the low-country messiahs

“Southern Exposure: Low-Country Messiahs bring Miss. to Mass."

The Low-Country Messiahs don't sound like your typical bar band. Of course if your typical bar is
nestled in Mississippi hill country, then perhaps they would fit right in. At the Overdraught Pub in
Cambridge on Thursday night, the ambient blues duo, along with the noise-rock collective of
Stockholm Syndrome, made quite a contrast to the usual roots-rock/cover band fare.

The Low-Country Messiahs find their muse in the haunting sounds of cult juke joint favorites such as
Junior Kimbraugh and the raw, unschooled sounds of Robert Pete Williams. Newer acts, including
the North Mississippi All-Stars and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have updated the hill country
sound with punk and rock overtones, but the Low-Country Messiahs aim for a quieter, more ominous
sound.

Guitarist and singer Robert Hamilton (formerly of Green Magnet School) and his partner Brian
Watkins (on electric guitar) managed to transform the pub into a tin-roofed Holly Springs, Miss. juke
joint. Tunes such as the plaintive "Lay This Body Down" and the dirge-like "Blood of the Lamb"
highlighted the duo's remarkably tight guitar interplay, one sliding and bending notes while the
other employed a rolling finger-picking style.

- - Christopher Blagg, Boston Herald

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