{"id":111758,"date":"2021-06-12T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T14:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=111758"},"modified":"2021-06-12T10:53:19","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T15:53:19","slug":"2021-north-mississippi-hill-country-picnic-artist-qa-cedric-burnside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/2021-north-mississippi-hill-country-picnic-artist-qa-cedric-burnside\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic Artist Q&A: Cedric Burnside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2021 North MIssissippi Hill Country Picnic<\/a><\/strong> is just around the corner. Mark your calendars for June 25\u201326, and get your camping gear ready for a hot weekend of music, family, and Mississippi-flavored shenanigans just a short drive north of Oxford in Waterford, Mississippi<\/strong> at the Betty Davis Ponderosa<\/strong>. Tickets are $25 per day, with a $15 camping fee and a $10 cooler fee, and you can snag them online here until June 15<\/a>. After that, all ticket sales at the gate will be CASH ONLY. So go ahead and get ’em early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grammy-nominated artist and Hill Country star Cedric Burnside<\/strong><\/a> releases his new album, I Be Trying<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, Friday, June 25, just in time to celebrate in style at the Picnic with two sets on Saturday, June 26. His first set kicks of at 5:45 pm, and then Cedric will return to the stage joined by Luther Dickinson<\/strong> of the North Mississippi Allstars<\/strong> and Sharde Thomas<\/strong> of Rising Stars Fife & Drum Band<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talked to Cedric recently about the Picnic, his new album, and how great it feels to be back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cedric Burnside at the 2019 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. Photo by Jean Frank Photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I am looking forward to the Picnic; it\u2019s going to be such a blast this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s about time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me your favorite thing about the Picnic?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By far my favorite thing about the Hill Country Picnic is getting to see a great majority of Hill Country Blues from Hill Country artists that\u2019s from there that I hardly ever get to see, because I\u2019m traveling. That\u2019s really my favorite thing about it, is getting together with friends and family that I grew up playing with and actually getting to play with them again. It\u2019s like a family reunion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is it about the Picnic that makes it special, that makes it stand out from other festivals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, it\u2019s about\u2014one thing is I never get to play and my family get to see me. Like my daughters and my sister. So I think that\u2019s what is so special to me. I get to hang out with family that I normally wouldn\u2019t get to hang out with if I was traveling. And they hardly ever get to see me play. It\u2019s one big happy family there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re on the lineup twice. You\u2019ll be doing a solo set and then you\u2019ll close out the festival as the headliner with Luther Dickinson and Sharde Thomas. Tell me a little about what to expect from your sets.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, actually, my set is going to be mostly my music. Hopefully it\u2019s going to be a hot set! I\u2019m looking to see people dance and shake their tail feather a li\u2019l bit after so long at home. With me and Luther, I don\u2019t know. Luther is full of surprises, so I\u2019m looking forward to jamming with him because we hardly ever get to play together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cedric Burnside and Luther Dickinson backstage at the 2019 North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic. Photo by Jean Frank photography.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I know y\u2019all go way back.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, he\u2019s definitely my brother from another mother!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He plays on your new album that\u2019s coming out June 25, right?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, he plays on two songs on that album, and they\u2019re hot! I can\u2019t wait for people to hear \u2018em.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw that your album releases on that Friday of the Picnic\u2014June 25. So in a way this is like a record release party for you! It\u2019s all about Cedric this year!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s working! The universe is working with me. What can I say?<\/p>\n\n\n