Luther Dickinson

When Luther Dickinson was growing up in rural Mississippi — just 40 miles south of Memphis, but deep
in the hill country — his favorite band was Black Flag, the caustic L.A. punk band that defined the
hardcore movement in the 1980s. That may surprise listeners who have been following his career as a
folk-blues-rock innovator. With his brother Cody, Luther is a charter member of the North Mississippi
Allstars and has recorded with an amazing array of musicians over the years: Beck, Patty Griffin, Mavis
Staples, John Hiatt, Buddy Miller, RL Burnside, Lucero, Jon Spencer, and Robert Plant. He’s also
produced albums by Jim Lauderdale, Amy LaVere, and Otha Turner, whose Everybody’s Hollerin’ Goat
was named one of the top 10 blues records of the ‘90s by Rolling Stone.

Part of Black Flag’s appeal, of course, was that Luther’s parents just didn’t get it. That’s a good enough
reason for a rowdy teenage boy to connect with any band, but it’s especially significant given that
Luther’s dad is Memphis maverick Jim Dickinson, who had played with the Stones and Aretha Franklin
and had produced landmark albums for Big Star, the Replacements, and Ry Cooder. In 1987, Jim even
recruited his 14-year-old son to play guitar on the Mats’ album Pleased to Meet Me. “He didn’t
understand Black Flag musically,” recalls Luther with a sharp laugh. “I had found my own music that
alienated my rock ‘n roll parents!”

The downside, of course, was that Black Flag rarely played around North Mississippi, and when they did,
they never played all-ages shows. It wasn’t until Luther was in seventh grade that he finally saw his
heroes play live — at an in-store at Peaches Records in Memphis. It was an amazing experience for the
adolescent. And for his dad, too.