Robert Lee Burnside, better known as R.L Burnside has been playing blues in Mississippi for many, many years. He has been nominated for a W.C. Handy award, as Entertainer Of The Year. That's quite an achievement for an artist that has not jumped on the rock-blues bandwagon that appears to be have affected many blues performers. He is the father of twelve children, which is quite a feat in itself. He has been the opening act for The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion for a few tours, apparently it has widened R. L.'s audience somewhat. He is quick to the point, much like his playing. I guess you could say he is all meat and no filler. I am certainly looking forward to seeing R. L. at The Beale Street Festival, in Memphis.

LW: How did you get started playing guitar?

RL: Well I just always liked blues music and I listened to Fred McDowell, Muddy Waters and those guys. I just it picked it up from them.

LW: Did you actually play with them?

RL: I played with Fred a lot. I learned a lot from him.

LW: Would you consider Fred your major influence?

RL: Well him and Muddy Waters were major influences. I liked Elmore and Lightnin' Hopkins, those guys were good.

LW: When did you go to Chicago?

RL: That was in the fifties.

LW: Is that when you played Muddy?

RL: That's when I met Muddy, you know I wasn't playing too good then. He was married to a second cousin of mine.

LW: You met Fred McDowell in Mississippi?

RL: Yeah, Fred used to live Como and we lived in Cold Water, about ten or twelve miles. I used to hear him every weekend.

LW: When did you come back to Mississippi?

RL: In the late fifties, I was out in Chicago about three and a half years.

LW: How long have you been touring with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion?

RL: This will be about two years or a year and a half.

LW: Are you getting wider exposure from touring with them?

RL: I believe so. We've been on three tours with them, opening for them. That's what we'll be doing this time.

LW: Do you still play at Jr. Kimbrough's club?

RL: Yes, I play there about every Sunday night, if he be open.

LW: How long have you known Jr. Kimbrough?

RL: Oh about twelve or fourteen years.

LW: I'd imagine the crowd at Jr.'s club and the Blues Explosion's audience to be completely different.

RL: Oh yeah.

LW: Do you think they appreciate the same?

RL: Oh yeah, they really appreciate it, I believe.

LW: Would you prefer playing a jook in Mississippi or a bigger clubs?

RL: Well I tell a lot people, I do the same amount. So I do my best if I'm playing for one person or five hundred. I love the blues, I just get out there and do it.

LW: Do you do many acoustic shows?

RL: A lot of people say the blues looks better with an old acoustic guitar. That's why a lot of times when I go on tour I carry me an acoustic too. People say old blues looks better on an acoustic.

LW: Do you have pretty steady gigs?

RL: Yeah, during the summer we have steady gigs. This winter we were on one about two months ago and we're starting another one now. Then we'll be pretty busy, when it starts getting warm.

LW: I've heard that your son, Dwayne is a fine guitar player.

RL: Yeah, he's a good guitar player. He's just self taught, he watched me and a few people. Then taught himself.

LW: Do all your children play an instrument?

RL: All but one. We have twelve living kids now and all of them play something, but one. The guitar, piano, or something. Two live at home with me.

LW: Do you teach them to play or do they just pick it from being around it?

RL: They just naturally pick it up.

LW: Is "Bad Luck City" and "Too Bad Jim" your only recordings?

RL: I got something on Swing Master, you know overseas, "The Hill Country Blues". I got out one with Dave Evans in Memphis, on Highwater.

LW: Do have another job besides music?

RL: No music is all I do. For the last ten years I ain't did nothing but play music. I farmed and did commercial fishing until about ten or eleven years ago. I got the where I could make a living with my little music and my little Social Security check.

LW: Do you feel like the blues are going strong now?

RL: Oh yeah. People like them better now than they did ten or fifteen years ago. It was kind of hard to get a show, I played a lot of solo shows about twenty years back and it was hard to get a gig. Now they want to hear them old blues.