Cedric Burnside, the reigning lion of Mississippi hill country blues.
How a musical legacy is passed from generation to generation.
I’m fascinated by family traditions. Much of my family’s were lost in the transition from Poland to the U.S., and to a language barrier. Thus, the details of my grandmother's history as a village healer in her youth are lost. But for musical families, legacies are easier to trace and preserve, thanks to recordings and other documentation.
One of the best examples in American music is the Carter and Cash clan—four generations deep, with hundreds of records and filmed performances between them. The Allman/Trucks/Betts kin are another illustration that spills across generations. But the closest to my heart are the Burnsides, who, along with Junior Kimbrough and his sons, are guiding lights of North Mississippi hill country blues.
The patriarch was R.L. Burnside, who was born in 1926 and learned to play at the feet of his neighbor, Fred McDowell, who was the foundation of North Mississippi blues as most of us know it—although the style, with its intricate rhythmic bedrock, is really an offshoot of the straight-from-Africa sound of the fife-and-drum bands that are the precursor to rural acoustic and electric blues. My beloved friend and mentor R.L. died in 2005, but his sons, Duwayne and Garry, and his grandsons, Kent and Cedric, who collectively span two generations, carry on the family tradition. Cedric, in particular, who I met when he was a 14-year-old drummer supporting his “Big Daddy” on tour, has become a profoundly important part of his family’s musical legacy at age 44.
Quietly, without his grandfather knowing, Cedric was taking notes on the fabric of R.L.’s guitar style from his seat behind the drums. It was only on his deathbed that R.L. learned Cedric was preparing to step forward into history. “I had only really started playing guitar in 2002,” Cedric, who, along with Kinney Kimbrough, was already one of the two preeminent drummers in North Mississippi blues, recalls. “I was able to play for Big Daddy and show him a song I’d written, and—he couldn’t really talk clearly at the time—his eyes lit up, delighted. I could tell he was proud of me and he put his thumb up. He loved to throw that thumb up when he heard something he dug.”
Today, Cedric has been nominated for three traditional blues Grammys and took the prize for his 2021 album I Be Trying. He has also won a half-dozen Blues Music Awards and was awarded a 2021 National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment of the Arts, the federal government’s highest honor for folk and traditional arts.“I could tell he was proud of me and he put his thumb up. He loved to throw that thumb up when he heard something he dug.”
At a recent show at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, supporting his new album Hill Country Love, the simplicity and complexity of Cedric’s music was laid bare. With his guitar and singing supported by only a drummer—in the deep juke joint tradition—his playing echoed his grandfather and McDowell, but was also a self-created style of swift, sharp, fingerpicked, hard-chiseled melodies that resonate like the music’s deepest bones. At times Cedric sounds like Ali Farka Touré, an artist he had never heard until his own approach was entirely developed. And Cedric’s lyrics deal with the struggle of being Black in an oppressive culture, of fighting up from poverty, of finding his own way in a tradition that goes back more than a half-century in his family’s history and to a place two continents away.
As any of Johnny Cash’s children, or Duane Betts or Devon Allman, might tell you, hefting that kind of legacy to new ground can be a heavy load. And yet, Burnside relates, “I just try to let it flow and do what my heart tells me to do, and if it works, great. If not, I regroup and try again. But I am grateful for how far the hill country sound has come, and grateful I’ve been able to help carry it. I’m about letting people know where I got it from, while paving my own way. As long as I can help keep it alive and well, I’m honored to be able to do that.”
Along those lines, Cedric says he’s got enough new original songs on his phone for three or four more albums. “So, I’m just going to do my own thing and put out as much music as I can before the good Lord calls me home, and show as much of this music to the younger generation around hill country—maybe even my own kids—so after I’m gone we can keep this going.”
R.L. would be very proud.
Whether or not your guitar’s been frozen in its cryosleep case for the winter, you’ll want to take some steps to make sure it experiences a healthy thaw.
Managing your instrument’s humidity and temperature are important pieces of a year-round maintenance regimen.
Here in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, we’re going from the dry, cold conditions of winter to the warmer, humid conditions of spring. As you probably know, these fluctuations can impact the well-being of your beloved instruments. So, here are some tips from our team on how to effectively care for your acoustic guitars during these seasonal shifts.
Before delving into specific tips, it's crucial to understand how seasonal changes affect acoustic guitars. Wood, the primary material in our guitars, is highly responsive to variations in temperature and humidity. When exposed to dry and cold conditions, wood tends to contract, leading to potential issues like cracking and changes in playability. Warm and humid conditions can cause the wood to expand, resulting in swelling, warping, or changes in tone.
Combating Dryness
As winter transitions to spring, the first challenge guitar owners face is the lingering dryness from the colder months. Low humidity levels can pose a threat to your acoustic's health, making it crucial to take preventive measures. One option is using a room humidifier to maintain an optimal humidity level for your instrument. Aim for a relative humidity of around 45 to 55 percent, as this range is ideal for preserving the integrity of the wood.
