Garry Burnside — “It’s My Time Now” — Strolling Bones Records
Kent Burnside — “Hill Country Blood” — Strolling Bones Records
The Mississippi Hill Country blues is an intriguing variation on the music that came out of the Mississippi Delta region and eventually moved to the urban north.
The Hill Country is part of northern Mississippi, bordering Tennessee, and the music that developed there emphasizes rhythm and percussion, often resulting in a trancelike, hypnotic musical groove. One of the first musicians to become widely known for performing in this style was Mississippi Fred McDowell, who influenced later artists like R. L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough.
Burnside, Kimbrough and other Hill Country musicians (who deserve a much wider audience), such as Othar Turner, and Jessie Mae Hemphill appeared in the 1991 British documentary “Deep Blues,” created by music critic and author Robert Palmer and film maker Robert Mugge, leading to wider knowledge and popularity of the style. Recordings of Hill Country artists followed on the Fat Possum Records label, created just to feature that music.
Fast forward through about 30 years of Hill Country artists to the present, as Garry Burnside, R.L. Burnside’s youngest son, and Kent Burnside, R.L.’s grandson, step out with their own albums of original music after years of honing their musical and songwriting skills and developing their own performing styles. Garry’s brother is Duwayne Burnside, who has played with the North Mississippi Allstars, and his nephew and Kent’s cousin is the Grammy-winning Cedric Burnside.
Garry and Kent both released their albums on Aug. 15 (yes, I’m late to the party) and on the same label, and together they’ve created a more contemporary Hill Country sound, but one that’s still deeply infused with their musical heritage.
Garry played for years with Hill Country legend Junior Kimbrough and following Kimbrough’s death in 1998, began playing and recording regularly with the North Mississippi Allstars, the Hill Country Revue, brother Duwayne Burnside (for whom he ghostwrote most of the album, Under Pressure), and Grammy-award-winning nephew Cedric Burnside (with whom Garry received a Grammy nomination for their collaboration, Descendents of Hill Country). Garry has also recorded with blues greats Jesse Mae Hemphill and Bobby Rush, and many others.
Garry describes his music as “Hill Country with a lil bit of funk” and, about the album, says “I spent most of my career playing bass or guitar with other bands, so it feels amazing to say this will be my first album being released with all of my own music on it. Coming up under my pops [R.L. Burnside] and Junior Kimbrough, I learned so much. This album really is a testament to them, what they taught me, and my growth as a musician. I hope it makes them proud.”
“It’s My Time Now” features nine original songs, one co-write with Kimbrough, “Ramblin’,” and one classic R.L. Burnside cover, “Bad Luck City.” Garry’s very personal take on the Hill Country sound features fascinating rhythms and a unison vocal/guitar style that creates a mesmerizing rich and cohesive sound. Three instrumental tracks — “High,” “AGF Out” and “Bad Luck City” add to the musical intensity.
Kent Burnside has also spent a couple of decades building his own style and career, starting as a
guitarist in Jimbo Mathus’ post-Squirrel Nut Zippers band in 2005-2006. After leaving Mathus’ band,
Kent has fronted his own band at blues clubs and festivals.
Kent’s album, “Hill Country Blood,” includes eight original tracks, with splendid covers of John Lee Hooker’s “Crawling King Snake” and Kimbrough’s “You Better Run.” Kent plays guitar and Garry plays bass. Kent says, “Hill Country Blood is a high-energy, deeply authentic blues experience that honors the past while charging into the future.”
“Daddy Told Me” opens this session with a traditional, hypnotic Hill Country vibe that honors his forebears, while “Hill Country Blood” opens a new vein with a tougher, rocking style, adding a standout guitar solo. “Crawling King Snake” is another fiercely drawn cut. The closer features Garry’s acoustic guitar on Kent’s winsome ballad, “I Miss You,” with sentiments that could have just easily closed Garry’s album.
Taken together, these two excellent albums revisit the origins and traditions of Mississippi Hill Country blues and bring fresh vitality to its storied past. If you’ve never heard this powerful blues style, you owe yourself a musical treat by enjoying both sessions. If you have, you owe yourself the musical treat of this fresh approach, or as Kent says, “charging into the future.”
Here’s a track from each album:
Tracklist for “It’s My Time Now”:
High
Young Country Boy
It’s My Time Now
Hanging In There
Bad Luck City
Ramblin’
Hold My Woman
I Been Looking
She’s Gone
AGF Out
Garry’s Night Out (Bonus Track) *CD and Digital Only
All songs written by Garry Burnside except Bad Luck City written by RL Burnside and Ramblin’ written by Garry Burnside and Junior Kimbrough
Tracklist for “Hill Country Blood”:
Daddy Told Me
Hill Country Blood
Crawling King Snake
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
Damian Pearson – harmonica
I Heard
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
I Go Crazy
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
Damian Pearson – harmonica
One More Chance
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
Damian Pearson – harmonica
Rob and Steal
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
I Can Feel It
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
You Better Run
Kent Burnside – vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside – bass
Jake Best – drums
I Miss You
Kent Burnside -vocals, electric guitar
Garry Burnside- acoustic guitar
Damian Pearson-harmonica
All songs written by Kent Burnside
Kent Burnside Music / Strolling Bones Independent Music Publishing (ASCAP)
Except You Better Run by Junior Kimbrough – Music River Publishing Company (BMI)
and Crawling King Snake by John Lee Hooker – Universal Music Careers (BMI)
Blues Roadhouse 