“To tackle a full tribute to Hurt, you need serious alternating-bass fingerpicking chops — and Erin Harpe has them in spades… She kicks out syncopated melodic runs with ease, always tastefully. Her rich, sensual voice, deft touch, and eloquent instrumentation make these songs shimmer with warmth and reverence. You can hear her love for Hurt — and for the tradition he represents — in every note... Erin Harpe doesn’t just cover Mississippi John Hurt — she communes with him. In Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me, she channels the warmth, grace, and quiet soul of the master, carrying the flame of acoustic blues into the modern age with reverence and joy — with humility, sweetness, and unshakable groove. Few artists today embody the spirit of the country blues as purely, as humbly, and as beautifully as Erin Harpe.”
Full review:
John “Mississippi” Hurt, from Avalon, Mississippi, was one of the most beloved f igures of American folk and country blues. A gentle soul with an unmistakable touch, he became one of the great “rediscovered” artists of the 1960s blues revival. His music remains timeless—melodically elegant and understated, with syncopated, intricate fingerpicking, and f luid left-hand arpeggios. His lilting, wistful style, and that soothing voice, could make even murder and sorrow sound sweet. Carrying that legacy forward is Erin Harpe, one of the most accomplished—yet still underrated—acoustic blues artists working today. A native of Annapolis, Maryland, now based in Boston, Harpe was raised in the Piedmont fingerpicking tradition. Her father, the renowned musician and visual artist Neil Harpe, steeped her from childhood in the DC roots music scene, where legends gathered around Archie’s Barbershop. Among her early influences was blueswoman Eleanor Ellis, who served as both mentor and inspiration. But Neil Harpe was her strongest guide—and the one who first introduced her to Mississippi John Hurt. To tackle a full tribute to Hurt, you need serious alternating-bass fingerpicking chops— and Erin Harpe has them in spades. Her new album, Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me, recorded live without overdubs in her Boston home studio, is self-produced. Her husband, Jim Countryman, is sound engineer and joins her on the album on bass and ukulele. The stripped-down approach maintains Hurt’s mellow, back porch vibe. Harpe is an exceptionally passionate and sensual singer and a virtuosic fingerpicker. She kicks out syncopated melodic runs with ease, always tastefully. Her rich, sensual voice, deft touch, and eloquent instrumentation make these songs shimmer with warmth and reverence. You can hear her love for Hurt—and for the tradition he represents—in every note. The project began when the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation invited Harpe to perform a fundraiser at the famed Caffè Lena in Saratoga Springs, New York, inspiring her to revisit the Hurt catalog she has played since her teenage years. The album includes nine well-loved and well-worn Hurt songs, plus You Are My Sunshine. Harpe brings on Candy Man, Casey Jones, Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me, Got the Blues (Can’t Be Satisfied), Richland Woman, Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor, Frankie, Nobody’s Dirty Business, and Stagolee. Erin Harpe doesn’t just cover Mississippi John Hurt—she communes with him. In Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me, she channels the warmth, grace, and quiet soul of the master, carrying the flame of acoustic blues into the modern age with reverence and joy— with humility, sweetness, and unshakable groove. Few artists today embody the spirit of the country blues as purely, as humbly, and as beautifully as Erin Harpe.
(Written by Frank Matheis.)