Mississippi Man - "Books and Teachers" little-videos.com April 25, 2010 It’d been a long time trying to figure out when we'd all be able to get together, the key being this supposed shack they had out in Joshua Tree (which, it turns out is real and lives up to the hype).  So we met up with the gang at the Applebee's just outside of town (which apparently is better than the average Applebee's?). This was a good idea, since not much further down the road it turned into less than adequately signed dirt roads leading to one of a handful of scattered plots essentially in the middle of nowhere. After making a stop at Home Depot for a few extension cords (which may or may not have been returned immediately afterwards), we made our way out to the "shack," which was essentially just four walls and most of a roof (the door and windows had been busted out from a previous night of debauchery). It was already hot as hell, but thankfully they'd picked up some PBR on the way in. With a little love, we managed to daisy chain enough extension cords to barely make it from the kind-of-nearby house that actually had power, and set everything up. You'd probably guess from their name that these boys would have a bit of Southern influence in 'em. But their careful vocal harmonies and clever change-ups take more from the Beatles or Young than your typical contemporary Southern blues-rock fare, and their progression as a band with this latest batch of songs is likely to bolster comparisons to the like of Dr. Dog or Edward Sharpe. Really though, what's most engaging about the band is the personality that permeates through every song. There's an exuberance that makes you move your feet, bob your head, sing along, and want to partake in all the fun. Unfortunately, we had to get the cameras back to LA that evening, so we couldn't stay and hang out for what I'm sure inevitably turned into a night of raucous drinking (because what else is a shack in the middle of nowher...