Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm

CEDRIC BURNSIDE, grandson of the legendary R.L. Burnside, son of drummer great Calvin Jackson, is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in the world. Growing up at his grandfather's side, he began touring at age 13, playing drums for "Big Daddy" on stages around the globe. Cedric was born in 1978 and raised around Holly Springs, Miss., and has been playing music all his life, developing a relentless, highly rhythmic charged style with strong hip-hop and funk influences.
"I write about my life, my kids, and everyday things. I try to stick to the truth," Cedric says. Just 29 years old, he recalls growing up without a radio or a TV. "My granddad used to play out on the porch, and we'd have house parties every weekend. Johnny Woods would come over and blow harmonica, and he'd drink two or three gallons of corn liquor. We just stomped up dirt."
In addition to "Big Daddy," Cedric has also played with, among countless others, Junior Kimbrough, Kenny Brown, North Mississippi Allstars, Burnside Exploration, Bobby Rush and Widespread Panic. In 2006 he was featured in the critically acclaimed feature film, Black Snake Moan, playing drums alongside Samuel L. Jackson. (The film is a tribute to R.L. Burnside, and gives many nods to the late bluesman.) Cedric has teamed up with guitarist Lightnin' Malcolm and is proving to be a powerful vocalist and great songwriter. Cedric is a special talent that has brought new life and energy to the blues, and is loved by fans around the world.
Bluesman LIGHTNIN' MALCOLM is one of the leading, younger generation artists on the scene today. Born in rural Missouri, Malcolm enjoyed the freedom of country life, quickly learning to entertain himself and others around him. Growing up in a little village called Burgess in a country house next to the KCS Railroad that ran from Kansas City to New Orleans, the train has always been a theme in Malcolm's music, as well as the inspiration for the steady, insistent bass rhythms of rural dance music.
"I remember I was 7 or 8, and the grown folks was parked out on the road listening to music and carryin' on," recalls Malcolm. "They put on a tape called 'Muddy Waters' Greatest Hits,' and when I heard that voice shootin' out of that speaker, I was shocked. I fell in love with it, and I promised myself then and there that if I grew up to be a man, I was gonna try to do that!"
Malcolm -- a reckless live performer -- has lived and breathed music his whole life, traveling and playing in a slashing, rhythmic style, with deep soulful vocals. Malcolm has played over the years with many of the best Mississippi blues artists, such as Cedell Davis, R.L. Burnside, Hubert Sumlin, Jessie Mae Hemphill, T Model Ford, Jr. Kimbrough, Robert Belfour, Big Jack Johnson, Sam Carr and Otha Turner. Skilled on guitar, bass, and drums, Malcolm is an in demand session player with a telepathic sense of how to follow the older archaic styles, and is especially noted for his old-fashioned, church "shout" style on drums.
In 2005, Malcolm released his first album "Juke Joint Dance Party," and that summer it was the No.1 requested artist on XM Satelite Radio. After joining forces with powerhouse drummer/vocalist Cedric Burnside, the pair released their first CD titled "Juke Joint Duo."
Cedric and Malcolm caught the ear of Delta Groove Music label chief, Randy Chortkoff, while playing on the outdoor jam stage at Chortkoff's 3rd Annual Delta Groove All-Star Blues Revue in Clarksdale, MS. After receiving a demo from the duo's manager, Chortkoff contacted legendary producer, David Z (who has worked closely with the label, in addition to a career producing music legends such as Prince, Etta James, Buddy Guy, BB King and many others) and sent the duo up to Nashville to record an album for the label. Chortkoff brought in some very special guests for the session, including the innovative harmonica genius, Jason Ricci. The end result was such an authentic, swampy, backwoods sound that when you hear it, you'll have a hard time believing you're not sitting in a juke joint somewhere in the Delta.
"Once in a while you witness a birth in this business. A kind of unawareness to the fact that there are other sounds to be heard that you haven't yet discovered, or dialects and music that is still being invented. That is precisely the sound you hear from this Mississippi duo. You give these two guys 1 instrument each and they can make it sound like a Quartet. Bent deep in the Mississippi hill country, RL Burnside's grandson, Cedric has teamed up with the monster guitar talents of Lightnin' Malcolm, giving a mixed dose of traditional to modern hill country blues with a new twist all the way from rock to psychedelic." - 2007, Dirk Wissbaum Bluessource.com