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Mississippi Witch - Album out Now!

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Q MAGAZINE REVIEW
Swamp rocking duo Mississippi Witch inhabit a world where black-hearted men, gap-toothed women, liquor, guns and old time religion collide with combustable results. Oli Walker’s fabulously raw vocals and rusty string guitar slashes recall Leadbelly and Tom Waits jamming with The White Stripes: filthy rock’n’roll doesn’tcome much purer than this..
VENUE MAGAZINE*****
On which our two self-confessed bible belt escapees deliver everything you’d want from a duo whose moniker teams up the famous blues delta region with a practitioner of black magic - lurching, whisky-soaked bottleneck blues littered with bleak, malcontent, pistol-toting tales of the dark underbelly of Mississippi. And that’s just opener (and undoubted highlight) ’Just For Roosevelt’, three minutes of raw-eyed punk-blues that flattens John Spencer’s entire back catalogue with a single leaden blow. But that’s not to say their debut long-player is heavy handed per se (though tracks like ’Roosevelt’ and ’Rot Foot’ are armed with bigger hooks than the Mississippi Delta); more that ’Black Gamble’ stands head and shoulders above its competition. A debut so weighty in scope that it touches nigh on all of Mississippi’s musical traditions, yet so vital that it couldn’t have been made at any other time by anyone else. (Tim Bailey) ***** www.myspace.com/mississippiwitch
SUBBA-CULTCHA (PAUL RAVEN)*****
Filthy low-down country-metal twosome in late bid for album of the year
I don’t know who it is who picks the tracks that end up on the Guitar Hero games, but I’m going to find out, and I’m going to go to his office and play Mississippi Witch at him until he agrees to put them on the next edition. Black Gamble is one of the best guitar albums I’ve heard this year, and that’s no mean feat.
But let me elaborate – this is not a high-precision technical guitar album, not your Steve Vai twiddly-diddly “look at my obscure new scale I just invented” stuff. Oh no – Black Gamble is a different sort of worship. It’s a worship of the instrument’s potential and breadth of expression, not a narcissistic glory run celebrating the player’s proficiency.
The guitar playing of Oli Walker is about passion and fire, from its lazy twangy chords to its howling distorted stench of feedback and frenzy. It’s amazing stuff. The drumming of Dan Danby is pretty damned awesome, too: also very proficient, thumpingly powerful and funky when required, simple and direct when necessary.
What about the rest of the band? Ha - there is no “rest of the band”! Mississippi Witch are a two-piece, though you’d be hard pressed to believe it at a first listen. Comparisons to other two-piece guitar acts are inevitable, so let me jump the gun – while there are similarities to The White Stripes, Mississippi Witch are much more like a lesser-known (but far better) act from the UK. I’m talking about Winnebago Deal, of course.
The main similarity, beyond the number of musicians involved, is that of approach. Where Winnebago Deal took heavy metal and pumped it full of rocket fuel and amphetamines before dragging it around a car-park in a bin-bag full of broken glass, Mississippi Witch have cooked up fresh rocks of blues-rock mixed with a hefty cut of grunge, thrown it into the flat-bed of a pick-up truck and driven it out to the swamplands before cudgelling it into a frenzy with shotgun butts. It’s all about taking a sound and testing it to destruction ... and then riding the wreckage into the sunset.
Seriously, this is awesome stuff – the sludgy sullenness of the Deep South amped up, drugged out and driven to destruction in a blaze of border-running glory. If you don’t believe me, just listen to the opening track (and recent single) “Just For Roosevelt” - if you have any love for a filthy hook-laden guitar racket, you’ll be sold within the first eight bars. Same with “Rot Foot”. Same with “White Eye”. Same with ... ah, same with all of it, damn it.
And there’s just two of them! I can’t over-emphasise how complete this material sounds. Sure, there’s some studio overdubs, but you can hear the essentials of the songs behind them, and you can hear that they work on their own, with Walker muttering and howling over his constantly-mutating guitar work, and the rock-solid rattle and bang of Danby’s drumming.
Black Gamble is loud, dirty, raucous, catchy and fun – and it’s the sort of record that makes you want to pick up a guitar of your own and exorcise your neighbours from the fresh graves of their beds. If Mississippi Witch sound half as good as this live, they’re going to be immense.
MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de
A big drum roll: here they are, Mississippi Witch! Ollie Walker and Dan Danby from Mississippi and New Mexico respectively, transferred to London some time ago, forming an informal duo and finally released their long postponed debut album onto the market. The single Just for Roosevelt has long been floating around the internet and in exclusive british vinyl shops, and everyone’s craving it. Even after listening to it once, it becomes apparent that this is something extraordinary. The dirty lo-fi rock with blues-lesions (spreading/ seeping like a cancer) shocks little children from the first note. The witch has been let loose. Up to track 3, there is still hope while wading through the impenetrable and dangerously hypnotising Mississippi Delta, (in black and white of course!) that somehow you’ll be able to escape. Then, however, from Black Gamble on, it starts to dawn on you there will be no way out. Mississippi Witch sends the listener on a rock and roll trip through hell. Pure, sweaty, fantastic. Walker sings of mysterious things. He wants us to follow him down, into the underworld. Wasn’t that just the shadow of Tom Waits reflecting in the dirty delta water over there?
A high degree of professionalism is particularly impressive on this debut album. Heart-beating, punky to dizzy, feels like you’ve been shot, "blues’ed": the song writing range of Ollie walker is impressive. The riffs: uneasily catchy, and, finally, fresh again.
