Kent Burnside: My World Is So Cold Review
The legacy of some recognized blues masters is at the heart of My World Is So Cold by Kent Burnside. Kent was taught the guitar by and is the grandson of the late R.L. Burnside. On this album, Kent shows off some of the musical talent that seems to be part of his family heritage. His uncles are also established blues players in their own right.
This is an interesting mash up of that Mississippi country blues style with some more modern rock influences. Kent starts out the album with a track that has him sounding a bit more as if he is from Chicago with vocals that are reminiscent of Buddy Guy with the driving rock beat of “Country Boy.” Things slow down from there quickly with the brooding sounds of the title track slow blues “My World Is So Cold.” On “Spoonful” we get a little bit of ’60s psychedelic sound thrown into the mix. This is not Cream’s version though. It is a lot more down and dirty sounding then that. This cover stays closer to the feel of the Howling Wolf classic. We get a little more of the country sound with the holler of “I’m Cryin” over some really heavily echoed rhythm guitar. The sparse acoustic arrangement of “I Miss You” is a fitting tribute to his late grandfather.
“I Heard” is a song you can easily picture being played at some juke joint during the early days of the electric blues and that it would easily be followed with an acoustic set consisting of “Honey Doo.” At the beginning we mentioned that this is the legacy of blues masters – plural. Holding down the rhythm section on the drums is David Gray Kimbrough Jr., who also is the grandson of the late blues legend Junior Kimbrough. Things wrap up with “Walking Blues,” which is not the Robert Johnson song of the same name. This funky little track grooves along.
You have to ask yourself, is Kent Burnside really worthy of attention and not simply because of a connection to another famous musician? The answer here is definitely yes. Kent has a unique sound that brings together that Mississippi influence of his heritage with a bit of modern sound for something that is uniquely his own.
The Review: 7.5/10
Can’t Miss Tracks
– My World Is So Cold
– Country Boy
– I Miss You
The Big Hit
– My World Is So Cold
Review by Kevin O’Rourke