as a session musician and sold handmade furniture. 20062007: Heaven and a Dixie Night In 2006, Alves and McCorvey decided to reunite as Pirates of the Mississippi. The two of them thought that reviving the band had potential due to a rise of rock-influenced country in the intervening years. The two wrote a number of songs together for a new album titled Heaven and a Dixie Night, released on the Evergreen label that year. "Kickin' Up Dust" served as the project's lead single. Jason MacNeil of AllMusic gave the project a mixed review, praising McCorvey's voice and the country rock influences of the more uptempo tracks, but also criticizing other tracks as containing "typical country music fodder". Pirates of the Mississippi played a few shows in local venues in Alabama and Tennessee before disbanding again in 2007. McCorvey founded an acoustic trio called Buffalo Rome before retiring from music in 2010 to open a liquor store in Brentwood, Tennessee. Dean Townson died of unknown causes on March 25, 2010 at the age of 50. Musical styles Pirates of the Mississippi's style features elements of country rock. Rick Harmon of The Montgomery Advertiser described their style as having influences ranging from Led Zeppelin to Happy Goodman Family, also calling their style a "smoldering boogie". Because of their country rock influences, the band was frequently compared to The Kentucky Headhunters, a country rock band who made their chart debut in 1989. As Pirates of the Mississippi's album was recorded before the Kentucky Headhunters' debut but not released until later, McCorvey thought that the initial commercial success of The Kentucky Headhunters had made country radio more accepting of a band with rock influences in the early 1990s. Robert K. Oermann wrote in The Tennessean that the band had a "rootsy, raucous, casual country rock blend". In the same article, Alves stated that he intended for the band not to have an individual image unlike other contemporary bands, as he thought well-written songs would serve as an image on their own. McCorvey said that he was inspired by Southern rock acts he listened to growing up. He also stated that he preferred to write most of the band's music with Alves, but was open to outside material if he thought it was suitable. Bernard Pilon of The Leader-Post described McCorvey as having a "gravelled edge reminiscent of blues man Jeff Healey", with Pete Swanson