Lampio and Calipah prove that rock music can do more than just cause a rhythmic shaking of the head. Walker and Danby make us dizzy with their playing… they hypnotise us. Just for Roosevelt, Black Gamble and White Eye kick ass. But mainly, the cracking tracks Rude Foot and Van Nuys leave us in awe, and to my mind, rock music cannot get any better than this. Various blogs have been mumbling for some time that Mississippi Witch have got it. However, Black Gamble is such an extraordinary and special debut that it revokes memories of similarly strong impacts as that caused by Death From Above in 1979 and Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the deaf. A dangerous comparison? Over-hyped, because they’re from England? Considering the continuous journalistic hysteria from "the island" (ie Britain) surrounding new acts, you might well be sceptical. This time, however, it is not just a "quick shot." On the contrary, Black Gamble not only sets the standard high for convincing and heavy rock in 2008, but with this debut, from the very start, Walker and Danby are swimming in similar waters as Josh Homme, Trent Reznor or Jack White. With no exception, everyone who loves heavy rock music that has its roots steeped in the blues should listen to this band and help spread the word. Even if it sounds over the top and clichéd; the wake of Mississippi Witch’s Black Gamble leaves similar ripples to those left in the days since the 2 nd White Stripes album. They are pioneers and renewers of rock. Go tell it on the mountain!
MOTOR.DE (Germany) www.motor.de
Oh oh: the next big thing alarm. However, what UK Music Search has diagnosed here is quite worth listening to, since what the 3 people from Colony2 label call their own is not the usual exchangeable IK Indie-Retro-Rock rubbish which only small-town girls in secondary school have not had enough of yet.
Better still: raw lo-fi Blues, the label says, I say wonderfully honest blues noise supplement. This works very well for 2-people combos, since they consciously refrain from soft rythmized base. The Black Keys, and once in a while the White Stripes, have brought us closer to the dangerously raw, dead-dry, dirty blues rock with "only" guitar and drums – Missisippi Witch now seem to live it and sweat it out musically with every pore. Weather they really are bible believing people who met up in small town churches in the deeply religious Lousiana chewing tobbacco can be equally taken with a smile as the meeting in the mortuary story by Death From Above back in 1979. Apparently they are a must, these strange tales of weird unperceivable bands, which appear from seemingly nowhere, starting to rock down on us making our hair stand on end.
Meanwhile they made it from the American small town church to London where Colony2, after various months of delay, will give us a taste of the seemingly formidable debut Black Gamble at the beginning of September.LOOSE RECORD NYC (MEGAN PETTY)2008: Year of the Witch? Quite possibly.
Continuing on with our love of bands with American transplants, I’d like you to meet Oli Walker and Dan Danby, otherwise known as Mississippi Witch. I’ve already fallen head over heels for them, and now it’s your turn. The duo’s long and winding road brought them from Mississippi (Walker) and New Mexico (Danby) many thousands of miles to London, and thence to Bristol. Mississippi Witch has proven a reasonably apt moniker, as there is something spellbinding in the music. Formed in 2005, there’s a distinct 1970s vintage to their sound; heavy, heady swoons of unadulterated bluesy Southern rock with a dash of desert mysticism filtered through the misty rain and refined antiquity of London Town. Walker’s vocals and guitar bombast wouldn’t sound out of place on the mid-70s albums of many a great Southern rock band, and Danby bangs the drums with such abandon that it could be considered a minor miracle he doesn’t destroy his kit each time he plays.
Black Gamble is a monster of a debut album, and will most certainly get the blood pumping. It begins with the towering inferno otherwise known as “Just for Roosevelt,” all grit and grime resplendent with some of the dirtiest guitar riffage you’re likely to hear all year. “Alligator Mechanics” showcase some nasty banjo playing, with Walker’s voice taking an exaggerated, molasses-like tone. The title track, “Black Gamble,” shows where some English punk has seeped in to the Witch sound, with ferociously fraught guitars and a break-neck pace to oblivion. The dozen tracks are all so glutted and teeming with noise that at times it’s hard to imagine that there are only two people making such a racket.
The bottom line? This album is staggeringly good, and 2008 could be annus mirabilis for these wandering, transplanted souls of Mississippi Witch. After a few listens to Black Gamble, you’ll join me in expecting big things from Misters Walker and Danby. Head over to their website to listen to some album tracks (and then purchase it, naturally).
ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE
If the music-press is to be believed, the release of the much anticipated debut album from London-based duo Mississippi Witch can not adequately be reviewed without using the following words: ’stomping’, ’raw’, ’gritty’, ’bourbon-soaked’, or without some kind of cultural reference to the deep south. I, however, have decided to try.
Although appropriate to superficially describe the noise that Oli Walker and Dan Darby make, such a list of words completely fail to convey is the complexity of Black Gamble behind a barn-door of mock-simplicity. It is abundantly clear that these guys are excellent musicians, not only from their playing, but also from the unpredictable and excellent arrangements on tracks like ’Starving of the Bee’, which breaks into quasi-psychedelic cacophony halfway through before coming back down to Earth.
It is refreshing to hear an album that contains absolutely no self-indulgent twaddle whatsoever. On the contrary, the fact that almost all of tracks dutifully come in at under 3-and-a-half minutes occasionally gives a sense of abruptness, but mainly serves to maintain the break-neck momentum of the album.
There are some rocking melodies that are immediately infectious, like the brilliant ’Van Nuys’ and the debut single ’For Roosevelt’, which opens the album. What is not, immediately obvious, however, is just how dark some of the writing is. With Walker’s vocals guttural, deep and desperate, often drowning in an ether of fuzzy guitar dissonance and carnal drumming. The lyrics are often as unpolished and disturbing as the music: "clean the blood from the food I’ve been serving" (Lampio) or "I’m a modern Mussolini // Clean my rotted crown" (Starving of the Bee) but never ever dull.
Other highlights include the fast, fun title track, (which sounds not dissimilar to a certain White Stripes song), and ’Rot Foot’ which manages to hint at influences from more avant-garde contemporaries like Clinic. Or maybe that’s just the organ. Pinning these guys to any obvious influences is difficult as there is a lot of scope in their sound, and perhaps this is the best compliment of all. In a time where so much new music sounds horribly derived, the hugely talented Mississippi Witch have managed to reference a huge catalogue of sounds while still managing to sound both interesting and relevant.
A classy debut. Big things are expected from these two.ASHTON COURT REVIEWS


