Recorded over two days at Holmes’ iconic Mississippi juke joint, Ryan Lee Crosby’s At the Blue Front (due out August 20th) featuring Blues legend Jimmy “Duck” Holmes is an eight-track project that offers a haunting, hypnotic meld of Bentonia and Hill Country blues.
Every time Ryan Lee Crosby returns to New England after visiting Bentonia, Mississippi, the feeling he experiences is a kind of revelation — one that emerges anew with each pilgrimage, recentering his perspective, offering a sense of purpose and urging him onward.
“I come back with clarity about what I hope the rest of my life is going to be,” says Crosby, a guitarist, singer, producer and music educator who lives and works in Rhode Island, and was based in Boston for a quarter-century.
To be more specific, Crosby’s destination in that tiny Yazoo County town is the Blue Front Cafe, the hallowed storefront venue established in 1948 and recognized today as Mississippi’s oldest juke joint. With the exception of one fairly recent addition — some welcome indoor plumbing — the Blue Front continues to appear and operate as it has for generations, under the proprietorship of bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes.
Now 77, Holmes is the son of the Blue Front’s co-founding couple, Carey and Mary Holmes. He is also the greatest living practitioner of the Bentonia blues tradition made legendary by Skip James. Holmes essentially grew up inside this heritage at the Blue Front, and learned this soul-stirring music via the blues’ old-school system of apprenticeship, from local masters including James’ contemporary Jack Owens and the originator of the style, Henry Stuckey. Although he’d been an active performer for decades, Holmes only began to record consistently in this century. In 2020 he received a Grammy nomination for Cypress Grove, produced with understated vigor by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, and featuring a band with Auerbach as well as guest guitarist Marcus King.
In its quieter moments, Holmes’ Blue Front Cafe becomes a sort of refuge for Ryan Lee Crosby. Set in the midst of the sparse, rural landscape and unforgiving climate of central Mississippi, it has long served as a haven for its community and visitors alike, providing at one time not only music and hot food but also groceries and haircuts. For Crosby, who has struggled throughout his life with the concept of “home,” the resonance, and the possibility of renewal, he feels inside the Blue Front is singular.
Holmes has been an invaluable mentor to Crosby, in terms of both musical technique and sheer life-affirming fellowship. “He has a presence about him,” Crosby says, “a strong energy and vibrational feeling, even in quiet moments. This reminds me, at times, of Indian gurus I’ve met.”
Throughout Crosby’s remarkable new album, At the Blue Front, all of these elements are palpable, delivering the listener not only to Crosby’s favorite physical space but also to his most cherished headspace.
It was captured on a Tascam 22-4 reel-to-reel at the venue over two focused yet improvisation-rich sessions. The performances feature Crosby singing and playing electric 12-string guitar, with his trusted collaborators Grant Smith on the African calabash and shekere and Jay Scheffler on harmonica. On half of the album’s eight tracks, Holmes guests on guitar and vocals, lending his inimitable spirit to the trio’s already spellbinding chemistry.
Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of the standout track “I’m Gonna Change” and its accomanying music video, which captures the recording and musical performance. With its slithering blues guitar that often sounds as entrenched in the rich blues traditions of Mississippi as it does the desert blues of Mali, the song is a cosmic exploration of the paths traveled by this music. Crosby plays with a kind of slowburning eloquence with sharp musicianship and hauntingly soulful vocals. Crosby is able to capture the enchanting mysticism of Bentonia blues while music on what it means to grow older, ultimately showcasing the beauty and tradition of the music while injecting it with vitality.
Crosby describes the inspiration behind this song:
I look to music as a vehicle for healing and growth. Sometimes music helps us grow and sometimes it gives a place to express our intentions and aspirations. We may find ourselves living or taking refuge in songs before we can implement intentions into action.
When I was young, I looked for big drama in my life and in my songwriting. Now, in middle age, I am content with small expressions of the day-to-day. The desire to change and grow doesn’t have to come from a colossal mistake. It can simply be a small, but sincere recognition of the value of self-improvement, one step at a time. I think that’s what this song is about – trying to evolve in small, sustainable steps, with an open mind and heart. With an attitude that is organized around a willingness to see one’s mistakes and shortcomings, with a sincere effort to improve. It’s a happy song.
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