Husky Burnette Talks On All That Is Hill Country Blues

Hill Country Blues is rock n' roll in its purest form

What is hill country blues? It’s a way of life for one. It’s a regional style of blues that comes from North Mississippi, particularly around the greater Holly Springs area. It gets down in your blood if you let it (and sometimes you don’t have a choice in the matter). It makes you wanna get up and get down. It’s a sound that moves you. Then, eventually, it forces you to physically move cause it gets you up out of your seat, throws you into a coma-like state and makes you MOVE. (Remember I said you have no choice in the matter?) This is a groove unlike any other. Not a groove like Funk, R&B, Jazz, Funk or any other kind of groove in music. This is trance music.

Hill country differs from all other styles of blues. It’s built from guitar-driven riffs, emphasizing the rhythm and percussion, very little use of the harmonica and the song structures themselves are more unconventional than any popularized blues songs on the radio, tv, etc. It’s different than Delta Blues for sure. Often, people mistake all styles of blues for being the same. For starters, this mistake happens simply because they all came out of Mississippi. Plus, Delta Blues took the limelight first. It’s far more popular than others, due to the old delta pickers taking their music to Chicago and becoming successful with worldwide recognition. Sometimes the styles even overlap. Take, for instance, T-Model Ford’s music. He hailed from the Delta but his sound and his playing was clearly Hill Country. From a musician’s point of view, the chords used, or lack thereof, are completely different from Delta and Chicago blues songs. It’s not your basic three chords (I-IV-V) you normally hear in popular blues progressions (Mustang Sally, Sweet Home Chicago, The Thrill Is Gone, etc). For the most part you’re just using that first chord (the I chord) of those three and, typically, never straying away from it. They hit that chord/key, lock into a groove, and ride it on out ‘til the wheels fall off. Obviously there are exceptions, as there are in any and every style of music. But, for the most part, it’s just trance music baby...all night long. And they didn’t wear no stinkin’ expensive suits either. They’re from the hill country. They wore wife-beaters, boots, trucker hats, overalls...they’re country-livin’ folks.

When you think hill country, two of the musicians that are mentioned the most, in modern times, are R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. In the 90’s their styles caught on with blues crowds and indie/alternative crowds alike. Especially when they appeared in the 1991 Deep Blues documentary and then signing with the Fat Possum record label out of Oxford, Mississippi. They actually began recording in the ‘60s, playing mostly at juke joints and house parties close to home. It wasn’t until the ‘70s that they actually started playing festivals and even Europe but, then in the ‘90s they gained much success, extensively touring in the states and overseas, inspiring many artists who would go on to emulate their hill country sound along the way. Burnside’s most popular trio consisted of himself, his grandson Cedric on drums and his buddy and “adopted son” the legendary Kenny Brown on slide/lead guitar. One of Kimbrough’s most notable lineups consisted of his son Kinney on drums and R.L.’s son Garry on bass guitar. Where Burnside’s music was more on the happy, dancing side of things (for a lack of better explanation), Kimbrough’s music portrayed a much darker side and approach to the style. Both Burnside and Kimbrough influenced tons of heavy-hitter artists who’ve recorded their tunes, such as The Black Keys, North Mississippi Allstars and more. They’ve had their songs in commercials, television shows, films, etc. But who influenced them? Burnside and Kimbrough both were heavily influenced by the music of John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. However, Burnside learned directly from guitarists Mississippi Fred McDowell and Ranie Burnette. McDowell’s sound is said to have helped define the hill country sound early on. His performances had that “drone” style, that’s prominent in hill country, heavy on African rhythms and the percussive side of things.

RL Burnside will always be my personal favorite Hill Country Blues artist

Even though Burnside and Kimbrough have passed, their families still play on in this tradition that was passed down, keeping this style of blues alive: Duwayne Burnside, Duwayne Burnside & The Mississippi Mafia, The Burnside Exploration, Cedric Burnside, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm, Kent Burnside & The New Generation and David Kimbrough. Kenny Brown and other North Mississippi artists, such as North Mississippi Allstars and Hill Country Revue, have taken the style or their newer version of the style to international fame as well. If you’re not hip to hill country blues, hopefully this will help get you on your journey and be the starter kit to learning about North Mississippi music. Do yourself a favor and seek out some of these artists mentioned, new and old. The same ol’ blues is gonna be just that without expanding to check out other voices and other ways of the land and music in Mississippi.

For a more in-depth look at the blues in all of it’s forms, check out the book Deep Blues by Robert Palmer. A great read for lovers of southern music!

Hellbound Glory Tops Farce The Music's Top Albums Of 2011

"The boys went and growed up on us. While Hellbound Glory is still infatuated with the darker subjects - addiction, dysfunctional families and death, in particular - their songwriting has improved a great deal since their last album. Not that it was ever bad. It's just that this time around the songs are better developed. The hooks are hookier and the subject matter comes across more naturally - it no longer feels like they're trying to shoehorn in every deviant behavior and curse word they can, just because they can. This is a band on the rise and with material this good, they may eventually break down the wall between alt and country. Best tracks: Better Hope You Die Young, Knocked Off the Horse." - Farce The Music

Link over to Farce The Music

Hellbound Glory featured in Farce The Music's 2011 Top Ten List

The Full List of Farce The Music's Best of 2011

1. The Damn Quails - Down the Hatch My tastes were more oriented towards roots-music this year than any in recent memory and The Damn Quails put out a stunning debut that satisfied my yearnings like no other. The unique voices of Bryon and Gabriel combine for divine harmonies and their writing is the class of contemporary bands that fall into the "red dirt" scene, or nearly any scene for that matter. There isn't a weak song on the offering and what's more, nearly every tune spent time lodged in my brain on replay at one point or another. Brilliant work, epic even. Best songs: All of them, but if you must have 1 or 2 …"Fool's Gold" and "Mary" always slay me.

2. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Here We Rest Wrapped around the undeniable song of the year, "Codeine," is an album that more than pulls its own weight. Isbell fans may have hoped for something louder, but what they got was an artist-defining gem of a southern rock and soul record. Strong lyrics, excellent musicianship and plenty of easy-to-love melodies make this an album most anyone can appreciate, and true music lovers will adore. Best tracks: Codeine, Alabama Pines.

3. Hellbound Glory - Damaged Goods The boys went and growed up on us. While Hellbound Glory is still infatuated with the darker subjects - addiction, dysfunctional families and death, in particular - their songwriting has improved a great deal since their last album. Not that it was ever bad. It's just that this time around the songs are better developed. The hooks are hookier and the subject matter comes across more naturally - it no longer feels like they're trying to shoehorn in every deviant behavior and curse word they can, just because they can. This is a band on the rise and with material this good, they may eventually break down the wall between alt and country. Best tracks: Better Hope You Die Young, Knocked Off the Horse.

4. Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO What else is there to say about Hayes? Rapier wit. Songwriting that recalls the greats of country and folk music. Memorable, affable voice. Actually has something to say. Just enough weirdness to keep him a little mysterious. Check, to all of those. This guy's the real deal; one of the few artists I'll buy an album from without hearing a single note. He never disappoints, never rests on his accolades. Thanks for another winner, Hayes! Best tracks: Another Like You, Chances Are.

5. Jimbo Mathus - Confederate Buddha Jimbo calls this "catfish music," and I see no better way to describe it. Confederate Buddha is a melting pot for southern music - R&B, rock, folk, country and swamp soul, all mixed, matched and sifted out at different times on the record. Mathus' writing is in turns poetic, straight-forward or abstract, all expertly crafted and emotionally performed. Best tracks: Cling to the Roots, Aces and Eights.

6. Cary Anne Hearst - Lions and Lambs Bonnie Raitt, Janis Joplin and Neko Case in a blender vocals. Transgendered Hayes Carll songwriting chops. That was weird. …this album is great. Best tracks: Are You Ready to Die, Hell's Bells

7. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - The Spade The in-demand producer of #6/former hair band member/former 90's alt-rock band, the jack - nay master - of all trades turns in this hook-driven smorgasbord of power pop, hard rock and jangly country-flavored rave-up goodness. This album alongside #8 would make a killer party soundtrack. Best tracks: Synthesizers, Suckerpunch

8. The Black Keys - El Camino If this is a sellout, I wish every artist who's been accused of such had such a well-done betrayal of ideals. The Black Keys expand their blues rock sound to (bluesy) glam rock and power pop without missing a step or making it sound contrived. Sometimes you just need to turn off your inner-critic and enjoy. Fun, fun, fun! Best tracks: Gold on the Ceiling, Nova Baby

9. Adele - 21 Adele somehow straddles the huge divide between modern pop and "old people" soul music with great success. Even the songs that lack lyrically are made great by Adele's huge (but never diva-esque) voice. There hasn't been an artist in some time that brought together so many people in mutual admiration. This is a chick album that dudes can be unashamed to love. It's an old-school album that kids can groove to. Excellence. Best tracks - Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You.

