Cedric Burnside: Hill Country Blues in the Blood
Matteo Bossi
At 46 Cedric Burnside has been playing the blues his whole life. And witnessing him continuing the legacy of his family’s musical tradition over the years has been a great affirmation of how the hill country blues can still be relevant and vital. Known as a phenomenal, powerful drummer since the days of playing with his Big Daddy, R.L. Burnside, Cedric has become a singer, guitar player and band leader with a very distinct personality. We met again on July 19 in Polesine Parmense, after the soundcheck for the only date in Italy on hisEuropean tour. It’s the same place where he played in 2007 with Lightnin’ Malcolm, headlining, back then, one of the nights of the Rootsway Festival. “I remember that”, says Cedric watching the river Po over the trees, “With Malcolm we split around 2010/2011 I think we were together for about seven or eight years and it worked out really good. A lot of memories.” On this tour he has Cody Harrell on bass and Joe Eagle Johnson on drums. He starts out playing alone and acoustic on guitar his versions of tunes like “You Got To Move” or “Shake Em On Down” before the other guys join him for the electric part of the show with more stuff from his latest album, “Hill Country Love”. Too bad his gig was cut short by a storm, but let’s go back to the conversation we had before that.
I remember back then you said you were working on learning guitar and I think the first you recorded as a guitar player was on “The Way I Am”, an album you put out as Cedric Burnside Project.
Around 2012 or something like that, but yes you’re absolutely right. For that album I had worked on some songs and I was looking to record them. It just so happened that my brother Cody, before he passed, may he rest in peace, he was able to record with me on that album. We started around the house, man, we played music and he came in on some songs and it just turned out really great. I had an idea about the way it sounded and I’m happy about that record.
Around that time both you and Cody, a rapper, recorded with the late John-Alex Mason “Jook Joint Thunderclap”. That was a very good record too.
Yes man, correct! I think they actually passed on the same year, 2012, John-Alex passed first and then a few month later Cody. I can tell you that John-Alex, man, he was a phenomenal musician and person…if I knew an angel John-Alex was probably one of them and to be able to collaborate with him before he passed was amazing.
I talked with Gerry Hundt a few months ago, who was on those sessions too and he had vivid memories of that and your drumming!
Oh I know Gerry, it’s been a while. It brings back a lot of good memories.
He had some african percussionists on that record that blended seamlessly with hill country blues, where there this kind of polyrithmic drumming and you have to react all the time to what is happening.
Oh, yes it’s very unorthodox, you’re right. The thing with Hill Country Blues is you never know when the change it’s gonna be, if it’s gonna be…if it so happens to be a change you gotta be ready! You don’t know when it’s coming.
As you started out playing with Big Daddy but also with people like Paul “Wine” Jones, Junior Kimbrough or T-Model Ford in Juke Joint Caravan tours…that was a big learning experience?
That’s a good question, I’m glad you brought that up…I played with those guys, I was the youngest musician of the band, I was 14 or 15 years old and Paul “Wine” Jones was the youngest “old guy” and he was about 57 or 58 years old. I remember playing behind Paul, then behind Mr. Robert Cage, Junior Kimbrough and then my Big Daddy, RL Burnside! I would play four hours every night behind four different artists, all of them very unique, they got their own style, very unorthodox so imagine the ears I had to have at 14 years old. I had to really really listen!
Cedric Burnside Greenville 2015 ph Gianfranco Skala
Much better than a college class in drumming!
Oh yes absolutely! Either you’re swimming or you go down. Here’s another story I got for you. Mr Honeyboy Edwards was another unique, unorthodox style of musician, I did this tour with him, Mr Hubert Sumlin and Big Head Todd & The Monsters…it was called the One Hundred Years of Robert Johnson tour. So Mr Honeyboy wanted some drums behind him and Big Head Todd’s drummer said “mmm no man, you don’t mess with that type of music…” So his manager at the time, Michael Frank said “Honeyboy there’s nobody that can play drums, you have to do it solo”. “I can do it”, I said, “I don’t know if you know but this is the type of music I grew up with.” They were scared as hell for me to play. One evening at soundcheck Mr Honeboy asked me to get behind the drums, he did a little weird change and I changed, then I changed again, I was following him…and everybody was like “What?” But I was , “I don’t know if you all know my resume, this is what I do, I’ve been doing it my whole life” And Mr. Honeboy was “boy I want you to play with me every night!” It was so much fun, so every night for the rest of the tour I played with Mr. Honeboy. I never would have had that drive or that motivation if it wasn’t for me playing with so many of the old cats when I was younger. I played behind so many of them, Miss Jessie Mae Hemphill was another one…I was never intimidated by playing behind unorthodox players.
Do you think that being a drummer for so many years made you a different guitar player? And being around many guitar players too?
I started playing guitar and whatever sounded good to me that’s what I played…to a lot of guitar players it was not the correct way to play guitar. But I always had this mindset, if it sounds good is it really the wrong way to play it? If it sounds good, It can’t be wrong. So many people are used to go to school and learn how to play this way or that way…but I didn’t got to school, I taught myself, I did listen to people, my uncle Gary showed me something in standard and I just took that and made it my own.
Did you play in different open tunings? I think some of the stuff R.L. played was in open G.
