Hi everyone,

This week we bring you three intergenerational collaborations that capture the spirit of the label despite vast geographic and sonic distances. 

In the mountains of northern Sardinia, Maria Teresa Pirrigheddu, the iconic voice of cantu a chiterra, sings backed by the young composer Vieri Mura on guitar. 

For several years, Vieri visited Maria Teresa in her garden, helping with household tasks (picking figs, folding ravioli), and listening to Maria Teresa’s songs and stories. Once known for her agile and powerful voice, Maria Teresa, now 80, has all but stopped performing after many bitter decades in music. 

But she sang on Vieri’s visits, humming orally-transmitted cantos in Sardinian, Italian, and Gallurese. Over time, Vieri began to back her, first on guitar, then on the organ in the church steps from her house, encouraging her, reminding her of the lyrics, asking for translations. 

The resulting album, Rundinas, made on a small portable recorder with the swallows swooping in the background, captures the profound familial and musical bond that developed between these artists. Maria Teresa’s voice, now veiled with age, gives new meaning to these ancient songs. Vieri dissects and rebuilds the traditional baritone guitar lines in surprising rhythmic and melodic variations. They fly off in their own directions and always find each other. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard.

Across the world, in the pine woods of south Georgia, I’ve been working on a film with the great spiritual singer Brother Theotis Taylor and his son, the filmmaker and musician Hubert Theotis Taylor. What started as a Mississippi LP turned into a multi-year archival film about spirit, music, and the power of documenting your own history in a place trying to erase it.

The resulting film, Windows of Time, documents 50 years of life and music in Fitzgerald, Georgia, through Hubert Taylor’s lens, including incredible performances by his father and collaborators. It will premiere this week at the Camden International Film Fest before making its way to more festivals and eventually, in late 2027, to PBS. Keep an eye out for more. 

Finally, last week we released the first single from “The Remembering,” the stunning new LP by Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group. Be Present has always been a family affair, a sprawling intergenerational collective from Portland that channels spiritual jazz, gospel, experimental and electronic music from across timelines. Roman Norfleet (MerKaba Brotherhood, Cosmic Tones Research Trio) is a brilliant interpreter of the old heroes while never imitating. This is a continuation of an incredible musical output over the last few years. 

It’s a true joy to meet and collaborate with our musical elders, and a privilege to have the space to do something new with this knowledge. I get infinite inspiration from these artists who consistently created work of truth and beauty across the course of a lifetime, whether the world was ready for them or not.

If you have ghosts you have everything

Cyrus + Mississippi Records

NYC

PHILLY

MISSISSIPPI RECORDS AT
MAKING TIME FESTIVAL

CAMDEN INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST (ROCKLAND, MAINE)

PORTLAND

IN THE DISTRO SHOP

Community Links

Mississippi Records Website
Visit the site to get our label's records and tapes direct from us - we are constantly rotating our selection of mixtapes, new records from labels we distribute, and discounted out-of-print records, so be sure to check in often!
www.mississippirecords.net

Mississippi Records Portland Store
We are open EVERY DAY from 12 to 7 PM!
(our stereo repair and retail shop is open Friday - Sunday, 1 to 6 PM).
WE ARE EXCITED TO BUY YOUR RECORD COLLECTIONS!
Please drop by anytime to sell stuff. We always have a buyer on duty and you do not need an appointment. Paying out 50 - 60% of our retail price (NOT - dumb internet prices though...Mississippi store prices) Email mississippierici@gmail.com if you have any questions about the shop.

Mississippi Records CSR
Our Community Supported Records program directly supports the label. Get each Mississippi LP at a discount as it's released, no matter how limited, plus special schwag and gifts on occasion. Limited to 300 spots. The CSR contributions help us pay for record pressings and generally stay afloat.
More details here…
www.mississippirecords.net/csr

Mississippi Records Bandcamp
There are hours and hours worth of albums available for free listening, and a whole lot of the releases are "pay what you want" if you want to download ‘em. Check it out -
https://mississippirecords.bandcamp.com/

Toody Cole/Junkstore Cowboy
Toody Cole has shuttered her Junkstore Cowboy Shop in our basement, but that does not mean you can't get your Dead Moon / Pierced Arrows / Rats / Range Rats / Tombstone schwag and records still from her badass online store.
https://www.deadmoonusa.com/

Red Hook Mutual Aid
We’re proud to have a studio in Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood, which hosts one of the most active mutual aid groups in the city. Learn more about the organizing activity here.
https://sites.google.com/view/redhook-mutualaid