10. Ponderosa - Moonlight Revival Sounding like the Black Crowes by way of Muscle Shoals, Ponderosa is a super-talented band of southern rockers who mostly steer clear of the clichés of the genre. Kalen Bush's lead vocals are stirring and the harmonies take their sound over the top. Ponderosa isn't reinventing the wheel here, but what they do, they do very well. Best tracks: Old Gin Road, Devil on My Shoulder.

11. Austin Lucas - A New Home, In the Old World

12. Kasey Anderson and the Honkies - Heart of a Dog

13. Stoney Larue - Velvet

14. Drew Kennedy - Fresh Water in the Salton Sea

15. Ryan Adams - Ashes and Fire

16. Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels

17. Wilco - The Whole Love

18. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Scandalous

19. Mastodon - The Hunter

20. Will Hoge - Number Seven

21. Scott H. Biram - Bad Ingredients

22. Miranda Lambert - Four the Record

23. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light

24. Justin Haigh - People Like Me

25. Frank Ocean - Nostalgia, Ultra

26. Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

27. Larry Hooper - Between Here and the Stars

28. Bon Iver - s/t

29. Sunny Sweeney - Concrete

30. Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'

31. Bad Meets Evil - Hell (The Sequel)

32. Left Lane Cruiser - Junkyard Speed Ball

33. Centro-matic - Candidate Waltz

34. Big KRIT - Return of 4Eva

35. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

36. F*cked Up - David Comes to Life

37. Merle Haggard - Working in Tennessee

38. Eli Young Band - Life at Best

39. Adam Hood - The Shape of Things

40. JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound - Want More

41. Glossary - Long Live All of Us

42. Mike Ethan Messick - The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday

43. Blitzen Trapper - American Goldwing

44. Dawes - Nothing is Wrong

45. Cody Canada and The Departed - This is Indian Land

46. The Civil Wars - Barton Hollow

47. George Strait - Here for a Good Time

48. Robyn Ludwick - Out of These Blues

49. John Moreland & The Dust Bowl Souls - Everything the Hard Way

50. Jason Boland and the Stragglers - Rancho Alto

The Most Awesome Music Videos of 2011 by Yahoo

After the horrible videos posted the other day, there are a few gems in this batch which are flat out amazing. Definitely scroll down to #3 which is by the Black Keys and #1 goes out to the Beastie Boys.

Link over to Yahoo Music to see original post By Lindsey Parker

"While most music videos are merely slick, soulless promotional vehicles for potential hit singles, with no more substance or purpose than a Shamwow infomercial, occasionally a video comes out that transcends crass commercialism and actually stands alone as a work of visual art. Happily, quite a few such artworks hit TV screens and computer monitors for three or so minutes at a time this year, and when we added all those minutes together...well, we realized we spent much of 2011 enjoying some really awesome music videos.

So here, in ascending order of awesomeness, are our picks for the top 20 videos of the year.

20) Noel Gallagher - "AKA...What A Life"
This epic road movie stars ex-Oasis man Noel's real-life friend Russell Brand as some sort of wicked Wonderland mad hatter who lures a golden-haired lass into his dark lair and then forces her to go on a psychedelic trip. The casting is certainly ironic, considering the now-sober Mr. Perry's very well-documented past struggles with drug addiction. But certainly, this is the role Russell was born to play.

19) Stars - "We Don't Want Your Body"
This bizarre sweating-to-the-newies clip tells the musclebound love story of a male and female bodybuilder, who lip-synch to the song while pumping iron in the gym (while "Physical"-style, speedo-sheathed himbos strike poses in the background). And all along, the sexual tension, and hilarity, builds between them. The Vaseline-lensed video is a clear homage to the '80s fitness craze, when excited new VCR owners stocked up on cruddy jazzercise workout videos, Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta donned legwarmers and leotards for Perfect, and, yes, Olivia Newton-John cavorted with sweaty jocks in "Physical." It's sure to get your heart pumping, or at least make your abdominals ache from all your laughing.

