Benton County Relic

Description

Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and drummer Cedric Burnside, son of drummer Calvin Johnson, was raised by his grandfather, blues legend R.L. Burnside, in Mississippi. Born into the blues, or more precisely into the hill country blues, a rhythmically unorthodox Mississippi variant, Cedric toured with his grandfather as a drummer from the age of 13, while his father moved to the Netherlands to pursue his career. He has played with the North Mississippi Allstars, Jimmy Buffett, Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf), Black Joe Lewis, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. He was nominated for a Grammy in 2015 and received the Blues Music Awards' Drummer of the Year award four times in a row. Benton County Relic is his debut album for Single Lock Records. The rich tradition of hill country blues is dragged forcibly into the contemporary sound of electrified, crackling blues. If blues is music for overcoming difficult times, Cedric's music aims to overcome modern oppression and today's hardships. The twelve tracks were partly written in pain, from a childhood in poverty with "We Made It," to unrequited love with "There Is So Much," and the loss of a loved one with "Hard to Stay Cool." However, his blues covers a broader range of emotions, including "Call on Me," dedicated to his three daughters for whom he wants to be there emotionally if not always physically, "Death Bell Blues," a tribute to his grandfather who already played this song, and "Ain't Gonna Take No Mess," which states that Cedric plays music the way he wants without caring about others' opinions. And rightly so, as he helps keep the blues alive for a new generation nurtured by the White Stripes and the Black Keys.