Yes I started in open G! For about three or four years I played all of my songs in open G. “The Way I Am” is written in open G. Then I learned standard. Now I write songs all the time and I thank the Lord and my Big Daddy, RL Burnside, he opened the door for the Burnside family and I hope the Good Lord keeps me so that I can go around the world playing my music. I’m really grateful for that.
You put out a record some years ago, “Allison Burnside Express”, a collaboration with Bernard Allison.
Bernard was also a big fan of Hill Country blues. I’ve been knowing Bernard since I was 14 or 15 years old…It was so cool to collaborate with him with us being so different, our music style. But he dug my style and I dug his. When we decided to collaborate it turned out awesome and it surprised a lot of people…I knew we were going to lay something down and that it could be good, but not as good as it did.
For a while Trenton Ayers played with you, you go way back.
Yes! I’ve known Trenton since he was a five or six years old kid. His Dad used to play with Mr Kimbrough. We had been around each other off and on playing music…so when he was free I asked him “do you want to play with me?” And he said “hell yes”. We got together and it turned out really great, like I knew it would. Then we did “Hear Me When I Say” it was really amazing to collaborate with some of the guys in New Orleans like Vasti Jackson. Mr Vasti is phenomenal, he can play any style of music. We recorded in New Orleans. One of my managers at the time had a friend who had a studio there, we would go over there and fool around in the studio sometimes and when it came time to record my album with went there.
You put out some records independently then you got signed by Single Lock, is a label founded and run by musicians. And you got a Grammy for “I Be Trying”!
That was beautiful moment! That’s right, John Paul White, Reed Watson and run the label…I had a good buddy Syd who was booking me a few gigs at the times. He knew the guys at Single Lock. I let him hear the album and he just freaked out, they said “oh wow this is just so good man! Have you already put this out?” “No, I’m shopping it right now”, I said. “Please let me take that to Single Lock”. And I have to be honest, I had never heard of Single Lock…so when I looked them up I said “ok, it looks pretty cool.” I was kind of skeptic because, you know, most record companies these days don’t let the artist be the artist, they always find something they want to change. Single Lock didn’t do that. They said “no, man, we want you because you are you”. “I’m really glad to hear it”. It was all good for me. We just went with it and the rest is history.
Not even R.L. Burnside got a Grammy, I think he got nominated.
Being the first one to get a Grammy for Hill Country Blues it’s an amazing feeling. When I was up there receiving that Grammy I saw everybody, I saw my Big Daddy, I saw Junior, I saw Otha Turner and Miss Jessie Mae…I thank them for taking me under their wing and also it was beautiful to get a Grammy for them, not just for me.
You recorded “I Be Trying” at Royal Studios with Boo Mitchell.
Yes, me and Boo we know each other for a long time as well.
Cedric Burnside Crissier 2019 foto Gianfranco Skala
How does it feel to be a kind of ambassador for Hill Country Blues around the world?
Wel what keeps me going is to take this music around the world. The thing is playing with the old cats I was the younger…I was out there getting breakfast for them every morning when we were on tour or trying to find food for lunch when we were in Europe…and I was absorbing the music from the source. It was very important to me. A responsibility? I don’t look at it because it is a part of me and I love it. I let the music speak for itself and also pay tribute to those guys that showed me the road, I really appreciate them for giving me my start. I probably would have had a much later start if it wasn’t for my Big Daddy taking me on tour. That meant he believed in me.
Was it different R.L. when you were on the road together than when he was home taking care of everybody?
Oh that’s a great question, man, because it certainly was. A complete different side of him. At home he had to be this backbone, this strong father and grandfather, laying down the rules and providing for the family. And he did all of that. He would give you the shirt off his back. When he was on the road he was way more laid back, relaxed, because he could be…he would tell jokes, we would just laugh and talk. Complete difference. Not that he wasn’t funny at home he just had to be a man that laid down the rules, because kids and grandkids, everybody would come at him, asking for this, asking for that…It was cool to see him that way, he deserved it. One thing I could tell you man, sitting behind the drums when I played with him, I was watching him and I was in awe…seeing how the crowd reacted, how amazed they were by his vocals and his guitar playing, his style was so different, but it was great. I was like a fan. Every night that I do my set I think about it and his aura that I saw when I was watching him do his thing. I just really want to make my own mark, but I don’t want anybody to forget RL Burnside. Not that they will, because he made a long lasting impact on a lot of people. But as long as I’m living they’re gonna remember who he is, as I’m making my legacy and leaving my mark.
Sometimes on the italian public television television RAI they show the BBC program “Great American Railroad Journey” by Michael Portillo and you guested on the Memphis episode.
Oh really? I remeber doing that, but you know what, I have never seen it.
The last record, “Hill Country Love”, you made that with Luther Dickinson. You told me Luther was the first one who gave you a guitar.
He was, in 2003. And he came on tour with us in 1996 or ’97. Luther is a little bit older than me but I remember we asked his dad Mr Jim for Luther to go on the road with us, to play but also to be a second driver. At the time Kenny was driving but I was not because I didn’t have my licence yet. So we finally convinced Mr. Jim to let him go on the road with us. It was an amazing time, it was really great. I’ve been knowing Luther for so long, he’s definitely my brother from another mother. Him and Cody. We did the record in a couple of days and it turned out amazing.
Comments are closed