Regularly monitoring the humidity in the guitar’s environment is essential. Hygrometers, inexpensive devices that measure humidity levels, can also be placed in the guitar case or the room where it's stored. This allows you to make necessary adjustments promptly. In extremely dry conditions, consider using a guitar humidifier inside the case to provide localized moisture, preventing the wood from drying out.
Guitars that use alternative materials like high-pressure laminate (HPL) are better equipped to handle many of the issues that arise with seasonal changes. Our recently reconfigured X Series includes different models with HPL backs, sides, and tops in various wood grain patterns. They’re durable, reliable, affordable, and still maintain that classic Martin tone, while not being affected by changes in temperature and humidity.
Gradual Acclimation
And as the temperatures rise during the transition to spring, it’s important to acclimate your guitar gradually. Sudden changes in temperature can lead to stress on the instrument. When out playing live, give your guitar time to adjust to the changing environment by keeping it in its case as long as possible. This gradual acclimation helps prevent the wood from expanding too rapidly, reducing the risk of structural issues.
Humidity Control
While spring brings warmer temperatures, it also introduces higher humidity levels. We suggest using dehumidifiers or air conditioning to maintain a balanced humidity level. In addition to controlling the overall humidity in your home, storing your guitar in a hardshell case with moisture-absorbing packets can provide an extra layer of protection against excessive moisture.
Regularly inspecting your guitar for any signs of damage, like cracks or loose braces from swelling wood, and changes in playability, like unusually high or low action, is crucial during the warmer seasons. Addressing issues promptly, by taking the steps mentioned above, can prevent long-term damage and ensure the longevity of your instrument.
Year-Round Maintenance
Regardless of the season, regular maintenance is key to preserving your acoustic guitar’s health. Keeping your instrument clean and well-hydrated is important. Using high-quality guitar polishes, cleaners, protectants, and detailers can help maintain the wood's moisture and protect it from environmental factors. It’s crucial to choose products specifically designed for acoustic guitars to avoid any adverse effects. By following this advice, you can ensure that your instrument remains in optimal condition despite the changing seasons. If you’re a Martin owner, you can also visit our website to find an authorized Martin service center near you to help you with routine maintenance and repairs for your guitars.
Whether it’s combating dryness with humidifiers, gradually acclimating to warmer temperatures, or controlling humidity during the spring, these tips will help you safeguard your acoustic guitar and enjoy its beautiful tones for years to come.
Why you might be your own most important DIY project.
This is our annual DIY issue, where we share a few interesting projects—this time, a guitar mod that's a lesson in the proper way to use a router and six pedal-kit builds—that can be done fairly easily, in one day. The idea is to showcase attainable work that builds basic skills needed for more complex projects.
But for those of us with creative ambitions, the most important DIY project is far more complex than a pedal build, a pickup swap, or even homebuilding a guitar. I’ve always believed that the mark of an artist is having a unique character that comes through in their work. There are plenty of examples: Joni Mitchell, James Hetfield, David Gilmour, Polly Jean Harvey, Jimi Hendrix, Ava Mendoza, Anthony Pirog, Hank Williams, Howlin’ Wolf, Yvette Young, Coltrane, Miles, Billy Gibbons, Mike Watt, Brent Mason, and many, many more. What they all have in common is that it takes just a few notes or a vocal line or two to recognize them. Some might only be known in your town, but that doesn't make their work any less viable or important—especially if it’s important to you.
My favorite example, and also my favorite living songwriter, is Tom Waits. Whether you hear Tom crooning in his early post-Tin Pan Alley phase on a song like 1973’s “Ol’ 55” or whooping and cawing through 1987’s “Temptation,” accompanied by Marc Ribot’s gnawing guitar solo, or raving through 2011’s “Bad As Me,” recorded well after his conversion to avant troubadour … it all sounds like Tom Waits. And not just in the vocals and arrangements—although those are unmistakable. There is a rock-bottom sentimentality to much of his writing, which is consistently literate and poetic, and he has a way of drawing on roots-music sources in unlikely, sometimes outright weird contexts. He’s also a capable actor, but anyone who has seen Tom onstage, even before his first major theatrical role, in 1986’s Down by Law, knows that. I understand that everybody isn’t as fond of Tom’s work as I am, but that doesn’t matter. What does is that he is always recognizably himself—that he has a unique artistic character.
“What matters is knowing your own creative truth and embracing it.”
So, the point is, how do we follow in the footsteps of all the above to discover who we are artistically and bring that to play in our own work, in a way that conveys our distinctive creative character to anyone who hears our music? And once we do that, how do we keep growing while staying true to ourselves? There’s no pat answer, so it’s not as easy as soldering or even learning to blaze on scales for Instagram. And developing a unique artistic character is not important to everyone. There’s a lot to be said for just playing guitar and performing covers and having a whale of a time. But for those of us making original albums, trying to establish a sound or style that is authentically our own, trying to expand the envelope of genre, or do whatever the heck it is that lets us be us … well, it’s a lifelong DIY project.
