Renowned bluesman Cedric Burnside grandson of legendary R.L. Burnside is gearing up for the release of BENTON COUNTY RELIC, out September 14 on Single Lock Records. The first single is the gritty track "We Made It" a matter-of-fact recitation of his poverty-stricken childhood without running water, radio or TV (“I come from nothin’/I done been lower than low/I keep my head straight/No matter how low I go”).
Pre-order BENTON COUNTY RELIC and stream “We Made It” here.
Burnside was Grammy-nominated in 2015 for Best Blues Album for the Cedric Burnside Project’s Descendants of Hill Country, and was the recipient of the Blues Music Awards honor as Drummer of the Year for four consecutive years. With BENTON COUNTY RELIC, Burnside showcases his electric and acoustic guitar prowess, recording the record in just two days with drummer/slide guitarist Brian Jay in the latter’s Brooklyn home studio. While Burnside draws upon a tradition that’s decades old,the tracks on BENTON COUNTY RELIC sound more immediate and cut deeper than any other artists recent attempt to interpret the blues.
There’s blood on these 12 tracks, from the description of “Typical Day” (“I wake up in the morning’/Sun shinin’ on my face/I drink a cup of coffee/I might roll me a J”) to the loss of family endured in “Hard To Stay Cool” to the unrequited passion of “There Is So Much."
As the grandson of Burnside and son of drummer Calvin Jackson, Cedric has been playing music his whole life. He has performed and recorded with countless musicians, including Junior Kimbrough, Kenny Brown, North Mississippi Allstars, Burnside Exploration, Widespread Panic, Jimmy Buffett, T Model Ford, Bobby Rush, Honey Boy Edwards, Hubert Sumlin, Galactic, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion among many others. In 2006, he was featured in Craig Brewer’s critically acclaimed feature film Black Snake Moan, playing drums alongside Samuel L. Jackson. (The film is a loose tribute to R.L. Burnside, and gives many nods to the late bluesman.)
