September 2025
The North Mississippi Allstars brought their Still Shakin’ tour to the Hangar Taproom & Bottleshop in South Lake Tahoe, CA on Sunday September 21, 2025. This tour (and album by the same name) commemorates 25 years since the release of their first album Shake Hands with Shorty.
They started off strong, getting the crowd to boogieing almost immediately, playing one of their most memorable hits “Up and Rolling” early on in the show. The energy only continued to build from there, and soon enough this rockin’ show was a full on dance party. Founder and guitarist Luther Dickinson could be seen smiling ear to ear, and it was obvious that the whole band was having a blast playing this particular show.
Luther’s brother, Cody Dickinson, was holding it down on the drum kit for most of the beginning of the show, keeping everyone in the pocket along with Joey Williams holding down the groove on bass. As the show went on, it became harder to define who was the bass player and who was the guitar player, with Ray Ray Holloman taking the bass for several songs. These talented musicians seemed to be switching instruments on every other song at one point, with Joey Williams even getting on the drum kit to allow Cody Dickinson to play guitar and electric washboard.
A highlight of the evening that anyone in attendance is sure to still be talking about was Cody Dickinson’s electric washboard solo. The rest of the musicians left the stage to Cody Dickinson as he performed a mind-melting electric washboard solo reminiscent of the traditional “Drums/Space” break in a Grateful Dead concert. One couldn’t help but wonder if this was a nod to Phil Lesh, whom the Still Shakin’ album is dedicated to. The other musicians slowly crept back on the stage while Cody continued to rip the washboard to pieces, jumping onto the groove and bringing the dance party back to a new high. The energy was electric from there on out.
As bluegrass legend John Hartford once sang, “just when you think it can’t get no better then it does”, and that held true for this show. At the close of the evening, Luther thanked the crowd for a great show and the North Mississippi Allstars retreated from the stage, sparking the beginning of negotiations from the crowd. “3 MORE SETS!” was heard at first with no response, and once the crowd finally came down to a more reasonable ask of one more set, they hit the stage closing with another hit of theirs, “Ship.” Although the crowd still wanted more, there was an air of satisfaction (maybe due to the lyrics of “Ship”) as folks were ushered out and scurried to pick up some goodies from the merch tent before it was too late.
View Larry Sabo’s full gallery of photos from the North Mississippi Allstars appearance here.
Check out our past coverage of The North Mississippi Allstars:
- North Mississippi Allstars jam Crystal Bay with fun (2022)
- North Mississippi Allstars give Hill Country to mountaineers (2019)
- CD review: North Mississippi Allstars’ fiery ‘Prayer for Peace’ (2017)
- North Mississippi Allstars blast away New Year’s blues (2017)
- North Mississippi Allstars, Scott Pemberton have a ball at Day Three of Hangtown Halloween (2015)
- Studio just a side job for Luther Dickinson live onstage (2016)
