On my recent foray to Austin, I was surplussed many great records that I needed to spend some uninterrupted time with. Two of those records were recently released by Blue Mountain, Midnight in Mississippi and Omnibus – both essential listening, one featuring brand new material, the other polishing up some previous favorites. They were welcomed traveling companions and will be on heavy rotation for some time. I caught up with Laurie Stirratt on tour for our continuing 5 Questions with Muzzle of Bees feature.

Could you lend some information on the recording process of Midnight In Mississippi? Where and how was it recorded, and were there any lessons learned that you’ll apply towards future recording sessions?

We recorded the record in Dallas, TX at Elmwood Studio with producer Stuart Sikes. Stuart has worked with Loretta Lynn and Jack White, The White Stripes and Cat Power. We recorded it mostly live, tried to keep overdubs to a minimum and overdubbed most vocals.

We’re always looking to uncover new favorite artists, are there any band(s)/record(s) that you could recommend to our readers?

I don’t know that I can recommend anything your readers haven’t heard but I can tell you the CD’s I’ve been listening to lately. The new Portishead/Third, Built To Spill Live, David Bowie Live in Santa Monica ’73 bootleg, which is absolutely amazing. Mick Ronson is my favorite rock guitarist and his playing is unbelievable on these live tracks.

What was the last concert you went to see as a fan?

Tyler Keith

The internet has dramatically altered the way artists can reach an audience. With things like blogs/myspace/etc, what are your thoughts on the power of the internet in terms of helping (or hurting) your music?

I’m not really sure. I’d like to think it’s helping but the internet is flooded with music. It’s hard to rise to the top with so much competition. We have found the best way to promote our music is touring. It’s one of the few ways to promote our own music that hasn’t changed for us. It seems putting on great live shows is still the way to go. We also still sell tons of CD’s on the road.

It’s great to see that you guys are going back on the road for a nice run of dates to coincide with your album’s release. Going into some of those “reunion” shows, were you consciously thinking about heading out together again like this?

Not initially. We just thought it would be a short term thing. After we got out on the road, the enthusiasm for the band convinced us that we should think about recording a new record and try the touring thing for a year or so. If it weren’t for the fans turning out after so many years, we may have just made it short term.

Photo: Micheal Wilson
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Myspace: Blue Mountain
MP3: Blue Mountain – “Blue Canoe”

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