ASHTON COURT 2007, MISSISSIPPI WITCH @ AMPHITHEATRE STAGE:
Eventually they let people in and in no time a small crowd has gathered in front of the stage. We’ve begun, and the first band on is Mississippi Witch and what a glorious bluesy, crunchy noise they make, I love it. And so do the crowd, who are drawn to the stage by the sound they can hear, so that by the end of the set there’s a much larger crowd than before it. RICHARD PITT, BBC BRISTOL UNCOVEREDWWW.BBC.CO.UK/BRISTOL
MISSISSIPPI WITCH LIVE AT THE CUBE THEATRE
BILLY FROM WEST VIRGINIA DOING A COVER OF ROOSEVELT
ALBUM PREVIEW


Mississippi Witch Debut Album Coming - Industry Types Shocked!
One of the most exciting releases of early 2007 is the debut album from the duo known as Mississippi Witch. The LP will be called ’Black Gamble’ and will be released on Colony2 and Universal. The release date is penciled in as 20th March 2007.
The record label and other assorted slack-jawed industry types have been left with a look of shock on their faces upon hearing the complete album. We here at Rockbeatstone predict that this album will be awesome.
DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COMREVIEWS

Swamp rocking duo Mississippi Witch inhabit a world where black-hearted men, gap-toothed women, liquor, guns and old time religion collide with combustable results. Oli Walker’s fabulously raw vocals and rusty string guitar slashes recall Leadbelly and Tom Waits jamming with The White Stripes: filthy rock’n’roll doesn’tcome much purer than this..
PAUL BRANNIGANQ MAGAZINE
Favourite band of 2006? "Mississippi Witch as they make amazing energetic music and the song ’Just For Roosevelt’ is now in my top 5 rock tunes ever".GUY GARVEY (ELBOW/XFM MANCHESTER)WWW.XFMMANCHESTER.CO.UK
Mississippi Witch throw their toys out of the pram with foot-stomping gusto. They make a great garage racket somewhere between White Stripes and The Blues Explosion and they’re also the winner of the coveted Press Release Line of the Week for being "founders of the infamous drug wave gypsy guitar solo". Marvellous penmanship, marvellous single.CHRIS MARLING, REPEATWWW.REPEATONLINE.CO.UK
‘Just For Roosevelt’ is crazed scuzzy rock’n’roll from wild two piece, Mississippi Witch, with razor sharp demented licks slicing with a nasty bluesy edge. Utterly mad and totally insane, Mississippi Witch are like Captain Beefheart having a ruck with The Sonics, fucking ace. ‘Alligator Mechanics’ is very menacing song with the sinister vocals and utterly barmy banjos. Mississippi Witch are one mighty eccentric two piece of weird and wild rock’n’roll.SOHOSTRUT MAGAZINEWWW.SOHOSTRUT.CO.UK
Mississippi Witch are a band that will sit proudly alongside the heavyweights in my cherished vinyl collection. Just for Roosevelt is clearly head and shoulders above everything else around. Absolute genius.FELIX BARKSDALETHE OUTFIT MAGAZINE
I’ve decided that there are few things I like more than English bands with an affinity for American rock. Mississippi Witch sound like they’ve spent the past couple years in the South, soaking up bourbon and some dirty blues. “Just for Roosevelt” is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a while; every filthy, hard-rocking, tarred-and-feathered second of it. Music is the food of love, and I say play on Mississippi Witch, play on. MEGAN PETTY, LOOSE RECORD, NYCWWW.LOOSERECORD.COM A genuine Delta dweller who somehow washed up on the bands of the grey ol’ Thames, Mississippi Witch frontman Oli Walker brings the blues soul of back home in his staggering, drunken guitarlines and a lungful of black river mud in his gruffly intoned lyrical prophecies. New Mexico born drummer Dan Danby completes the grimy guo, and ’Just For Rooservelt’s dirgy march with noisy and chaotic neo-blues beats befitting of any Jon Spencer project. Together they take you right down to the muddy roots of this blues beast. BUBBLEGUMSLUT MAGAZINEWWW.BUBBLEGUMSLUT.CO.UK "1976 Seeks its music back" 4/5 SPILL MAGAZINEWWW.SPILLONLINE.COM Its The White Stripes comparisons that hit you first, Mississippi Witch, as they are a two piece guitar and drum duo playing ragged and raw lo-fi blues. Its however the Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa influence that permeates this band the strongest here on single JUST FOR ROOSEVELT.Its in Oli Walker’s primal howl and riotous guitar work, riffing and yelling his way through JUST FOR ROOSEVELT like Captain Beefheart re-evigorated and ready for rock action. A dirty delta blues jam by way of Black Flag and AC/DC, this is the kind of thing to make you fall in love with noisy guitars and big riffs all over again, Mississippi Witch a band well