{"id":29713,"date":"2025-08-29T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T09:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=29713"},"modified":"2025-07-08T09:23:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T13:23:05","slug":"memphissippi-sounds-free-to-be-cam-and-yella-p-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/29\/memphissippi-sounds-free-to-be-cam-and-yella-p-part-2-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Memphissippi Sounds: Free to Be Cam and Yella P (Part 2 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Cam knew immediately that he and Yella P had created something special. \u201cOnce I saw his passion for the music and how dedicated he was, we went forward with any [opportunity] we could get,\u201d he says. At the time, Pearson was teaching music to pay the bills. \u201cI had to work around his schedule,\u201d Kimbrough says, \u201cand he\u2019d work around mine. But it soon got to the point where even when it was 96 or 97 degrees, me and him were down on Beale Street, playing music for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those busking gigs sharpened their musical chemistry, and helped Memphissippi Sounds build a dedicated fan base. They landed a spot at the Hill Country Harmonica festival at Foxfire Ranch in Waterford, Mississippi. Launched in 2010, that annual musical celebration of Black-owned land claimed to be the largest blues harmonica gathering in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At the festival, Pearson and Kimbrough met producer Aki Kumar; impressed with the duo, Kumar signed on to produce their debut album. Sessions were booked at the legendary Sun Studio. \u201cIt was my first time recording there,\u201d Pearson says. The studio\u2019s signature style suited the Memphissippi aesthetic. \u201cIt\u2019s real old-school,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cOne take, Jake: you\u2019ve gotta get it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sessions did include a bit of select overdubbing. \u201cBut not a lot,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cIf I was playing guitar on a song, I\u2019d maybe go back and put harmonica on top, because I don\u2019t like using a rack.\u201d And Cam recorded his drum and guitar parts in separate takes. \u201cBut most of it was, \u2018What you get is what you get,\u2019\u201d Pearson says with a hearty laugh. Released by Little Village, Welcome to the Land<\/i> balances the polish of a studio session with the live feel of a Memphissippi busking set. \u201cWe\u2019re always in the moment,\u201d Pearson says, and those studio sessions aimed to capture those moments.<\/p>\n

Memphissippi Sounds has long since expanded their calendar of live dates beyond just busking. The duo toured Spain (\u201cnine shows in nine days,\u201d Pearson recalls) and the Czech Republic in 2023. \u201cThe Blues Alive tour was very interesting,\u201d Kimbrough says. \u201cThe culture is very different; I noticed how people in the community really stick together.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was also struck by the way that the music was received at some dates. \u201cI\u2019m used to people jukin\u2019 and dancing,\u201d he says. \u201cSo it was a very different experience for me; they were studying<\/i> the music.\u201d But they liked it. And at one of the last shows of the tour, Memphissippi Sounds played a Prague event called It\u2019s the End of the World. \u201cIt was cool to see how they accepted our music and culture,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cBecause we are<\/i> a juke band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kimbrough and Pearson appreciate a wide range of musical styles beyond the blues, and those contemporary forms exert subtle influence upon their original music. \u201cAt some point, I might consciously \u2013 or unconsciously \u2013 incorporate certain [non-blues] guitar licks,\u201d Pearson says. \u201cBut I\u2019m a student of music, so for me, it\u2019s all blues. It\u2019s all from the same well.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic features an eclectic all-star lineup including Elvin Bishop and Charlie Musselwhite, North Mississippi Allstars, Alvin Youngblood, Jimbo Mathus and many others. Kimbrough and Pearson are on the bill as well. In keeping with the freewheeling and spontaneous nature of their musical collaboration, neither many had much to say ahead of time about what their set would be like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested to see how the \u2018conversation\u2019 is going to shape out,\u201d Pearson says. For much of 2024, Kimbrough was out west in New Mexico; Pearson wonders aloud if that extended trip might influence his musical partner\u2019s style: \u201cThey\u2019ve got that Spanish flavor out there.\u201d In any event, the duo has been together long enough to have an unspoken communication that happens while they play. \u201cSometimes we improvise,\u201d Kimbrough says, \u201cand it sounds like it was premeditated and planned out. But it’s not. The music\u2019s got room for the magic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Memphissippi Sounds have been working on new music since the release of Welcome to the Land<\/i>.<\/i> \u201cWe\u2019ve got some new exciting music heading your way,\u201d Kimbrough promises, hinting that they\u2019ll unveil the music via live streams. \u201cIt\u2019ll be different from what we\u2019ve done these last years.\u201d Pearson says that the new material they\u2019ve been writing remains rooted in the Hill Country blues, with lyrics that will address social issues. We\u2019re really trying to talk to the spirits and souls of people,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The duo hasn\u2019t committed any of that new music to tape just yet. Kimbrough and Pearson will allow that they\u2019ve \u201cbeen looking at some local studios,\u201d but in keeping with their spontaneous nature, they aren\u2019t sure how and when any eventual recordings will be released. \u201cAt the moment,\u201d Pearson says with a wide smile, \u201cwe\u2019re independent. And we want the music to be as free as we are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One\u2026 Cam knew immediately that he and Yella P had created something special. \u201cOnce I saw his passion for the music and how dedicated he was, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,41],"tags":[4728],"class_list":["post-29713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-interview","tag-memphissippi-sounds","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29717,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29713\/revisions\/29717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}