The late Memphis producer Jim Dickinson once called Jimbo Mathus “the singing voice of Huck Finn.” Outside the South, Mathus is likely known as the ringleader of the hyper-ragtime outfit Squirrel Nut Zippers. In his native Mississippi and throughout the South, however, Mathus is the prolific songwriter of born-in-the-bone Southern music, the torchbearer for Deep South mythology and culture.

He masterminded the hyper-ragtime, jump blues act Squirrel Nut Zippers, something that started as a fun little art project but eventually sold a million-plus CDs in the 1990s, with a standout hit single “Hell” that went gold. Since then, ...[more]