Formed in 1991, the band has toured in the United States, Canada, and Europe, with occasional performances in South America and North Africa.
Mississippi Heat grew out of a 1991 gig at Cafe Lura, in Chicago, when guitarist and singer Jon McDonald invited Lacocque to join him onstage.
In 1992, the band released its first album, Straight from the Heart, with Covington on drums and vocals, Stroger on bass, Flynn and Wheeler on guitars, and Lacocque on the harmonica.
[3] The song was written by Lacocque for his late mentor and friend Sonny Wimberly, a blues bassist who had recorded with Little Walter, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley.
[7] Mississippi Heat has also recorded with guest stars Sam Lay and Calvin Jones (on Straight from the Heart, 1992), Billy Boy Arnold (on Handyman, 1998/1999, and Footprints on the Ceiling, 2002), John Primer (on Let’s Live It Up, 2010), Chubby Carrier (on Delta Bound, 2012), and Sax Gordon (on Warning Shot, 2014, and "Cab Driving Man", 2016).
Lacocque said in a 2014 interview that although some white harmonica players, such as Paul Butterfield and Charlie Musselwhite have influenced him, "it is the musical history and heritage of African-Americans that have really had an impact on my playing.
"[10] Lacocque was born to Christian parents in Israel and lived France and Germany until, when he was five years old, his family settled in Brussels, Belgium, where his father was a professor of Old Testament studies.
Then a student at the University of Chicago Lab Schools, he bought a harmonica just days later from Hyde Park's original Harper Court mall and began practicing.
[12] "Not only did I hear mesmerizing amplified harmonica sounds for the first time in my life but the music made me feel that a family was calling out to me," Lacocque said in a 2014 interview.
"[9] Several months after he began practicing, Lacocque met and performed onstage with Junior Wells at Theresa's Lounge, located at 4801 S. Indiana Ave. (the club closed in 1983).
Back to the Roots, a 1994 Belgian feature-length movie,[17] was made about the original six-piece band with Lacocque, Farr, Flynn, Wheeler, Stroger and Kirk.
It drew from interviews with each member of the band during their 1994 performance at the Ecaussinnes Spring Blues Festival in Belgium and focused on the Belgian roots of Pierre and Michel Lacocque.
Mississippi Heat has also performed in Austria, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, and Turkey among other countries.