I was super excited when I
first found out Duwayne Burnside had finally released Red Rooster
an album he started in 2006. With this recording, he continues to drive the
North Mississippi Hill Country sound forward.
Duwayne, former member of North Mississippi Allstars, and son
of the legendary R.L Burnside has teamed up once again with his former
bandmates for the making of Red Rooster. Recorded at the famed Zebra
Ranch Studio the record was produced by Cody Dickinson and also features
Luther Dickinson and Jimbo Mathus.
Burnside initiates the album by giving homage to his father with an extraordinary cover of “Nightmare”. The groove pulls me tightly in as I’m gobsmacked by Burnside’s tremendously soulful guitar performance. The infectious rhythm on Burnside’s ode to lost love “Somebody Done Stole My Girl” quickly takes hold. I absolutely love this one. “Talk Sweet to Me”, penned by Mathus, is a delectable slice of southern soul with a buttery baseline, a taste of piano, and cosmic guitar licks. Burnside recalls his younger days of learning about the blues and playing with his father and Junior Kimbrough in a beautiful and poignant track called “Tribute”. “Mississippi Here I Come” brings the record to a close with a jam-filled dedication to the Magnolia State. For the first four minutes and twenty seconds of the song, the track is an instrumental which seems to walk the line between bluegrass and The Allman Brothers. The remaining three minutes of the track are nicely soaked in delta blues with references to muddy boots, cornbread, and black-eyed peas.
Duwayne Burnside’s Red Rooster is an extremely cool recording with a grass-roots feel. Dripping with authenticity, I enjoy every bit of it.
