Cedric Burnside
Burnside (born August 26, 1978) is an American electric blues guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter. He is the son of blues drummer Calvin Jackson and grandson of blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist R. Amongst many others, Burnside has played drums, either live or on record, with R. Burnside, Jessie Mae Hemphill, John Hermann, Kenny Brown, Richard Johnston, Jimmy Buffett, T-Model Ford, Paul "Wine" Jones, Widespread Panic, Afrissippi, and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Cedric Burnside

Schorle · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Cedric Burnside
- Birth Name
- Cedric O.
- Born
- 26 August 1978
- Birthplace
- Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
- Occupation
- Musician, singer, songwriter
- Nationality
- United States
- Fields
- electric blues
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wikidata · Q17626534 · wikipedia · Cedric Burnside
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Cedric Burnside • Birth Name — Cedric O. Burnside • Born — 26 August 1978 • Birthplace — Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. • Instrument — Drums, guitar, vocals • Genre — Electric blues Hill country blues • Occupation — Musician, singer, songwriter • Years Active — 1991–present • Label — Single Lock Records
Early life and education
Early life and education
Burnside was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, to Calvin Jackson and Linda Burnside, and raised in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in the house of his grandfather, R. L. Burnside, and the extended family. By the age of 13, he began to tour with his grandfather's band, as a drummer. He had overlapped his father's time in the band, and would eventually replace him on the drums.
Career
Career
In 2002, Burnside played on Richard Johnston's debut album, Foot Hill Stomp. Burnside followed this two years later by playing percussion on Johnston's Official Bootleg #1 album. A short-term partnership of Cedric with Garry Burnside (his uncle two years elder) in 2006, saw them record The Record, billed as Burnside Exploration. They had tour dates as opening act and jam partners for Widespread Panic. Later in 2006 in Clarksdale, Mississippi, Burnside teamed up with Lightnin' Malcolm, and they both toured and recorded the Juke Joint Duo album. In 2008 they released Two Man Wrecking Crew, on which Jason Ricci played harmonica and Etta Britt performed backing vocals. It won a Blues Music Award for 'Best New Artist Debut' in 2009. The duo also toured with the Big Head Blues Club, a collaboration which led to them jointly recording the album, 100 Years Of Robert Johnson in 2011, to mark the centennial of the birth of Robert Johnson. • Illustration — Burnside at INNtöne Jazzfestival, 2024 Another collaboration followed, this time with his younger sibling, Cody Burnside, plus his uncle, Garry Burnside, which created the Cedric Burnside Project. From 2011 he recorded and toured with Trenton Ayers. In 2011, The Way I Am album was released. Burnside's brother, Cody, died in 2012, and their father followed in 2015. In late 2012 he recorded the album Allison Burnside Express with Bernard Allison, released in 2014. Burnside's 2013's Hear Me When I Say, and the later Descendants of Hill Country (2015), were issued under the Cedric Burnside Project name and using the guitar playing of Ayers. The latter was funded using a Kickstarter campaign. Burnside has had cameo appearances in three films – Tempted and Big Bad Love (both 2001), and Black Snake Moan (2006). Burnside has performed with Lightnin' Malcolm at Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival (2008), Memphis in May, Notodden Blues Festival (both 2009), and Voodoo Experience (2010). In 2018 he released the album Benton County Relic, which he recorded with Brian Jay of Pimps of Joytime. Benton County Relic was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019.
External links and further reading
External links and further reading
• Official Website • 2014 interview with Burnside • Extended discography at CD Universe * • "Mississippi Hill Country Blues, The Next Generation", Living Blues. Issue 189, April 2007. • Cedric Burnside coverage by WXPN Mississippi Blues Project * *
Identity
Identity
Cedric Burnside is recorded with the occupation blues musician. Classed in the genre electric blues. Recorded as songwriter, guitarist, drummer, singer and musician.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1978
Cedric Burnside was born on 26 August 1978.