worth get extremely passionate about. The snake hipped charm of ALLIGATOR MECHANICS drips with deep south atmosphere and drawling blues character, Oli Walker again delivering the goods superbly.The kind of debut to have you proclaiming the likes of "new favourite band" and "next big thing" wildly; Mississippi Witch are a band who leave you hungry and desperate for more. Further listening: The White Stripes Frank Zappa Captain BeefheartKEITH DAVIS, UKMWWW.UKMUSICSEARCH.CO.UK ‘Just For Roosevelt’ will fair blast yer brains out. It rocks ‘n’ rolls like the swamp blues monster it is and slices it’s way into your hearts and minds courtesy of great big clipped, controlled guitars. Like so many great tunes it ebbs and flows leaving you disoriented, but then there’s a torrent of guitar and drums leading into an unexpected Elvis-y bit. It’s amazing the noise a two piece can make, but Mississippi Witch create a grand racket in much the way that Two Gallants do, playing above themselves to make up for their lack of numbers. The dirty blues rock spirit lives on in bands like these. RUSSELL BARKER, RUSSELLS REVIEWSWWW.RUSSELLSREVIEWS.CO.UK Mississippi Witch are a 2-piece from London whose deepest roots are from Mississippi and New Mexico. The duo are Oli Walker (guitar & vocals) and Dan Danby (drums) and I was thrilled to be approached by Oli with a chance to review their single Just For Roosevelt which is released on October 2nd and is taken from their forthcoming album (which I..d love a copy of when it..s ready guys) Black Gamble.It just so happens that at the time of writing I..m watching O Brother, Where Art Thou? on the telly (muted) and listening to Mississippi Witch at the same time. Having just listened to the part of the film where the Soggy Bottom Boys record Man of Constant Sorrow I..m struck by how the underlying soul of Just For Roosevelt seems to be the same. It..s got the same blues backdrop and harmonics of the bible belt music but with a hell of a lot more backbone. It might not be easy to hear at first. It..s sunk in a whole lotta whiskey and drug fuelled rock power, but the influence is there.Just For Roosevelt, no matter what it..s roots or influences, is a down and dirty, filthy rock song, the like of which I..ve only heard hinted at by The Doors. It..s sexily aggressive, a touch of distortion on the vocal and gruesome, twisted, gnarled energy fuelling the guitar and drums. If ever there was music to dance/mosh/leap around like a thing possessed to, then this is it.Alligator Mechanics bubbles out of the swamps of the deep south like a preacher possessed with demons. The beat might as well be tapped out by pointy toed cowboy boots on a veranda in the early morning mists whilst creaking back and forth in a rocking chair, the guitar played with the neck of a beer bottle. The addition of a banjo to this track purely emphasises the southern vibe. I..ve not heard anything else like this to come out of London.4/5 VIKKI ROBERTS, JUKEBOXWWW.JUKEBO.CXMISSISSIPPI WITCH - JUST FOR ROOSEVELT - COLONY 2: Glorious rock n roll in a similar vein to the wondrous tricky woo with a swamp like stomp thrown in for good measure… JEREMY CHICK, SUBBA-CULTCHAWWW.SUBBA-CULTCHA.COM
Just for Roosevelt is a dark and heavy track with a real underground club feel about it. The guitars have a similar rhythm as Kashmir by Led Zeppelin maybe rougher, louder and a few octaves higher. The vocals are excitedly shouted down the mic. An exciting debut from this group.CRAIG EVANS, COMFORT COMESWWW.COMFORTCOMES.COM
Mississippi Witch are two ex-pat ‘bible-belt escapees’ who met at a ‘snake church’ in Baton Rouge, decided to form a group, & promptly moved to London where they were duly ‘discovered’ by Colony 2 & shoved into a recording studio. “Just For Roosvelt” is gravel chewing, ‘bacy spitting rawkus Blues on nodding terms with Uncle John & Whitelock.GUY DEBORED, TRAKMARXWWW.TRAKMARX.COM
Arguably owing more to recent acts such as the Eagles of Death Metal than their self-proclaimed icons (Zappa and Captain Beefheart), this two-track single demonstrates a bizarre, unique example of what can perhaps best be described as bluegrass psychedelia. Think dark, soulful (occasionally screaming) vocals combined with wailing guitars, grinding basslines, bouncing piano and (at times downright sinister) percussive beats. Certainly less challenging than the more obscure elements of acid rock and firmly rooted in traditional blues, in less capable hands this combination of elements could emerge as a tuneless racket, but Mississippi Witch create a loud, surreal yet surprisingly addictive sound. LUCY WEIR, THE SKINNY WWW.SKINNYMAG.CO.UKThe