In Heaven Sitting Down

One of our favorite artists, R.L. Burnside, passed away on September 1st. We were late-comers to the wonders of this Mississippi hill country blues musician, who never would have even recorded or released his own music were it not for Fat Possum records.

R. L. was the real thing--he grew up sharecropping on a plantation after the depression, and over the course of his life he saw and experienced things the likes of which we will never really be able to comprehend. The song "R.L.'s Story" on Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down in which he chronicles the seemingly never-ending series of family members shot while living in Chicago still makes us sit down wherever we are when we hear it.

If you haven't heard his music before, head to iTunes, Amazon, or your favorite local shop post-haste. To get you there faster, we'll spare you the extemporaneous gushing description of his music. Now get!

In the meantime, since this and Katrina have found Seattlest with an on-going case of the blues, we've got a real reason to visit Highway 99, which opened last year and bills itself as "the only full-time blues club in Seattle". Along with hosting 6 nights of live music a week (the club is closed on Sundays), their Lousiana-style menu reads as drool-worthy. We'll start with the Hill Country Plate in R. L.'s honor. And although we're not big whiskey drinkers, we'll probably order a round of his favorite drink to go with it.

RIP, R. L. