Although successful and established, he realized there was a void in his life, and that was caused by not playing the blues. At the age of thirty-six he finally surrendered to the inevitable and went back to doing the work of his heart. Perhaps it was this rather unique life path that he followed in becoming a blues player that has shaped his playing and his song writing. For he has a willingness to experiment and a broader vision of what the blues can be than the majority of players that I've heard from this era.

Take for example two songs on the Hattiesburg Blues CD; "Calypso In Blue" and "Nature Is Cryin'". While I suppose there's nothing all that unique about incorporating Latin rhythms into the blues, it's the manner in which Lacocque does it on "Calypso In Blue" that caught my attention. Instead of it being the usual sort of shot-gun marriage you are liable to hear where the addition of a salsa beat is sufficient to call a song Latin, what distinguishes "Calypso" is the subtlety of the flavoring. How many other harmonica players do you know out there that can make their instrument sound like steel drums?

Guest percussionist Ruben Alvarez contributes his talents on this song and a few others to change the accent slightly. Instead of radically changing the songs, it is more like he is giving the tunes an extra layer of texture that makes them more interesting, It's like the addition of a spice that you might not expect in a dish, but done so discretely it serves to accentuate the flavors around it instead of overwhelming them.

When I first listen to a disc I tend to let it play in the background while I'm doing something else, and notice when it draws my attention. While "Calypso Blues" caught my attention because of the unique sound Pierre was producing with his harmonica, it was the lyrics of "Nature Is Cryin'" that pulled me up short. Inetta Visor, the group's lead vocalist, is a captivating singer in her own right, and hearing that lovely gospell/blues voice singing a blues song for mother earth was immediately arresting.

It's not often that you hear a blues song about something other than personal hardship or toil, and I have to admit the man/woman done treat me wrong theme, or variations of the same, can get tedious. It makes a refreshing change to hear a song that sings the blues about something else for a change. It still had all the classic motifs of a blues song where one party has treated another badly, only this time the victim wasn't some hypothetical person, but the planet we live on.

As I mentioned earlier Lurrie Bell is a featured guest on this CD, he sings and plays lead guitar on two of Pierre's compositions, and he brings his usual passion and unique style to them both. Aside from Lurrie and Ruben Alvarez, the band was also joined by Carl Weathersby. Carl has been a regular guest of the band (as Lurrie is) whenever possible on stage, and has played on all of their releases since 1998 save for one live recording. It's his guitar you hear soloing on nearly half this record and he also lends his voice to the song "Hell And Back".