moniker Mississippi Witch really tells you everything you need to know about the band.. and their startling debut single. Dark, gnarled, treacle-thick and twisted, with ominous lyrics full of gunpowder - Roosevelt is a fascinating first glimpse into the heavy blues-rock soul of two-some Mississippi Witch. A three-minute head-spin underpinned by a brooding guitar riff, stuttering drums and Olli Walker..s tobacco-stained screeched and mumbled vocals.B-side Alligator Mechanics is worth a crack too. A well-constructed, menacing ditty, laden with lazy bass and off-kilter banjo - but probably not the sort of thing to listen to whilst eating cheese before bedtime.Mississippi Witch sound like they..ve been dragged up in the Deep South but unless Bristol counts, (which it doesn..t), then what we..re witnessing is a band creating their own sound from nothing more than musical hand-me-downs and the dark meanderings of the mind..s eye. Impressive stuff.4/5 SARAH HOLT, MUSIC TOWERSWWW.MUSICTOWERS.COMFormed in 2005, Mississippi Witch are a two-piece from London. They describe themselves as ..bible-belt escapees.. and one of them (vocalist Oli) is even actually from actual Mississippi. Fancy that. Drummer Dan is from New Mexico. The band began after a chance meeting in a ..snake church.. in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Which means they have Deep South credentials coming out of their ears. Handy.New single ..Just For Roosevelt.. has already received heavy support from Guy Garvey on his XFM Manchester show and it..s not difficult to see why. It..s a dirty, bottleneck blues screamer of a track.Oli Walker delivers like a more brutal Tom Waits and by the time the track screeches to a close you can..t help but think that spending the rest of the night chewing tobacco and drinking bourbon seems like a bloody good idea. 4/5 CHRIS HORNER, HIGH VOLTAGEWWW.HIGHVOLTAGE.ORG.UKMississippi Witch Just for Roosevelt (Colony2). Oh mama. Fuck me what a row. This brute is so fucking raw it oozes puss and pain in equal measures, those much in need of injection of scathing up and at you n your face and smiling menacingly beatified rock n roll then look no further than this wholesomely pure two faced bastard of a release.Duo Mississippi Witch sound like theyve been distilled and bottled in a cask of Tom Waits favoured bourbon and this their debut single is a death rattling hotrod meets gnarled coffin blues nugget that blisters across the hi-fi like an evil preacher collecting souls for the eternal funeral pyre. &;nbsp;Ripped from their forthcoming full length Black Gamble Just for Roosevelt is a scorched swamp infested and snarled take no prisoners rout thats been meatily bludgeoned by an underpin that aside sounding like a mutant cousin of Zeps Kashmir could easily have been hoodwinked straight from beneath the noses of Killing Joke and then had several shades of the brown stuff kicked out of it by a seriously agitated gathering of John Spencer Blues Explosion, the Ministry (though here Oding on valium) and Monkeywrench and then near drowned in an acutely hip grinding and ear gouging thickly set throbbing groove that even lovers of classic era Queens of the Stone Age may well decide to swap loyalties for. Absolute brutal stuff.Flip over for the equally restless railroad blues of Alligator Mechanics which replete with banjos, squawking riffs and a hugely dust ball like lolloping vibe, arches and creaks ominously parched as though a younger bad boy Johnny Cash had met Beefheart at rocks infamous crossroads. A killer debut and not surprisingly joint single of the missive. Now for that album then!? MARK BARTON, UK EDITOR LOSING TODAY MAGAZINEWWW.LOSINGTODAY.COM Like many people, I have tried hard to listen to the most challenging Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa at length, with little success. It all gets too much after the first 6 minutes, and I have to press stop and have a lie down. Mississippi Witch make music which sounds like it come from the loins of Beefheart and Zappa, but with a crucial difference: more soul. Or rather, more blues.Mississippi Witch manage to marry all that is good about dark, acid-soaked psychedelia, with a garage rock aesthetic á la MC5. Just for Roosevelt is a filthy, dirty, dark badass rock song, with a real blues backbone propping it up. This is even more surprising, considering these blokes are plying their trade in places like Bristol and Kingston-upon-Thames rather than the House ’o Blues. Be that as it may, if this track is anything to go by, these chaps are definitely something a bit special. DANIEL WESTERLUND, ROCKBEATSTONE MAGAZINE WWW.ROCKBEATSTONE.COM

