Cedric Burnside – the grandson of North Mississippi blues legend R.L. Burnside and son of blues drummer Calvin Jackson – follows-up his 2015 album Descendants of Hill Country with his eighth release, Benton County Relic. Burnside’s music is heavy inspired by both his father and grandfather but also integrates contemporary influences, culminating in a more polished version of Hill Country blues-roots while still maintaining spontaneity and free flowing grooves. Burnside’s vocals also have a warmth and smoothness his family’s music is not necessarily associated with. For Benton County Relic, lyrically Burnside reaches deeper into his personal life – love, lust, religion, family – than he has on past records. Album highlights include: “Get Your Groove On”; the soulful “Don’t Leave Me Girl”; the emotive tribute to the loss of a family member on “Hard to Stay Cool”; a cover of R.L. Burnside’s “Death Bell Blues”; “Call On Me” – a song inspired by Burnside’s daughters; the traditional Hill Country sounding “I’m Hurtin’”; and the more contemporary sounding closing track, “Ain’t Gonna Take No Mess.” Cedric Burnside cleverly achieves balancing the roots of the Mississippi Hill Country Blues sounds with a more contemporary twist on Benton County Relic while displaying an impressive level of depth and raw honesty. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | R.L. Burnside, Calvin Jackson, Junior Kimbrough, T-Model Ford