Another edition of the Grammy Awards will soon be underway, and per usual, Mississippi will be well-represented.
Cedric Burnside, a Holly Springs native, is up for Best Traditional Blues Album as he continues a familial tradition of Deep South riffs. Burnside’s Hill Country Love, featuring songs like “Shake Em on Down” and “Juke Joint,” will go up against albums from The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Sue Foley, Little Feat, and The Taj Mahal Sextet.
Burnside, the grandson of legendary bluesman R.L. Burnside, won the Grammy for Best Traditional Blues Album with his 2021 album, I Be Trying.
Steve Azar worked with other famed artists like Alice Cooper, Slash, Rob Halford, and DMC to land in the category of Best Children’s Music Album. The 13-track collection called Rock for Children was created to captivate young listeners while raising money for Cooper and executive producer Joe Norelli’s charities.
As for Azar’s role in the project, his “Our Castle Is Your Home” was included on the multi-genre album as a means of inspiration for children battling long days inside hospitals. The Greeneville native originally wrote the song in 2014 after visiting Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.
“I used to do this charity event at the hospital called the YMCA Classic and it supported afterschool programs,” Azar explained. “The hospital is literally shaped and looks like a castle. It’s a beautiful, wonderful children’s hospital. The patients were so sweet and they’re on the record with me. You can hear them singing.
“Years would go by, and I got asked to do this ‘Rock for Children’ record with Alice Cooper. I make the joke that I’m the only ballad on the record. They were really moved by the song when they heard it, and here we are making a difference in these children’s lives.”
The 67th Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, Feb. 2 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be broadcast on CBS and available on Paramount+. During the 66th Grammy Awards, bluesman Bobby Rush became the latest Mississippian to win as the state holds the record for most Grammys per capita.