Cedric Burnside: Real deal hill country blues

9th January 2012   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

“I was born on the road and I’m still on it,” Mississippi drummer/vocalist/composer Cedric Burnside says with a laugh. It happens that in 1978 his mother was traveling with her father, the legendary guitarist/vocalist R. L. Burnside, when they were forced to stop in Memphis, Tennessee for his arrival into the world.

The statement by Burnside, who performs at the Blue Nile on Saturday, January 14, 2012, can be taken almost literally as he’s been traveling as a musician for most of his life. He began gigging with his grandfather at age 13 playing the unique style known as hill country blues. It’s a straight-ahead, stripped-down, driving genre that was born and nurtured in North Mississippi where Burnside still lives. Since his “granddad’s” death in 2005, the 33-year-old has kept the style burning.

Burnside presently works in the Cedric Burnside Project, a duo format that is common in the genre. For the venture he’s enlisted his childhood friend, guitarist/vocalist Trenton Ayers. Decades ago, the two would jam at the many house parties R.L. would host at his home in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Previously, Cedric’s exciting drums were heard with the Burnside Exploration where he was teamed with his uncle, R.L.’s son, guitarist Garry Burnside. More recently he paired solely with the guitar of Lightnin’ Malcom.

The muscularity of the hill country blues as delivered by Burnside is particularly remarkable since just the drums, a guitar plus vocals are employed to create its huge sound. This authentic music is simply compelling in its very nature.

“It makes people feel good and has a strong energy to make people dance,” Burnside explains.

“For a long time, I didn’t realize how special and how cool this music was until I got of age. I just played it and it has always been in my blood. When I got in my early 20s, it finally hit me. The same way it makes people feel, it makes me feel. We give everything we’ve got in our bodies to the music.”

Burnside definitely plays full-on all of the time. It’s a regimen that demands a lot of physical strength. He says that beyond the exercise he gets attacking the drum set, he keeps his energy and health up by working out, walking, doing a little yoga and playing with his babies and dog. It all pays off visually as his biceps gleam and his face beams under the stage lights. He and his music command attention.

Though Burnside plays all over the world from regular stops at a favorite juke joint, Mr. Dip’s on the outskirts of Birmingham, Alabama, to an upcoming tour in Poland, he, like R.L., has a special affinity for New Orleans. His grandfather performed here regularly and while still in his early teens, the drummer would back him at spots like the House of Blues and Tipitina’s.

“Just from coming to New Orleans for so long, we established a name there,” he offers. “They loved my granddad’s music and every time we’d come to New Orleans they’d show us so much love and support. I thank God that the pattern is still going, and I hope to keep it going. I love New Orleans – that’s my spot. I always say, I thank God and R.L. Burnside for everything.”

The forcefully, talented drummer learned much of what he knows about music and life from his legendary grandfather who raised him like a son from around age six. While listening to R.L. perform his many solo gigs, Burnside remembers being particularly impressed with his vocals. “His voice was most amazing to me. I always knew he was excellent on the guitar but no matter what song he’d play his voice was always magnificent,” says Burnside who, though already a dynamic singer, hopes to further emulate R.L.’s skill at vocal expression.

“When you’re with someone for so long and around them all your life you tend to talk like them, you tend to walk like them. So I tend to write my music just like his music. Trent (bandmate Trenton Ayers) and I do the music the same way. Big Daddy taught me a lot about life – he was a beautiful person inside and out and was the backbone of the family. He always told me to hang in there like a dirty shirt and it will be okay.”

Burnside has this warming to novices of Mississippi hill country blues that head to his show: “If you got any hats on your head, I hope they’ve got strings so you can tie them around your ears because they can be exploded off with this music.”

A Journey with Women of Jazz

Five hugely talented women vocalists with very different approaches to jazz headline Friday, January 13, at the latest edition of the Jazz Journey series presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Nationally renowned artist Rene Marie, noted not only for her sultry and soulful voice but also for her accomplished original material, stands as a very special guest. Marie, whose latest fine release is 2011’s Black Lace Freudian Slip, arrives with her band with pianist Kevin Bales, bassist Kevin Hamilton and drummer Quentin Baxter.

The other wonderful women of song are well-known to New Orleanians. Germaine Bazzle, Leah Chase, Betty Shirley and Stephanie Jordan will be backed by an all-star trio with pianist Mike Esneault, bassist Chris Severin and drummer Ocie Davis. Each will perform her own set and when Jordan steps to the microphone her brother, trumpeter Marlon Jordan and saxophonist Tony Dagradi will join the band.

The free concert that’s sure to provide some solid jazz takes place at Dillard University’s Lawless Memorial Chapel. Showtime is 7 p.m.

This article was originally published in the January 9, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper