The Mojo Holler Story

Missi and Mister Baker, Inc.
Jun 22
7 min read

How a chance meeting in Portland sparked a musical journey from Appalachia to the Delta

L-R: Randy Yearout, Missi Hasting, John Baker

Portland, OR -- Roots music with washboards and worldly percussion, lap steel guitars and Weissenborns, mandolins and dobros—these are the playgrounds of Portland, Oregon's Mojo Holler. This trio of merrymaking musicians breathes new life into old-time styles, bringing together the wonderful and mystical world of Appalachia with mountain music troubadours, progressive folk innovators, and good old bluesy wailers.

What Willamette Week called "a delightful slice of Appalachia in the Pacific Northwest" began with a serendipitous meeting in 2011 that would change three lives forever. When Missi Hasting, a genuine Appalachian "Mountain Mama" from East Tennessee, moved to Portland after years in Austin, she had no idea she was about to meet her musical and life partner. John "Mister" Baker, a California native from Upland who had called Oregon home for three decades, was equally unprepared for the creative lightning that would strike.

The Magic Begins

"We were newly in love and playing music all the time, just getting to know each other," Missi recalls of those early days. "Early on, I was showing him all these pretty little songs I had written on my acoustic guitar, and he was playing songs he'd written. He was playing circles around me, but together we were making our songs better."

The breakthrough moment came when John brought out his secret weapon. "One afternoon, he's like, 'Hey, I have this really neat lap steel guitar in the back of the closet, hold on...' And he brings out his homemade Weissenborn and starts playing along with my cavegirl chords, and boom! That sound was perfect! We finished 'In from The Cold' in a few days flat."

The couple married on June 15, 2018, seven years after their first meeting, cementing a partnership that extends far beyond music into a shared life built around their art.

Their diverse backgrounds created the perfect musical alchemy. Missi's East Tennessee roots ran deep through gospel, country and western, and mainstream radio pop, with Dolly Parton—who grew up just a town or two away from her family home—as a childhood heroine. Church played a huge role in her culture, where she learned harmonies and rudimentary music reading through choir, while her Austin years chasing a particular singer-songwriter style of Americana deeply shaped her early songwriting approach.

John's musical journey began with childhood dreams—famously answering "Elton John" when asked in third grade what he wanted to be when he grew up. Growing up forty miles east of LA, he was inspired by Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix, but it was discovering Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singers that revealed what he calls "the elusive special sauce" that clicked everything into place.

From Duo to Destiny

Formed in 2012 as "Missi & Mister Baker," their collaborative approach became their signature. "We don't really do songs that one of us wrote alone," Missi explains, "they're all little babies with our mixed DNA."

Their debut album Where Black Ravens Flew (2014) emerged from a period of fierce determination after both stopped drinking in late 2013. Missi describes it as "brilliant... a rock opera that will come into its full glory one day," highlighting John's rock and metal instincts while featuring drummer Jeff Anthony, who had played for Sheryl Crow. This ambitious work led to their selection for an official showcase performance at South By Southwest in 2016, where they performed on the festival's final night at the Stephen F. Austin Hotel.

The band's name itself came from working with the late Portland music legend Lisa Lepine in 2016, who suggested they brainstorm a name that captured their sound. As John explains, "The name Mojo Holler came out of the blues and Appalachian roots that influence our songs, and also the fact that we really believe in music as magic."

Following SXSW, the duo briefly expanded into a trio with bass guitarist Eric Shirazi, showcasing at Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival in 2016 and 2017. After Shirazi departed to help form the awesome Portland band Always a Hoot, Missi and John continued as a duo until 2023, when tragedy brought profound change to their lineup.

A Circle of Music and Loss

The band's current configuration has deeply personal origins rooted in Portland's tight-knit music community. When prolific singer-songwriter Tracey Fordice (of Tracey Fordice & the Eight Balls, The Tracey Fordice Band) passed away from ovarian cancer in 2023, her husband and musical partner Randy Yearout joined Mojo Holler on June 7, 2023.

Randy, who has been "making a living making music for as long as I've been alive," as Missi notes, brought decades of Northwest experience and multi-instrumental expertise. On any given night, he plays bass guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, and harmonica. Since his addition, the trio has performed nearly 100 shows together, with Randy proving to be not only a skilled musician but also, according to John, the source of "literally the best off-colour jokes."

The Sound of Three Hearts

Today's Mojo Holler represents a sophisticated evolution of their original vision. Mister Baker channels what Lisa Lepine called "innate genius" through lap steel, slide, and dobro, creating the instrumental foundation for their mountain-to-Delta sonic journey. His approach draws from psychedelic influences like Syd Barrett's non-traditional songwriting and guitar playing, combined with deep blues tradition.

