Renowned bluesman Cedric Burnside, grandson of legendary R.L. Burnside, will release his new album ‘Benton County Relic’ on September 14 on Alabama’s Single Lock Records (Dylan LeBlanc, John Paul White, Nicole Atkins, St. Paul & The Broken Bones). 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 honour 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.)
Cedric will support the release with a series of European dates, to be announced in the near future.
‘Benton County Relic’ tracklist:
We Made It
Get Your Groove On
Please Tell Me Baby
Typical Day
Give It To You
Hard To Stay Cool
Don’t Leave Me Girl
Death Bell Blues
There Is So Much
Call On Me
I’m Hurtin
Ain’t Gonna Take No Mess
