Pierre Lacocque’s MISSISSIPPI HEAT Traditional Blues With A Unique Sound

What’s Going On?

NEW RECORDING ON DELMARK RECORDS. AVAILABLE DIGITALLY SEPTEMBER 12, 2025.

Our album, DON’T LOOK BACK (14 ORIGINAL TRACKS), will be released on the prestigious Chicago label, Delmark Records. It will be available digitally SEPTEMBER 12.

Physical CDs will be available SEPTEMBER 19. CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER.

This will be our 7th Delmark recording and our 14th overall. Thanks to everyone involved, and especially to our co-producer, Grammy-Award Winner Michael Freeman whose diligence and genius lifted this project to stellar levels.

HERE ARE SOME PRE-RELEASE ADVANCED QUOTES:

“Excellent work, Pierre! Your unique and thoughtful blues playing uplifts the world. What a significant music project!” CORKY SIEGEL PIANO AND HARMONICA LEGEND, CO-FOUNDER OF THE SIEGEL-SCHWALL BAND, LEADER OF CHAMBER BLUES, & BLUES HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

“Congrats!!! … smokin’ top to bottom!” PAUL BLAKEMORE AUDIO ENGINEER MULTI-GRAMMY WINNER-AUDIO ENGINEER SOCIETY LIFE MEMBER

“I can only describe this recording with one word: MAGNIFICENT!” WESTSIDE ANDY LINDERMAN RENOWNED BLUES HARMONICA MAESTRO

“Lacocque’s 14 originals illustrate his development as a mature musician, writer, and arranger. … Lacocque’s words paint lyrical pictures. … His songs have matured into vignettes that every listener can relate to. (Pierre) no longer imitates the masters but forges ahead with his unique style and voice. (This recording is) wonderful.”
ART TIPALDI
EDITOR OF BLUES MUSIC MAGAZINE
AND AUTHOR OF CHILDREN OF THE BLUES, PROFILES OF 49 BLUES MUSICIANS.

PIERRE LACOCQUE INTERVIEW ON TALKIN’ BLUES PODCAST

Pierre had a long conversation with Talkin’Blues podcast. He talks about his fascinating childhood and eventual life-changing experience hearing blues harp player Big Walter Horton in 1969. He reviews his earliest musical influences, blues legends, and friends who welcomed him in Chicago.  CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW.

About Mississippi Heat

Led by harmonica master and songwriter Pierre Lacocque, Mississippi Heat is a world-class Chicago Blues Band. Their motto is “Traditional Blues With A Unique Sound” as they present fresh yet vintage-based musical ideas.

MISSISSIPPI HEAT’s name is a reflection of Pierre’s reverence for Mississippi’s blues culture and music. The band’s conviction is that there is no deeper music than Delta-inspired blues to express what lies in everyone’s soul. They have received world-wide critical acclaim, including from Living Blues Magazine: “MISSISSIPPI HEAT delivers its traditional urban blues with a freshness, energy and competence that makes them a treasure on today’s Chicago scene.”

Mississippi Heat is known internationally for their passionate blues delivery. Overseas and national touring have been an integral part of their work for decades. The band has appeared at many world-famous festivals including many in the US (like the Pocono’s and the Chicago Blues Festivals), Scandinavia, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Canada, Tunisia, Finland, Venezuela and in Mexico, among many others. Besides a scheduled European tour for 2018, they will also soon perform in Dubai.

Buddy Guy has gone on record saying that it’s “been a long time since I heard a good blues band like this.” And recently the band received this critical acclaim from Bonnie Tallman at the Billtown Blues Festival (Hughesville, PA): “Can’t find enough words to express how blown away everyone was with the Mississippi Heat performance! It was spectacular in every way.”

The band has made waves on the blues charts by regularly reaching the #1 spot on Living Blues Magazine’s radio charts.

Current Lineup

Pierre Lacocque

Bandleader

Sheryl Youngblood

Lead Vocals

Terrence Williams

Drums

Yoshimi Hirata

Bass

Giles Corey

Guitar + Vocals

Inetta Visor

Guest Star, Lead Vocals

Daneshia Hamilton

Guest Star, Lead Vocals

Zach Avery

Guest Star, Guitar + Vocals

Discography

• Straight From The Heart (Van der Linden Records, 1992)
• Learned The Hard Way (Van der Linden Records, 1994)
• Thunder In My Heart (Van der Linden Records, 1995)
• Handyman (Van der Linden Records, 1998)
• Footprints On The Ceiling (Crosscut Records, 2002)
• Glad You’re Mine (Crosscut Records, 2005)
• One Eye Open: Live At Rosa’s Lounge, Chicago (Delmark Records, 2005)
• Hattiesburg Blues (Delmark Records, 2008)
• Let’s Live It Up (Delmark Records, 2010)
• Delta Bound (Delmark Records, 2012)
• Warning Shot (Delmark Records, 2014)
• Cab Driving Man (Delmark Records, 2016)
• Madeleine (Van der Linden Recordings, 2022)
• Don’t Look Back (Delmark Recordings, 2025)