Missi's extensive percussion work has evolved into a full-body musical experience. She plays washboard (her favorite instrument), PorchBoard bass drum pedal, Schlagwerk cajon with brush, and lap cajon rigged onto a snare stand, drawing inspiration from Afrobeat pioneers like Fela Kuti and contemporary artists like Sampha. "I have been introducing more percussion over the last several years and have been revisiting Fela Kuti and Afrobeat by myself for practice and just looking for ways to incorporate more of my body into my drumming," she explains.

Randy's multi-instrumental contributions add depth and versatility to their arrangements while honoring his late wife's musical legacy, creating what fans describe as a seamless blend of individual talents serving the greater musical good.

Studio Magic and Live Energy

Their latest single "Maggie Went Down" exemplifies their collaborative approach and studio creativity. Starting with Missi's vivid imagery of "lipstick stain in the pickup truck, bubblegum pink on a paper cup," John added what Missi describes as "a really rad Scottish sounding lead guitar over the intro." As John explains about the studio recording at Page Street Sound Lab: "we could layer a lot of stuff that's impossible to do live, including all of Missi's percussion, cajon, washboard, glockenspiel, bass drum, Randy's mandolin, and my Weissenborn, along with the three main guitars and vocals."

Their second album, ROOT (2021), represents an acoustic reverie on remorse and redemption, crafted during the pandemic when their usual 40-60 annual shows were cancelled. "A silver lining of the pandemic was finishing ROOT," John reflects. The album showcases their diversity of approach to blues and country, featuring various tributes including Delta, hill country, gospel, and mountain blues, plus folk, cosmic country, and Piedmont ragtime.

Personal songs make the album particularly resonant. "Apple Tree" is their wedding song, "Back in Tennessee" captures John's mental snapshots of visiting Missi's home state for the first time, and "Bullet" is based on the traumatic experience of Missi's sons' bunkbeds getting sprayed by an AK-47 in the mid-90s. "It's all so personal," Missi explains, "but we also deliberately were digging into various subgenres to show that our band has a real diversity of approach to blues and country music."

Critical Acclaim and Community Love

The music press has taken notice of their authentic approach to roots music. Willamette Week praised them in their 2023 Best of Portland issue: "They sing about Mississippi boat queens, trains, juke joints, church bells—all things backwoods—with devotion and delicacy."

Positively Entertainment noted in September 2024 that "Mojo Holler Band provides rich sound in various genres of Americana Music," while Aldora Britain Records featured them in an exclusive interview highlighting their unique approach to traditional American music.

Jackpot Recording's Larry Crane, who has served as their go-to mixing engineer since inception, captures their appeal: "Missi's fabulous voice, along with Mister Baker's deft fretwork, brings the whole show home."

Folk music guitarist and notable songwriter Nathan Moore (ThaMuseMeant, Surprise Me Mister Davis) praised ROOT's production approach: "This record sounds at once fully produced and live. No small feat! Origin and destination. Sin and salvation. Root and blossom."

Recent performances include being featured at Siren Nation's 19th Annual Dolly Hoot at The Alberta Rose Theater, where Missi's Tennessee roots were prominently displayed as she shared her love for Dolly Parton with the audience—a full-circle moment connecting her childhood heroine to her current artistic expression.

Looking Forward

As Missi puts it, "We will keep writing songs and performing live until the end of the world, hopefully." Their commitment to live performance remains unwavering, with the trio continuing to average 50+ shows annually while developing new material that honors the roots Americana tradition while pushing its boundaries.

"We've always taken the view that music lets you take a deep breath and just feel good for a while," Missi reflects on their mission. In an era of digital disruption and industry upheaval, Mojo Holler represents something increasingly rare: authentic connection to musical tradition, genuine collaborative artistry, and the transformative power of live performance.

From a chance meeting in Portland to more than a decade of live performances, from the beauty of Appalachia to the grandeur of the Pacific Northwest, Mojo Holler continues to weave their musical tapestry with threads drawn from America's richest traditions and their own lived experiences. In their hands, roots music isn't just preserved—it's alive and breathing.

QUICK FACTS:

Genre: Roots Americana, Indie Southern Rock
Sounds Like: Lucinda Williams, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Ma Rainey, John Prine, Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac
Albums: Where Black Ravens Flew (2014), ROOT (2021)
Latest Single: "Maggie Went Down"
Based: Portland, Oregon