Cedric Burnside

Cedric Burnside
Birth name Cedric O. Burnside
Born August 26, 1978
Holly Springs, Mississippi, United States
Genres Electric blues
Hill country blues[1]
Occupation(s) Drummer, singer, guitarist, songwriter
Instruments Drums, guitar, vocals
Years active 1991–present
Labels Delta Groove Productions, CD Baby, various
Associated acts R. L. Burnside, Lightnin' Malcolm

Cedric O. Burnside (born August 26, 1978[2] in Memphis, Tennessee[3]) is an American electric blues drummer, singer and songwriter. He is the grandson of R. L. Burnside on his mother's side,[3] whilst his father was the blues drummer Calvin Jackson.[2]

Amongst many others, Burnside has either played drums live with, or on recorded work by, R. L. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, John Hermann, Kenny Brown, Richard Johnston, Jimmy Buffett, T-Model Ford, Bobby Rush, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Widespread Panic, and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.[4][5]

Cedric Burnside won his fourth overall, and third consecutive Blues Music Award in May 2014, in the category of 'Instrumentalist - Drums'.[6]

Life and musical career

He was born in Memphis and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi,[7] in the house of his grandfather, R. L. Burnside, and the extended family. By the age of 13, he began to tour with his grandfather's band, as a drummer.[7] He had overlapped his father's time in the band, and would eventually replace him on the drums.

In 2002, Burnside played on Richard Johnston's debut album, Foot Hill Stomp.[8] Burnside followed this two years later by playing percussion on Johnston's Official Bootleg #1 album.[9]

A short term partnership of Cedric with his uncle Garry Burnside in 2006, saw them record The Record, billed as Burnside Exploration.[10]

Later in 2006 in Clarksdale, Mississippi,[11] Burnside teamed up with Lightnin' Malcolm, and they both toured and recorded the Juke Joint Duo album.[7] In addition they released Two Man Wrecking Crew in 2008.[12] Jason Ricci played harmonica and Etta Britt performed backing vocals on Two Man Wrecking Crew.[13] It won a Blues Music Award for 'Best New Artist Debut' in 2009.[12] The duo also toured with the Big Head Blues Club, a collaboration which led to them jointly recording the album, 100 Years Of Robert Johnson in 2011, to mark the centennial of the birth of Robert Johnson.[12]

Another collaboration followed, this time with his younger sibling, Cody Burnside, plus his uncle, Garry Burnside, which created the Cedric Burnside Project. Since 2011 he has recorded and toured with Trenton Ayers. In 2011, The Way I Am album was released.[14] Burnside's brother, Cody, died in 2012,[7] and their father followed on 2015.[15]

In late 2012 he recorded the album Allison Burnside Express with Bernard Allison, released in 2014.[16]

Burnside's 2013's Hear Me When I Say,[17] and the later Descendants of Hill Country (2015), were issued under the Cedric Burnside Project name and using the guitar playing of Ayers. The latter was funded using a Kickstarter campaign.[18]

In 2013, Burnside won the Memphis Blues Award as 'Drummer of the Year' for the third time.[7]

Burnside has had cameo appearances in three films to date; Tempted and Big Bad Love (both 2001), plus Black Snake Moan (2006).[19][2]

Festivals

Burnside has performed at the following festivals in recent years (all with Lightnin' Malcolm): Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival (2008), Memphis in May, Notodden Blues Festival (both 2009), and Voodoo Experience (2010).

Discography

Year Title Record label Accreditation
2006 "The Record" Harvest Media Group Burnside Exploration
2007 Juke Joint Duo Soul Is Cheap Cedric Burnside and Lighnin' Malcolm
2008 Two Man Wrecking Crew Delta Groove Productions Cedric Burnside and Lighnin' Malcolm
2011 The Way I Am CD Baby Cedric Burnside Project
2013 Hear Me When I Say CD Baby Cedric Burnside Project
2014 Allison Burnside Express Jazzhaus Cedric Burnside and Bernard Allison
2015 Descendants of Hill Country Cedric Burnside Project Cedric Burnside Project

[7][20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "STLBlues Reviews :: Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm – 2 Man Wrecking Crew". Stlblues.net. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Cedric Burnside - Lightnin Malcom". Delta Groove Productions. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Geraldine Wyckoff (2012-01-09). "Cedric Burnside: Real deal hill country blues". The Louisiana Weekly. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  4. ↑ "Cedric Burnside | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  5. ↑ "The Cedric Burnside Project performs at Shady’s". Uniondailytimes.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  6. ↑ "2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners". Blues.about.com. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Cedric Burnside Project". Cedricburnside.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  8. ↑ Piltz, Dave (November 2002), "CD Review: Richard Johnston Foothill Stomp", Blues on Stage (The Blues Foundation), retrieved 7 March 2010
  9. ↑ Bill Mitchell. "Blues Bytes What's New". Bluenight.com. Retrieved 2014-05-18.
  10. ↑ William Ruhlmann. "Burnside Exploration | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  11. ↑ "Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos". Reverbnation.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "Artist Profile: Cedric Burnside". Mississippi Blues Project. 2012-07-12. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  13. ↑ "2 Man Wrecking Crew - Cedric Burnside,Lightnin' Malcolm | Credits". AllMusic. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  14. ↑ "Cedric Burnside | U.S. National Whitewater Center". Usnwc.org. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  15. ↑ "RIP Calvin Jackson". North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic's twitter. 11 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Allison Burnside Express". Retrieved 2015-04-30.
  17. ↑ "Postcard from the Soul: An Interview with Cedric Burnside". Bluebird Reviews. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  18. ↑ "Help Keep the Mississippi Hill Country Blues ALIVE!!!!!". Cedric Burnside Project / Kickstarter.
  19. ↑ "Cedric Burnside". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  20. ↑ "Cedric Burnside | Discography". AllMusic. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2014-08-26.

External links and further reading