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Member Since: 2/18/2006
Band Website: mississippiwitch.com
Band Members: Oli Walker-Guitar & Vocals

Dan Danby-Drums

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Influences: "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S. Thompson.
Sounds Like: Two piece from London, biblebelt escapees, purveyors of demented mutterings, Founders of the infamous drug wave gypsy guitar solo, Formed in 2005, Oli Walker (guitar and vocals), Dan Danby (drums). Oli was born in 1978 in Rollingfolk Mississippi, Dan Danby was born in New Mexico in the same year. A chance meeting at a snake church in Baton Rouge and a mutual love of chewing tabbaci laid the foundations for mississippi witch..

BLACK GAMBLE TRACKLISTING

just for roosevelt

albuquerque new mexico
alligator mechanics
black gamble
lampio
starving of the bee
rot foot
van nuys
white eye
lung full of river mud
calipah
buckshot cornflower
RADIO "JUST FOR ROOSEVELT"

2006
May/June WWW.RADIONOWHERE.ORG
Aug 6th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM Aug 16th XFM 104.9 Aug 20th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM Aug playlist RESONANCE FM 104.4 Aug playlist STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Aug 25thJUICE 107.2FM, BRIGHTON Aug 25th 107.6 JUICE FM, LIVERPOOL Aug 27th BFBS RADIO 1 WWW.BFBS.COM Aug/Sept BOB & JAY RADIO 90.3 & 88.7FM SYDNEY, AUS Sept WRCT 88.3 FM, PITTSBURGH, USA Sept 1st 107.6 JUICE FM, LIVERPOOL Sept 2nd KMSU 89.7FM, MANKATO / KMSK 91.3FM, AUSTIN, USA Sept 10th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM Sept 14th & playlist RADIO 2XS, FLORIDA, USA / ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / KOSOVO Sept 15th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Sept 15th RADIO WAVE 100.7FM PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC Sept 22nd THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE Sept 24th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM Oct 2nd THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE Oct 2nd & playlist RADIO 2XS, FLORIDA, USA / ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA / KOSOVO Oct 12th SURGE 1287AM, SOUTHAMPTON Oct 15th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM Nov 8th SURGE 1287AM, SOUTHAMPTON Nov 9th THE SELECTOR RADIO, WORLDWIDE Nov 10th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Nov/Dec KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA Dec 2nd KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA Dec 30th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA Dec 31st XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM 2007
Jan 14th XFM MANCHESTER 97.7FM
Jan 14th XFM SCOTLAND 105.7-106.1 Jan 14th XFM 104.9 Jan 16th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Feb 7th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA Feb 19th KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA Mar 30th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE May 19th KMSU 89.7FM, MANKATO / KMSK 91.3FM, AUSTIN, USA May 31st RADIO ONE 97-99FM May/June BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM July 15th 93.2 BCFM Aug 5th BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM Aug 25th BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM Aug 13th CFMH SAINT JOHN CANADA Sep 21st STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Sep 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Oct 23rd BBC 6 MUSIC Oct 30th XFM 104.9FM Nov 4th BFBS RADIO 1 WWW.BFBS.COM 2008
Jan 4th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Jan 11th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Jan 18th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Jan 22nd FSK RADIO HAMBURG, GERMANY Jan 28th BCFM RADIO 93.2FM Mar 1st BCFM RADIO 93.2FM Mar 1st XFM SOUTH WALES 106.8 - 107.3 Mar 3rd BBC BRISTOL 95.5FM & 94.9FM Mar 22th RADIO REVERB 97.2FM Mar 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Mar 28th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Apr 4th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Apr 5th WRIR 97.3FM RICHMOND VIRGINIA USA
Apr 11th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE Apr 20th BBC 6 MUSIC
May 2nd STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE May 2nd STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE May 9th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE May 9th STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE
Mughead Review-Black GambleCalifornia You may not have heard of this dynamic duo, but there is little doubt in my mind that you will… very soon.
Mississippi Witch is comprised of Oli Walker (guitar/vocals) and Dan Danby (drums). Although there are only two members of this band, the sound that explodes forth may as well been coming from five or six musicians. Their debut record “Black Gamble” will take you on gritty, soulful, ass kicking journey through the under belly of rock and roll.
These guys are both bible belt escapees (as they put it) who apparently met quite randomly at a Snake Church in Baton Rouge. Their story only gets stranger as Oli and Dan ended up in London to record their EP “Just for Roosevelt”. Oli was born in Mississippi and Dan was born in New Mexico, so you might say that these guys just go where life takes them. And thankfully so.
Oli Walker’s vocals have that elusive quality that can only come from deep within a person’s being. He has a style all his own, and he owns it well. Walker’s guitar playing absolutely shreds all over the album, from beginning to middle to end. He has all the talent of Jack White or Kurt Cobain, and when you have something like that, it doesn’t stay a secret for very long. Honestly, I almost couldn’t believe that Oli can sing and play like this at the same time.
Dan Danby is no slouch either. In fact, it would be easy to say that this duo has clear advantages over say, The White Stripes. Dan can drum for one thing. In my opinion a duo like this forms because they realize that they just don’t have the need for another band member.
My favorite tracks on the album have to be “Just for Roosevelt”, “Albuquerque New Mexico” and “Van Nuys”. But “Calipah” and the title track “Black Gamble” are up there too. I think this album should do very well to say the least. The new album is not out yet so like I said, when it does come out on January 21st, I think you will be hearing about it again.
Oli Walker will be sitting down with The Mughead Review for an interview next week too, to talk about all sorts of things, check back for that soon. As always, I recommend you listening for yourself, which you can do by going the Mississippi Witch website, as well as their myspace page.

