When Luther Dickinson answered the call of the Black Crowes to be their new guitarist a couple of years ago, it resulted in an extended hiatus for the North Mississippi Allstars, the band he founded with his brother Cody.

Not willing to rest on his laurels, Cody, one of the finest blues/rock drummers in the world (and a pretty darn fine washboard player too), set about the task to form a new band to continue the Allstars’ mission of furthering the Hill Country blues music on which the brothers were weaned.

Cody, who also plays a mean guitar, enlisted the talents of vocalist Daniel Robert Coburn, guitarist Kirk Smithhart, bassist Doc Samba, and drummer David Mason to form Hill Country Revue, who released their debut album “Make a Move” in 2009. The album established the band as the premiere southern rock/blues band of this generation.

Now the band has released their sophomore effort, “Zebra Ranch,” an album that, while underscoring that Southern rock/blues sound of the first album, rocks harder and stronger than its predecessor.

Opening with “Raise Your Right Hand,” a tune written by Auburn’s own Billy Earl McClelland, Hill Country Revue stakes a claim on heavy rockin’ blues and sets the tone for the rest of the album. The band then continues to blaze through nine hot original tunes, two written by Gary Burnside, and two classics, Don Nix’s “Going Down,” and a rockin’ version of the Stones’ “Wild Horses,” which closes the album in fine style.

With “Zebra Ranch,” the band has truly come into its own and established itself as a force with which to be reckoned.

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