Throughout the last 2-3 decades of music, there have been very few artists able to carry the real values of a genre like Blues as well as Tennessee-born multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter Cedric Burnside.
The American artist, who was raised in the area of Holly Springs in Mississippi and started to tour at the tender age of 13 as a drummer with his grandfather R.L. Burnside, a true giant of Mississippi Hill Country Blues, has constantly delivered, over his whole career to date, records of strong musical depth, inspiration and intensity, carrying, at the same time, that unmistakable sound that his grandfather has so successfully carried on playing for decades and that now Cedric Burnside has amply mastered by himself, through his own hard graft and undisputable talent.
With so many music Awards won through the years, including the recent Grammy Award won in 2022 for Best Traditional Blues Album, thanks to Burnside's I Be Trying's album, there must have been quite a lot of pressure and expectations mounting on the singer/songwriter's shoulders for I Be Trying's follow-up, given the success that particular album gained worldwide.
One of Burnside's strongest artistic values, which also resonates in all of artist's numerous records and projects Burnside was part of, has always been that of being true to himself and his music. It therefore comes to no surprise at all that the new record of the Mississippi-based artist, called Hill Country Love, is another extraordinary chapter in his music career that displays truthfully (once again) Cedric Burnside's many artistic skills at their finest.
Produced alongside one of Burnside's most trusted collaborators and fellow friend Blues artist Luther Dickinson, Hill Country Love was recorded in only two days of studio sessions at an old building in the little town of Ripley, MS, a place where the American artist intended, perhaps, to capture at their best the mood and the vibes of Burnside's own world, places like his favourite Juke Joint, for example or any other place which feels like Home for the 45-years-old Mississippi Hill Country Blues' most loved and respected torchbearer.
As a lyricist, Burnside delivers a rather touching portrait, in many of the songs part of Hill Country Love, of where the artist currently feels himself emotionally and spiritually, at this point of his life. There is an honest feeling of love to people and sense of belonging to places he calls Home in songs like Closer, Juke Joint, Love You Music and Hill Country Love; appreciation to life in stunningly penned tunes like Thank You, Toll On Your Life, Smile and Coming Real To You, while also touching upon the importance of standing up to your believes, whatever adversity stands between us and life in general, through songs like You Got To Move and Strong.
The 14 songs included into Hill Country Love show a full picture of Cedric Burnside's artistry as a Bluesman, some times in a more straight-to-your-face Mississippi Hill Country style, like on the album's opener I Know, Thank You and the closer Po' Black Mattie, where the sonic structure of each tune has that nervous up-tempo that carries so much intensity within, some other times in a more delicate, intimate, spiritual, stripped-down style, where Burnside's skills as a guitarist and as a singer take both centre stage in a wonderful, heart-warming and powerful fashion, as one could hear on songs like Shake' Em On Down or Strong, among others.
Hill Country Love is an album that captures an artist at the very peak of his career, a record made by an artist like Burnside that shows a level of continuity in his craftmanship second to none. Cedric Burnside does music like no other do and that is a fact that an album of this stature clearly confirms.
Hill Country Love is out now and it is available to be purchased via Mascot Label Group / Provogue
