Cedric Burnside: Hill Country Love Review

You’d be forgiven for thinking Cedric Burnside was a bona-fide superstar. The grandson of R.L. Burnside (one of the last great bluesmen of the Mississippi) and son of blues drummer Calvin Jackson has won accolades for both his percussion prowess and guitar playing. He’s even made cameo appearances in three films, but arguably the biggest challenge the actor, singer-songwriter, and drummer-turned-guitarist has faced is following up his Grammy award-winning 2022 release “I Be Trying.”

Burnside’s “Hill Country Love” is clearly something very dear to him, and why shouldn’t it be given his family’s deep roots in Mississippi Hill Country Blues? This LP was always going to deliver a truly authentic sound, with just enough magic outside of the Mississippi sub-genre to please non-blues conformists.

It was co-produced with North Mississippi Allstar’s Luther Dickinson inside an old wooden building in Ripley, surrounded by wood and trash cans. Thankfully, there’s nothing garbage about the intimate, primal, and, at times, darker sound that reigns throughout this 14-track LP. 

This profoundly personal affair was completed in an extraordinary two-day session and has everything from unpredictable chord progressions and time signatures to the heavy use of polyrhythmic droning sounds. 

The funky title track is catchy and uplifting. Burnside allows himself to ‘spread a little bit of country love’, and drummer Artemas LeSueur lays down some relentless cymbal bashing. 

Burnside gets spiritual on the awesome groove of “Closer” (‘my faith get tested out here everyday’), while he goes back to his formative years where his love for music was born on “Juke Joint”. The gritty guitar riff and raw vocals tip their hat to the man he calls ‘Big Daddy,’ and he even ups the poignancy through several fantastic renditions of his grandfather’s songs — the down ‘n’ dirty “Shake ‘Em On Down” and the indestructible chug-along of “Poor Black Mattie”.

Critics might argue that too many lyrics and riffs are repetitive, but that is the pure joy of this style. And who better to bear its history, pleasures, and burdens than a musician named Burnside?

From the thumping “I Know” with Patrick Williams’s almighty wail on harmonica to the smokey and classy “Toll On They Life,” Cedric is a champion of the rich tradition associated with the music he grew up with. 

A groundbreaking record? Questionable. As genuine as the Mississippi hills? Absolutely.

The Review: 7/10

Can’t Miss Tracks

– I Know
– Closer
– Toll On They Life

The Big Hit

– Closer