Discography
• Year || Title || Record label || Accreditation • 2001 — Burnside On Burnside — Fat Possum Records — R.L. Burnside and Cedric Burnside • 2006 — The Record — Harvest Media Group — Burnside Exploration • 2007 — Juke Joint Duo — Soul Is Cheap — Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm • 2008 — Two Man Wrecking Crew — Delta Groove Productions — Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm • 2011 — The Way I Am — CD Baby — Cedric Burnside Project • 2013 — Hear Me When I Say — CD Baby — Cedric Burnside Project • 2014 — Allison Burnside Express — Jazzhaus — Cedric Burnside and Bernard Allison • 2015 — Descendants of Hill Country — Cedric Burnside Project — Cedric Burnside Project • 2018 — Benton County Relic — Single Lock Records — Cedric Burnside • 2021 — I Be Trying — Single Lock Records — Cedric Burnside • 2024 — Hill Country Love — Provogue Records — Cedric Burnside
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Cedric Burnside”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q17626534: Cedric Burnside
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and honors
In 2013, Burnside won the Memphis Blues Award as 'Drummer of the Year' for the third time. Burnside won his fourth overall, and third consecutive Blues Music Award in May 2014, in the category of 'Instrumentalist - Drums'. He won the award again in 2019, and 2020. The album Descendants of Hill Country, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016 for Best Blues Album. Benton County Relic was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019. He is a recipient of a 2021 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. For his album I Be Trying, Burnside won the Best Traditional Blues Album at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in 2022. Hill Country Love was nominated for a 2025 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album and a Libera Award for Blues Record.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Cedric Burnside, revision 1371652515 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Stlblues.net. STLBlues Reviews :: Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm – 2 Man Wrecking Crew.
- 2.Jefferson interview. Issue 141, March 2004. Swedish original , via Google Translate
- 3.Delta Groove Productions. Cedric Burnside - Lightnin Malcom. 2013-09-03.
- 4.AllMusic. Cedric Burnside | Credits.
- 5.Uniondailytimes.com. The Cedric Burnside Project performs at Shady's.
- 6.San Francisco Blues Festival: 2004 Festival Archives. Sfblues.com.
- 7.Dave "Doc" Piltz. Richard Johnston CD Review. Mnblues.com. November 2002.
- 8.Wes Freeman. Afrissippi, merging two continents. Perfect Sound Forever. April 2010.
- 9.Geraldine Wyckoff. Cedric Burnside: Real deal hill country blues. The Louisiana Weekly. 2012-01-09.
- 10.WXPN Mississippi Blues Project. Cedric Burnside interviewed by Jonny Meister. 2012-11-19.
- 11.Piltz, Dave. CD Review: Richard Johnston Foothill Stomp. Blues on Stage. The Blues Foundation. November 2002.
- 12.Bill Mitchell. Blues Bytes What's New. Bluenight.com.
- 13.William Ruhlmann. Burnside Exploration | Biography. AllMusic.
- 14.Widespread Panic Initiates Burnside Exploration. Jambands.com. 2005-10-06.
- 15.Widespread Panic Concert Setlist at Mud Island River Park Amphitheatre, Memphis on October 5, 2005. Setlist.fm.
- 16.Reverbnation.com. Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm Music, Lyrics, Songs, and Videos.
- 17.AllMusic. 2 Man Wrecking Crew - Cedric Burnside, Lightnin' Malcolm | Credits. 2008-10-21.
- 18.Mississippi Blues Project. Artist Profile: Cedric Burnside. 2012-07-12.
- 19.Usnwc.org. Cedric Burnside | U.S. National Whitewater Center.
- 20.North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic's twitter. RIP Calvin Jackson. 11 February 2015.
- 21.AllMusic. Allison Burnside Express.
- 22.Bluebird Reviews. Postcard from the Soul: An Interview with Cedric Burnside.
- 23.Cedric Burnside Project / Kickstarter. Help Keep the Mississippi Hill Country Blues ALIVE!!!!!. 17 March 2015.
- 24.IMDb.com. Cedric Burnside.
- 25.Cedric Burnside. GRAMMY.com. 28 January 2016.
- 26.Blues.about.com. 2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners.
- 27.2019 Blues Music Awards Winners Announced. Antimusic.com.
- 28.McKay, Robin. BLUES MUSIC AWARDS. Blues.org.
- 29.Prometheus Global Media. Grammy Nominations 2016: See the Full List of Nominees. Billboard. December 7, 2015.
- 30.National Endowment for the Arts. NEA National Heritage Fellowships 2021. www.arts.gov. n.d.
- 31.Ehrgott, Anna. Mississippi Hill Country Blues Musician Cedric Burnside Named NEA National Heritage Fellow. June 16, 2021.
- 32.Recording Academy. Artist: Cedric Burnside. www.grammy.com. n.d.
- 33.Grove, Garret. Mississippi Artist Nominated for 2025 Grammy. WJTV. November 14, 2024.
- 34.Grein, Paul. Shaboozey, Waxahatchee & More Lead 2025 Libera Awards Nominations: Full List. Billboard. 2025-03-19.
- 35.Cedricburnside.net. Cedric Burnside.
- 36.AllMusic. Cedric Burnside | Discography. 2008-10-21.
References
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References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 19 August 2026.
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