The tools can’t be ordered online. They’re imagination, inspiration, honest evaluation, and the proverbial 10,000 hours. Along the way, decisions need to be made—about the playing approach and gear you might need to create a sound of your own, about really workshopping your songwriting and composing to get to a place where you hear that what you’re creating is authentically yours and not a diluted version of one of your heroes, about deciding exactly what you want your music to do. (A good way to arrive at the latter is working out an elevator pitch that explains your music to a stranger in as few words as possible. Decoding it for them also decodes it for you.)
It doesn’t matter how others judge your work. What matters is knowing your own creative truth and embracing it. Besides, it’s not always, or even often, easy to get others to embrace your vision, but that doesn't matter, as long as it’s your vision—and you know it, deep in your heart and brain.
Sure, gear is great and important, and I could talk about it all day. (Just ask my wife, Laurie, who has done her best to stay awake during many of my obsessive conversations with gearhead friends.) And learning how to mod it or make it so it best serves you is important. But if you have a creative vision, what’s most important is pursuing that vision, nurturing it, and truly owning it—until you and that vision are wholly the same thing.
A comparison photo of the shapes and sizes of transistors over time, ranging from the 1960s Black Glass (bottom left) to the 21st-century SOT-223 transistor (top right).
When it comes to vintage electronics, those contemporary to their release tend to see them as outdated, while the next generation has a different point of view. Here, our columnist dives deep into the subject.
Let’s begin this article with my memories from when I was a teenager, in the late 1990s and early 2000s. My father was an electronics wizard. He once built a 1000-watt tube pirate radio, and also my first guitar amplifier from a modified boombox. One day, while exploring his garage, I stumbled upon a dusty box labeled “Echo Device for Vocal.” To my surprise, I found two Matsushita MN3005 bucket-brigade delay integrated circuits (ICs) inside. As I’d been delving into the guitar world and its cults at that age, I felt like I had discovered a treasure! Even as early as the ’90s, analog delay was a vintage holy grail.
Afterward, I approached my father and said, “Dad, look, I found a made-in-Japan analog delay with authentic bucket-brigade delay ICs. Are you not using it anymore?” He simply replied, “Made-in-Japan is no good. You can use it if you want.”
Reflecting on that conversation, I realized something—we were two different generations living in distinct social circles. For me and perhaps my friends, Japanese-made gadgets from the ’80s were masterpieces, especially in the category of electronic musical instruments. Today, their value has surpassed their functional essence. In Indonesia, for instance, people buy made-in-Japan Boss products, not just to use, but as an investment! This also applies to products from Ibanez, Yamaha, Roland, Korg, and other vintage Japanese manufacturers. On the other hand, my father considered them to be items he no longer wanted, either due to his perception of their quality or because they were outdated. This generational and social-circle paradox slowly pulled me in, especially concerning the eternal debates like through-hole vs. SMD/SMT, silicon vs. germanium, vacuum tube vs. solid-state, vintage vs. modern, and, of course, analog vs. digital!
“In Indonesia, for instance, people buy made-in-Japan Boss products, not just to use, but as an investment.”
One day in 2019, I performed at an event after a long hiatus, and the event organizers asked me what equipment I would need onstage. I simply requested two sets of guitar amplifiers, specifically the Roland JC-120, as I wanted to crank up the volume. But the organizers were surprised by my request. One of them mentioned that I was the only performer who had asked for guitar amplifiers in the past few years. I thought it was just a joke, but I realized their honesty on the day of the event. Among the bands that performed, mine was the only one using conventional guitar amplifiers. It was the first time I truly witnessed a band performance where all the guitarists had adopted the “amp-less” stage concept. They tended to use amp simulators, whether digital or analog, and were perfectly comfortable without the presence of traditional guitar amplifiers, which have always been an emblem of rock ’n’ roll. Of course, the majority of the guitarists performing were 10 to 15 years younger than me. Now, I understand my father’s mindset from 25 years ago a little better.
Humans are a species that continues to evolve throughout time, always discovering new things, especially in technology. Let’s narrow the discussion down to musical instruments and related equipment. I can’t help but wonder, if super-compact DSP multi-effect stompboxes had been created in the 1950s, would we have the series of debates I mentioned earlier above? As a pedal effect builder, I strive to remain neutral. Nevertheless, I must be open to all possibilities regarding technological advancements.
We all live in a world that keeps on turning. Perhaps 20 years from now, my child will find NUX pedals in my storage and say, “Dad, you have a holy grail pedal from NUX; my friends will envy me!” Who knows? Well, after this, I will visit my father to enjoy a cup of coffee with him while listening to dangdut music from his super-slim smartphone. Now, I’m starting to think about hoarding and storing SMD/SMT components. Who knows, maybe my grandchild will consider them a holy grail 50 years from now.
PG's Nikos Arvanitis explains and demonstrates the individual sonic qualities and contrasting characteristics of the most-used modulation effects on guitar by citing the Police, Heart, Prince, Nirvana, Whitesnake, and Pearl Jam.