He was born in West Tennessee to Mary Lindsay and Jim Dickinson, a Memphis record producer. Dickinson grew up playing concerts and gaining recording experience with his father and brother, Cody. The family moved to the hills of North Mississippi in 1985. Dickinson made his recording debut in 1987, playing a metal-influenced guitar solo on "Shooting Dirty Pool" on The Replacements' album Pleased to Meet Me, which his father was producing. Dickinson befriended the musical families of Otha Turner, R. L. Burnside, and Junior Kimbrough. They were the inspiration for Luther and Cody Dickinson to form the North Mississippi Allstars in 1996. The North Mississippi Allstars have been nominated for three Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Blues category. Dickinson produced two records on Otha Turner, Everybody Hollerin' Goat and From Senegal To Senatobia.[1]
In November 2007 Dickinson joined The Black Crowes. His recording debut with the band was on Warpaint in 2008,[2] and he has since appeared on the 2009 Black Crowes release Before the Frost...Until the Freeze.[3] Dickinson decided not to join The Black Crowes for their 2013 tour.[4] Dickinson currently tours with the North Mississippi Allstars[5] and as a member of the Southern Soul Assembly.
In 2014, Gibson issued a signature model for him, the Luther Dickinson ES-335, with the most notable modification being the P-90 pickups replacing the standard humbuckers.[6]
Jazz critic Ted Gioia chose Blues & Ballads: A Folksinger's Songbook, Volumes 1 & 2 (New West, 2016) for the eleventh spot on his list of the top 100 albums of the year.[7]
His 2019 joint recording with Sisters of the Strawberry Moon, Solstice, was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by AllMusic.[8]
