plays less of the musical historian role on his new album, his love and knowledge of roots music still radiates throughout his songs. "Knowing about some banjo part on a Gus Cannon record informs me on writing a song like 'Dark Night of the Soul,' believe it or not," Mathus reveals. "It's all in my frame of reference and my musical DNA."
This musical DNA has been in him since birth. His father and relatives were all skilled musicians who filled the house with old folk, country and blues tunes. By the age of eight, Mathus was joining them on mandolin and by his teenage years had learned guitar and piano. High school led to playing in punk and new wave bands, the most notable being Johnny Vomit and the Dry Heaves and The End, with future Oblivian Jack Yarber. Post high school, Mathus studied Philosophy at Mississippi State University before leaving to travel around America. In doing so he worked various jobs, including an influential stint as a barge tankerman on the mighty Mississippi River.
Settling in Chapel Hill, N.C., he drummed in the cult rock band Metal Flake Mother prior to starting the Squirrel Nut Zippers. This ahead-of-its-time retro roots band scored a hit with "Hot" and performed at President Clinton's second Inauguration and the 1996 Summer Olympics. Following the Zippers' split, Mathus worked with such noted artists such as Buddy Guy and Elvis Costello, and collaborated with North Mississippi Allstars guitarist Luther Dickinson and Alvin Youngblood Hart in the South Memphis String Band. He also recorded his own albums (including one dedicated to his childhood nanny Rosetta Patton, the daughter of Delta blues icon Charley Patton).
With the South being so central to his life, it's no surprise that Mathus and his band are very popular there. "I could stay in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana and never have to leave," he admits, "but the point is I want people to hear this album — to bring a little gris-gris to the rest of America."