CEDRIC BURNSIDE – Hill Country Love

Renowned blues maestro Cedric Burnside is one of the greats of the genre and his upcoming album titled Hill Country Love is nothing short of a triumph. The vibrant aura and heartfelt passion of the material make for a frighteningly convincing, outright authentic, and emotionally gratifying listening experience that speaks of what it means to be human and fallible. The licks, riffs, and vocals harbor deep-seated feelings of yearning and tunes such as ‘Toll on Ye Life’, ‘I Know’, and ‘Strong’ underline that. There is an understated intensity to this stellar piece of work, and it most definitely is a melancholy and contemplative offering that tugs at the heartstrings and lends itself perfectly to an introspective journey through one’s past – almost akin to a reflection on the ache of memory, if that makes sense. Stylistically speaking, it differs slightly from Delta blues and Texas blues with respect to how Burnside’s vocals are interwoven with the riffs and how polyrhythms and a few unorthodox percussive elements have been incorporated into the absorbing material, which adds originality to it.

Hill Country Blues is a beautiful and stately slice of blues with a raw and intuitive vibe to it and as honest and genuinely stirring as one could have wished for. Essential? You bet!