This week’s PBS Feature Album is I Be Trying, the ultimate mission statement from GRAMMY-nominated musician Cedric Burnside, an artist who has proudly carried the mantle of Mississippi Hill Country blues around the world.
As only a true Mississippi bluesman can, Cedric Burnside channels those acute experiences of pain, anger, frustration and hurt into an intimate, vulnerable and profound look into his inner life. Cedric draws from his years collaborating with his legendary grandfather RL Burnside while crafting a bold, contemporary Black American sound that serves as a masterclass in Mississippi Hill Country Blues from its greatest living practitioner.
Over thirteen tracks, Burnside delivers his bruised but unfettered truth over blistering guitar and deep pocket drums—a sound birthed in his soul but developed and perfected on the road. Recorded over three days at the hallowed Royal Studios in Memphis (the home studio of Al Green and Hi Records in the 60s and 70s) and produced by second-generation Memphis soul trailblazer Boo Mitchell (“Uptown Funk”) the album also features guest appearances from North Mississippi All-Stars frontman Luther Dickinson, Alabama Shakes bassist Zac Cockrell and New Orleans drummer Reed Watson.
The blues is music for all time - past, present, and future - and few artists simultaneously exemplify those multiple temporal moments of the genre like Cedric Burnside.
I Be Trying is out now via Single Lock Records. Pre-order yourself a copy here, or PBS members can tune in on air all week for a chance to win.
Cover image by Abraham Rowe.
TOP TRACKS WE'RE LOVING
The Rookies - 'Caravan'
Plaster of Paris - 'Danceflaw'
Glass Beams - 'Mirage'
SAULT - 'Trap Life'
Marie Davidson - 'My Love (Young Marco remix)'
Singing Dust - 'Involution'
Celia Wa - 'Wake Up'
Devendra Banhart & Noah Georgeson - 'In A Cistern & Into Clouds'
Jinjer - 'Vortex'
