Erin Harpe – Let Mermaids Flirt With Me
Vizztone Label Group – 2025
10 tracks; 39 minutes
Erin Harpe’s most recent album, Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt (2025) offers authentic acoustic guitar covers from across Hurt’s body of work, centered around intricate, delicate, and highly-skilled syncopated guitar picking.
Harpe, the Boston-based musician, leader of the Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers blues quartet, producer, and indie label owner, said her father played Mississippi John Hurt around the house when she was growing up, and that he was a constant inspiration. The tribute album, as such, Harpe said in a press release, was a nostalgic journey.
“This album was a real labor of love. I’ve always loved Mississippi John Hurt’s music since I was a little girl,” Harpe said. “His guitar style has greatly influenced my playing with its alternating bass thumb-picking and syncopated melodic runs. I believe we stayed true to Mississippi John Hurt’s style and essence!”
Delicate finger picking opens “Candy Man”, which closely resembles the original. Harpe’s version is soft and sweet, and the female vocals add a fresh perspective. The instrumentation is catchy and laid back as Harpe sings the “Good sweet candy man’s in town.” It’s a gentle, affectionate cover, full of grace, on one of Hurt’s most famous tunes.
Harpe croons, both tender and wistful, on “Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me”, singing “blues out on the ocean, blues out in the air. Can’t stay here no longer, but I’ve got no steamship fare.” Pretty acoustic guitar picking stretches throughout the track, with a steady, patient beat. Harp infuses the piece with emotion, carrying a somber, weary voice.
Ethereal, spacey guitar picking creates a unique interpretation of “Stagolee”, another core song in Hurt’s repertoire. In the slower, atmospheric track, Harpe croons in indignation “Police officer, how can it be you can arrest everyone except cruel Stagolee”. She proceeds to offer a mournful take on the mythic murder, her voice lingering in the air, reliving the scene of a murder over a 5-dollar-hat.
On “Got the Blues (Can’t Be Satisfied)”, Harpe almost identically matches Hurt’s original guitar work, with a result that is groovy, infectious, and danceable. The song is a paragon of storytelling, detailing alcoholism, infidelity, and murder – but above all lingering pain embodied. Harpe sings “Whiskey straight, drive the blues away. That be the case, give me a quart today.”
Another song revolving infidelity, “Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor” employs an asynchronous beat as Harpe traverses the scales, singing “Don’t let my good man catch you here. He might shoot you, cut you, even starve you too. Ain’t no telling what he might do.” The guitar rings out in bright, cheery notes, and Harpe almost celebrates the danger of cheating, with a playful tone.
Unrushed, meditative guitar opens “Nobody’s Dirty Business”, which Hurt first recorded in 1928. Here, Harpe plays slower, with a higher voice, lending to a smoother version as she defends her man. Her voice is tinged with warm-feelings and nostalgia as she sings “ain’t nobody’s dirty business how my baby treats me. Nobody’s business but mine.”
Harpe concludes her tribute album with a precious, endearing song, “You Are My Sunshine”. Harpe’s voice offers a softer, tender quality to the track with its famous upbeat melody.
Across the album, Harp’s capable guitar work shines, providing nuanced, authentic, and heartfelt interpretations of Mississippi John Hurt classics.
