Pirates of the Mississippi

For the Western film, see The Pirates of the Mississippi.

Pirates of the Mississippi
A black-and-white photo showing all five members of the country music band Pirates of the Mississippi
Promotional picture of Pirates of the Mississippi, early 1990s.
From left to right: Dean Townson, Bill McCorvey, Jimmy Lowe, Pat Severs, and Rich Alves
Background information
Also known asThe Cloggers
OriginNashville, Tennessee, U.S.
GenresCountry
DiscographyPirates of the Mississippi discography
Years active1987–1996, 2006–2007
Labels
Past members
  • Rich Alves
  • Jimmy Lowe
  • Bill McCorvey
  • Pat Severs
  • Dean Townson
  • Greg Trostle

Pirates of the Mississippi were an American country music band founded in 1987 in Nashville, Tennessee. The original members were Bill McCorvey (lead vocals, guitar), Rich Alves (lead guitar, background vocals), Jimmy Lowe (drums), Pat Severs (steel guitar, Dobro), and Dean Townson (bass guitar, background vocals). Severs quit in 1994 and was briefly replaced with Greg Trostle. The band recorded for Capitol Records, Liberty Records, and Giant Records between 1990 and 1995. They also charted nine singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, the most successful being "Feed Jake", which went to number 15 in 1991. After disbanding in 1996, both Alves and McCorvey went on to write songs for other artists. In 2006, the two reunited under the Pirates of the Mississippi name, releasing an additional album titled Heaven and a Dixie Night before disbanding again. Pirates of the Mississippi are known for a country rock sound, and they received significant media attention for sociopolitical messages in some of their songs.