Burnside to feature in concert
The Blues By Budweiser concert series will feature Duwayne Burnside at 8 p.m. April 6 at RJ’s Grill & Bar, 128 S. Main St.
The doors will open at 7 p.m. Port City Blues Society members are admitted free. Regular admission is $5. The concert series is sponsored by MK Distributors.
“Guitarist, singer and songwriter Duwayne Burnside is one of 14 children born to legendary North Mississippi musician R.L. Burnside and his wife, Alice,” according to a news release. “He has been a frequent performer with the North Mississippi Allstars since the early 1990s, when that group, fronted by Luther and Cody Dickinson, was formed.”
Burnside learned his first few guitar licks and chords from his father, but soon began playing with local club owner Junior Kimbrough and the Soul Blues Boys.
Growing up in Holly Springs, he was close to Memphis where he had the opportunity to sit in with Little Jimmy King, Albert King, B.B. King, Bobby “Blue” Bland and other blues greats, according to the release.
Burnside also began playing in his father’s band, Sound Machine Groove, where he further honed his skills as a guitarist. He recorded for Hightone and Fat Possum Records with his father’s group before moving to Memphis, where he opened his own club, Burnside Kitchen and Grill, near U.S. 61. He booked the musical acts, cooked the food, sold the beer and had his own band perform weekly.
In 1998, Burnside traveled to Los Angeles to record his first album, “Live at the Mint,” as Duwayne Burnside & the Mississippi Mafia. After returning to Memphis, he decided to take a break from the bar business and settled back home in Holly Springs.
In 2001, he joined the North Mississippi Allstars on-stage for the first time in Birmingham, Ala., and that led to touring with the band.
He recorded with them on their third album, Polaris, and is featured on two of the group’s EPs. In 2004, he opened another version of the Burnside Blues Cafe in Holly Springs and formed a new band that fused soul blues with hill country blues.
His albums under his own name include “Live at the Mint” (1998) and “Under Pressure” (2005), both with B.C. Records. An album celebrating his father’s life and music remains in the works. One of the last things he asked his father to do (R.L. Burnside passed
at age 78 in 2005) was sing with him at the massive, popular Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee.
Port City Blues Society, which promote the concert series, is an affiliated member of The Blues Foundation. The society seeks to preserve and promote blues music, the culture of Delta blues, and educate the public about the history of the blues in the region. The society also hosts a free blues jam every at RJ’s Grill & Bar from 8-11 p.m. on Wednesdays.
Details: pc-blues.com or facebook.com/PCBluesSociety.