Mughead InterviewMississippi Witch has a gritty and soulful new album entitled “Black Gamble” that will be coming out January 21st 2008. Oli Walker (guitar/vocals) was kind enough to sit down and talk with The Mughead Review about their past, present and obviously bright future.
The Mughead Review: Thanks Oli, we really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. So I heard that you and Dan met in Baton Rouge in a snake church. What the heck is a snake church exactly?
Oli Walker: We met by chance, under very strange circumstances. A snake church is a place where people go to cleanse themselves of their sins, they pick up snakes and if it doesn’t bite you are forgiven, it was very entertaining. Dan said he likes to hit the drums and that was enough.TMR: Where does the name Mississippi Witch come from?
Oli Walker: It was given to us by a farmer. He shouted to us “your Mississippi Witch”, we’ve never questioned it. We were just walking along and the fella just shouted it at us. We had never even seen him before. Normally the best things in life come out that way, I think he just saw us and that’s what we were to him.
TMR: Shortly after you and Dan met, you moved to London? What brought that about?
Oli Walker: We basically came to record the album.
TMR: When you guys moved to London to record the album, was it because you signed to a label then?
Oli Walker: No that came later, we had a few studios in mind, we picked the studio that looked most like a cave, it’s called Toybox Studio. It’s a great place to record, cave rooms, chimneys for vocals etc.
TMR: So where does the band reside right now, in London?
Oli Walker: We move around a lot, at the moment we’re in a cottage near Wales rehearsing.
TMR: What was it like moving from the US to London? How long have you been out there?
Oli Walker: England as a whole is good, lots of country side and forests; we’ve been here maybe 3 or 4 years.
TMR: When you recorded the EP “Just for Roosevelt” what changed for you guys?
Oli Walker: Everything changed, “Just for Roosevelt” was the first song we ever recorded, it was some what of a war cry for both of us, people seem to love that song and for us it paved the way for the rest of the album.
TMR: I heard about Mississippi Witch from Guy Garvey of Elbow, who called you guys his favorite new band, did you just meet him at a show or how did that come about?
Oli Walker: Guy heard “Just for Roosevelt” and asked us to come and play, he runs a label called Skinny Dog and was interested in our album, very nice fella.
TMR: So how long have you been playing guitar?
Oli Walker: About 10 years, I found a guitar in the attic of a house; it was like finding a long lost limb.
TMR: You mentioned somewhere that you and Dan were Bible belt escapees. What was your upbringing like?
Oli Walker: My father traveled a lot, he was a court judge in Guadalcanal and other south pacific islands, my mother was a sort of a homebody, we moved around a lot. I really had no interest in anything until I found that guitar; I did once have a catapult I was quite fond of. I can’t say for Dan but you have to wonder how a fella can hit drums for as long and hard as that without breaking a sweat, I think he was just put on this earth to play drums.
TMR: Why is Mississippi Witch a duo?
Oli Walker: We didn’t need anyone else, it wasn’t missing anything. With just the two of us we can do what ever we like and not have to worry about it.
TMR: Will Mississippi Witch remain a duo?
Oli Walker: Yes.
TMR: Can you tell me about the title of the new album? Where does it come from? What does it mean?
Oli Walker: It’s not really a tangible thing, I know what it means to me but I could never explain it in words.