18) Rihanna - "We Found Love"
Art imitates life, in the artiest way possible, in this gorgeously shot clip starring RiRi and a bleached-blonde actor who bears a disturbing resemblance to her ex, Chris Brown. The scene where Rihanna and the fake Chris fight in the car will haunt you for days, but you won't be able to look away.

17) Foo Fighters - "White Limo"
The Foos are known for making hilarious big-budget videos, but they actually outdid themselves with this cheapo clip. Apparently all of this video's budget was spent on getting Lemmy from Motorhead to play a starring role...but it was money very well spent.

16) Battles with Gary Numan - "My Machines"
Experimental rockers Battles teamed with electric friend Numan and the folks at the Creators Project--and the result is the singularly best chronicle of one man's attempt to scale a shopping-mall escalator ever committed to film.

15) tUnE-YarDs - "Bizness"
Like a classic Talking Heads video on steroids or a Keith Haring painting come to life, Merrill Garbus and company's "Bizness" is one of the most colorful, original, and joyous video sprees of 2011. We dare you not to smile, or even scream like a giddy banshee, when watching this.

14) Matt and Kim - "Cameras"
This bizarre but compulsively watchable clip depicts the usually lovey-dovey Matt and Kim, who are a couple in real life, beating each other to bloody pulps during a rehearsal gone very, very awry--with musical instruments, mic stands, drum stools, cartons of Chinese takeout, fists, and droplets of (hopefully fake) blood flying in all directions. Considering the duo's behind-the-scenes personal relationship, the domestic-violence overtones of the video would be a bit unsettling if a) we didn't know that Matt and Kim underwent stunt training before the shoot, b) Kim fights just as down 'n' dirty as her male counterpart here, and c) the song wasn't just so darn cute.

13) Breakbot - "Fantasy"
This video by 30-year-old French producer/DJ Breakbot (real name: Thibaut Berland) depicts an art class full of worked-up male students who just can't seem to concentrate on their canvases once their subject, a brunette beauty, drops her trenchcoat and strikes an unclothed pose. Then one particularly creative, and particularly distracted, pupil starts fantasizing about the model...and it all culminates in an "A-ha moment," so to speak. This one's a real work of art.

12) Cee Lo Green - "Cry Baby"
This Broadway-style romp stars Jaleel White--aka Urkel from "Family Matters," all grown up--hoofing and lip-synching up a storm. Come to think of it, with credentials like that, maybe this video should be higher up on this list...

11) Best Coast - "Crazy For You"
One of 2011's finest meshing of the feline minds comes from Los Angeles indie-pop band Best Coast, who thrillingly teamed with the LOLcats over at icanhascheezburger.com for this caption-tastic tour de force. I can has great music video? Yes, you can, Best Coast. We still can't stop LOLing over this.

10) Beastie Boys - "Make Some Noise"
Videos vanguards the Beasties added two more amazing clips to their videography this year, starting with this VMA-nominated allstar short film. Starring actors Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, and Seth Rogen as the Beasties circa 1987 (along with cameos by Will Ferrell, Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Ted Danson, Rashida Jones, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Mary Steenburgen, Jason Schwartzman, Rainn Wilson, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Kirsten Dunst, Maya Rudolph, Malin Akerman, and Orlando Bloom), this is the prequel to "Fight For Your Right (To Party)" that we'd always dreamed of.

9) Manchester Orchestra - "Simple Math"
Detailing a horrific car accident and the "life flashing before your eyes" phenomenon that the driver experiences during the harrowing slow-mo crash, this is certainly one of the most unique and haunting videos of the year. It requires multiple viewings to fully grasp, but it will take only one viewing to stick with you forever.

8) OK Go - "Muppet Show Theme"
OK Go have landed places on multiple year-end video lists, and have starred in landmark videos with dogs, treadmills, and marching bands. But in this video, they star with Muppets. 'Nuff said. It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights. Watch it now.

7) Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"
This bizarre clip consists of little more than Thom Yorke going bonkers in black-and-white, thrashing about a barren warehouse in what appears to be a totally improvised, totally unhinged modern dance. It's an incredibly simple concept...and it's incredibly awesome, better than most big-budget videos out there. Who knew Thom had such awesome moves? He truly is the king of (flailing) limbs. And even better than this video? All the hilarious parodies that flooded YouTube within hours of its release.

6) Pink - "F***in Perfect"
This video is controversial, as its troubled main character deals with schoolyard bullies, mean girls, unsympathetic teachers, controlling parents, anorexia, shoplifting, and, in the clip's most unsettling (and, be warned, bloodiest) scene, cutting--all in her attempts to find herself and finally feel that she's "perfect." But the video's surprise ending should bolster the confidence of many self-doubting viewers who can relate to the girl's story. This video is pretty much perfect, and so very timely in a year when the problem of bullying has been in the spotlight. Just try not to get teary-eyed by the end.

5) Duran Duran - "Girl Panic"
There was a time, back in the hallowed 1980s, when supermodels were superstars, practically on the same A-list level as the pop singers who recruited them for their bombastic music videos. And in this nine-and-a-half-minute mini-movie, the "Supers" are back in the gauze-lensed spotlight, recapturing all the celluloid glamour of THE ultimate '80s band's heyday. Starring Naomi Campbell as frontman Simon Le Bon, Cindy Crawford as bassist John Taylor, Helena Christensen as drummer Roger Taylor, and Eva Herzigova as keyboardist Nick Rhodes, along with Simon's own real-life model wife Yasmin, this video perfectly epitomizes the glamour and excess of Duran's champagne-swilling, yacht-hopping glory days.

4) Ke$ha - "Blow"
We thought it was awesome enough when Ke$ha engaged in drag-queen chainsaw battles and romped with white tigers in the unofficial "Ke$ha 'n' Friends" day-glo version of her "Take It Off" video last year. But that was nuthin' compared to "Blow," in which the party girl makes out with unicorns (maybe the best use of the white-unicorn motif in a music video since Muse's "Knights Of Cydonia") AND spars with James Van Der Beek in a lazer-rainbow gunfight to end all lazer-rainbow gunfights. Because hey, if there's anything more awesome than a drag-queen chainsaw war, it's a Dawson rainbow war. Right?

3) The Black Keys - "Howlin' For You"
A grindhouse trailer of which Quentin Tarantino or Ed Wood themselves would be proud, the howlingly funny "Howlin' For You" stars Maxim Hot 100 actress Tricia Helfer as Alexa Wolff, "a sexy assassin with a troubled past" according IMDB.com, who leaves "a trail of bloody corpses and broken hearts in her wake" as she avenges her father's murder. Along that trail, she meets "Diff'rent Strokes" icon Todd Bridges (perfectly cast as a sassy, lecherous priest), snowboarder Shaun White (one of Alexa's many conquests/victims), and actors Sean Patrick Flanery and Corbin Bernsen. Pass the popcorn and enjoy a screening of this instant cult classic now.

2) Katy Perry - "Last Friday Night"
The greatest John Hughes movie never made, this totally awesome eight-minute teen flick stars Katy--or more specifically, "Kathy Beth Terry," her orthodontically challenged, heavily mouth-breathing geek-girl alter ego--along with "Glee's" Kevin McHale as the knight in Medieval Times armor of her nerdy dreams, and Kevin's "Glee" castmate Darren Criss as the big man on campus (the role Emilio Estevez probably would've landed if this video had actually been filmed in 1985). But that is just the beginning of all the teenage dreaminess. Former tween heartthrobs Hanson also make a cameo as the band playing at Kathy's outta-control house party, '80s teen sensations Corey Feldman and Debbie Gibson portray her hard-partyin' parents, and Rebecca Black plays Kathy's cool (yes, cool) BFF. And then, as a little something for older viewers, the original sexy sax man, Kenny G, stars as..."Uncle Kenny." And yes, he's got his saxophone with him. Seriously, all that's missing here is Jake Ryan driving up in a red sports car at the end.

1) Beastie Boys - "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win"
What's cooler than Beastie Boys? Beastie dolls! Spike Jonze, the genius director behind classic Beastie vids like "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot," reteamed with the trio and cast a bunch of plastic action figures in the most action-packed video of 2011. In a year when the Beasties landed on the list of new Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, it was also great to see them land on this list twice."