Cellar Sessions: R.L. Boyce - Ain't The Man's Alright January 27th, 2018 City Winery New York

  • 5 years ago
R.L. Boyce sits down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on January 27th, 2018. Watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/u1Ecqk02hlQ For more info visit: https://www.facebook.com/RLBoyceOfficial Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin

Setlist:
Meet Me At The River Jordan
Wanna Boogie Baby/One Of These Days
Ain't The Man's Alright

R. L. Boyce is an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist born and raised in Como, Mississippi

He is a protege of Hill country blues musicians including R.L. Burnside, and Mississippi Fred McDowell.

Boyce began his career in the early 1960s playing drums for his uncle, the fife and drum performer Othar Turner. Later he was the drummer for Jessie Mae Hemphill and is heard on her 1990 album, Feelin' Good.

His debut full-length album, entitled Ain't the Man's Alright was released when he was 52 years old and featured musicians including Cedric Burnside, Luther Dickinson, and Calvin Jackson.

His second album release, Roll and Tumble was released on September 8, 2017 on Waxploitation Records. The album included the father and son double drumming team of Cedric Burnside (R.L. Burnside's drummer and grandson) and Calvin Jackson. The album was produced by Luther Dickinson of The Black Crowes and North Mississippi Allstars fame, and David Katznelson.

Hill Country music is loose and free, so much so that it puts both the performer and the listener in a warm, almost meditative state while still groovy enough to demand a good ass shake. Through improvisation, it is designed to heighten your consciousness. You don’t play this sort of music so much as you submit to it.
R.L.’s been a musician since his days as a child growing up in Como, Mississippi, home to the great Hill Country bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell. He started out as a drummer, playing for the Rising Star Fife and Drum band with blues legend Otha Turner, all the while waiting to come out in front to sing and play guitar. His songs are often delivered in an improvisational fashion, with references to his collaborators, his environs and whatever else happens to be on mind at that particular moment.
This latest collection of songs was recorded over two days. Everything was done on the first take, giving listeners a rare glimpse into the kind of masterful jams that pop up at backyard parties and get-togethers in the Hill Country. The recordings were co-produced by North Mississippi All-Stars leader and Black Crowes collaborator Luther Dickinson, and David Katznelson. Dickinson also appears as a musician on the record.

To properly capture the sound of RL and his friends, you set up the mics, get the hell out of the way and let the hypnotic boogie take over. As R.L. himself says, “Most of it, when somethin’ hits my mind, I just start. I don’t do no rehearsin’ with nobody. I don’t do nothin’ like that. Whatever hits me, I jump in on it.”
They say the greatest players are so tight they are loose. This is that.

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