TMR: Black Gamble is exactly the type of album that the current music scene needs right now. I’m excited for it to come out. It seems like the release was pushed back a few times though. When does it come out?
Oli Walker: 21st of January. There were a lot of delays, mainly because every time we were set to release it another label would ring up, this happened 5 or 6 times. The problem with labels is they’re very slow and cause the whole process to stop dead.
TMR: When you say labels would ring up, does that mean that multiple labels were trying to sign you guys?
Oli Walker: Yeah, We had a few pop up all at the same time, it’s just the way things work, once one likes you they all fancy a sniff, but they weren’t right for us, I think most of them wouldn’t know the difference between night and day.
TMR: Tell me about the creative process for Mississippi Witch, how do you go about writing songs?
Oli Walker: We write very quickly and never record anything till we’re in the studio, it keeps it fresh, most of the songs on Black Gamble were only written a few days before recording them, the same goes for lyrics. I tend to write them at the same time as recording them, it the only way we know how to work, the less we think about it the better it comes out.
TMR: What music has influenced you and Dan? And what music are you digging right now?
Oli Walker: Let’s just say I like all the music you would think I would, its quicker that way. I lived in a flat in Richmond upon Thames for a while, opposite me was Pete Townsend’s house and 10 doors to my right was Jagger’s house, not a bad spot!
TMR: What are your tour plans? I hear you guys kick some serious ass in concert.
Oli Walker: We are still undecided when and where, America probably.
TMR: I hope we can help spread the word about Mississippi Witch. Your vocals and guitar playing are pretty sick, people need to hear it. What does the future hold for Mississippi Witch?
Oli Walker: We’ll start the next album in March next year, and probably play a lot more shows, I would think we’ll be in California. Who knows, we are enjoying everything, it could all get very hectic but we know what we’re doing and how we’re going to do it.
TMR: Well, we wish you all the best. I think your future is going to be bright. Thanks for answering our many questions. I look forward to seeing you guys play live sometime soon.
Oli Walker: Thanks for the questions, I enjoyed it.

Record Label: RedCob Recordings/Colony2
Type of Label: Indie

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Q MAGAZINE REVIEW

Q Magazine Review Black Gamble January 08 Issue..Go Get IT!
Posted by Mississippi Witch - Album out Now! on Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:48:00 PST

THE WITCH IN TIME OUT MAGAZINE

THE WITCH GET THE NOD FROM THE NICE CHAPS IN ELBOW....TIME OUT MAGAZINE...."there's a London band, Mississippi Witch who are fucking outrageously cool, with a terrific drummer. Check out "Just For Roo...
Posted by Mississippi Witch - Album out Now! on Tue, 26 Jun 2007 01:23:00 PST

TOP 100 SINGLES OF THE YEAR FOR "ROOSEVELT"

JUST FOR ROOSEVELT WAS IN THE TOP 100 SINGLES OF THE YEAR VOTED FOR BY UK RADIO!
Posted by Mississippi Witch - Album out Now! on Sun, 03 Dec 2006 08:45:00 PST

XFM AND GUY GARVEY (Elbow)/ JOHN KENNEDY PLAYS ROOSEVELT.

Just for Roosevelt is played on XFM by Guy Garvey/John Kennedy, other stations/ STONE EDGE RADIO 90.9FM FRANCE, KDVS 90.3FM CALIFORNIA USA, the rest are listed below..May/June WWW.RADIONOWHERE.ORGAug ...
Posted by Mississippi Witch - Album out Now! on Sun, 13 Aug 2006 04:25:00 PST

BLACK GAMBLE OUT 11TH FEBUARY 2008

Black Gamble, out 11TH FEBUARY 2008, here's the tracklisting.... just for roosevelt albuquerque new mexico alligator mechanics black gamble lampio starving of the bee rot foot ...
Posted by Mississippi Witch - Album out Now! on Sat, 17 Jun 2006 01:22:00 PST