Red Rooster arrives nearly two decades after Duwayne Burnside first started shaping it, a long overdue payoff to the work that began with Live at the Mint in 1997 and Under Pressure in 2005. Produced by Cody Dickinson and featuring Luther Dickinson alongside him, the album delivers the warm analog punch Duwayne always wanted and stands as his most dialed-in Hill Country statement yet. From the rugged drive of “Down and Out” to “King,” where brother Cody Burnside steps in with a sharp rap verse, Red Rooster finally brings this long-gestating vision into full focus.

The story behind the record stretches back to 2006, when Duwayne first laid the early foundation and then watched real life slow the process to a crawl. Money ran thin. Time ran long. But the commitment never died. The goal was always simple: make something real. Something with depth and and warmth, the kind of sound that wraps around you like classic sixties tape. Cody Dickinson understood that immediately and built a space where Duwayne could let the songs breathe. Luther plugged in and brought the fire that only family chemistry can create. Together they helped Duwayne land exactly where he wanted to go.

Born in Senatobia, Mississippi in the late sixties, Duwayne grew up listening to his father, R. L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, and the Hill Country community shape a style that prized rhythm, repetition, and raw electricity. He played behind his father, backed Junior Kimbrough in the Soul Blues Boys, and sat in with Memphis legends like Albert King, B. B. King, Little Jimmy King, Mojo Buford, and Bobby Blue Bland. Those years taught him how to serve a song from every angle. Rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, drums, whatever kept the groove alive. His leads picked up Albert King’s cut. His rhythm picked up Memphis dirt. And his sense of feel came straight from the juke joints.

In 2001 he sat in with the North Mississippi Allstars for the first time and locked in instantly. That led to heavy touring, studio work on Polaris, and two EPs before Duwayne stepped back in 2004 to form a new and reconnect with the sound that raised him.

Red Rooster is the next chapter. A hard-earned, deeply rooted North Mississippi record made by a musician who has lived every inch of the tradition while pushing it forward in his own way. After all these years, the fire is still there and the groove hits just as hard. This is Duwayne Burnside fully realized.