Cedric Burnside Expresses His 'Hill Country Love'

When Cedric Burnside received a Grammy in the traditional blues category for his album Try in 2022, it wasn't just a win for him – it was also the first time a Mississippi Hill Country blues artist took home a golden gramophone.

However, music lovers and foodies had long celebrated the blues music of North Mississippi. A third-generation Hill Country bluesman, Cedric learned by watching and then playing alongside his grandfather, RL Burnside, whom he affectionately calls his “big daddy,” as well as Junior Kimbrough, who referred to his own variation as “cotton patch soul blues.”

At juke joints in the Hills and Voices of the area, renditions of regular songs like “Jumper on the Line” and “All Night Long” by RL, Junior and their extended families could stretch to twenty minutes or more with the force of a steady pulse. often played by Cedric himself. However, after RL ended in 2005, Cedric got serious about his guitar playing and has since added to his Hill Country songbook with three solo albums, including the new Hill Country Lovereleased April 5.

“To my bones, I'm Hill Country blues,” says Cedric. “It's in my blood. it's in my heart It's what I love.”

Cedric spoke with us about Hill Country Love and growing at the feet of the masters.

Your latest album, “I Be Trying,” won a Grammy Award—your first and the first for any Hill Country blues artist. How has this affected your life?

Cedric Burnside: It definitely took me to the next level. I get more shows, I get better shows, and I get to write more of my own [own] MUSIC. Try it was a lot of original songs and that got me a Grammy, so I feel like I have an opportunity to put more originals out there and see how people relate. I try to stay humble, but I know [R.L. and Junior] I'd be really proud of myself for doing something that's never been done before for Hill Country blues.

What does the title of your new album, 'Hill Country Love' mean to you?

Cedric Burnside: As a kid, I was one of the many grandkids who would listen to my big dad and play house parties — my big dad, my dad, Calvin [Jackson], and all my uncles. All the other grandkids would kick up the dust by dancing to the music, and I would dance a little, but I was more amazed to see my grandpa and my dad play. It's always been something I can go to no matter how I feel. If I feel sad, if I feel frustrated, confused, I can always go to my music. And I just thank God for giving me this gift. “Hill Country Love” is one of those songs where I express how I feel in my music and just take it out into the world, and almost a thank you to God.

It wasn't long before it was your turn to play music, right?

Cedric Burnside: I played in juke joints until I was ten and I did my first tour with my big daddy when I was thirteen. I was just determined. My uncle Garry Burnside was twelve and he was very good on the bass at that age and I played the drums very well. And they used to hide us behind the beer coolers when the police came into the jukebox, because if they sent us home [then] the band was gone, you know? So they had to try and find a way to keep us there, and when the police leave, we jump back on the instruments and turn the music on.

What did you learn about Hill Country blues from playing it?

Cedric Burnside: I grew up learning their music and watching them, but I am just who I am. I'm not really trying to fill their shoes, because I think that's impossible, but I'm trying to make my own way. And I think that's something they would love if they were here today, to see me walk up to the door that they opened for me to continue this music. Not that any of my family doesn't go on in music, because my uncle Duwayne Burnside, my uncle Garry Burnside, they still do. Cameron Kimbrough, keeps the music, too. I've always been inspired by my great dad to do what I love, and Hill Country blues is what I love. It's what's inside of me, and I'm just letting it out.

What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about the blues?

Cedric Burnside: I think people see the blues as sad music. And not that there isn't sadness or depression in the blues, but people don't stay inside [their] sadness, they do not dwell in their depression. For me, the blues lives to talk about it. Because if you stay in this situation, I don't think you can really do anything. You don't have the strength to try to write music, you don't have the strength to try to get out of the situation.

How connected is your music to the sense of place and everything that goes with it?

Cedric Burnside: Mississippi is everything to me. I've been to some of the most beautiful places in the world, but nothing makes me want to leave Mississippi. I just love the Mississippi air, I love the Mississippi trees, the land. There is a certain spiritual energy here for me. I can go outside and listen to the birds and then write a song. I can go out and walk in the woods and write a song. I love it. And I think I'll be here until I die. This is where they will bury me.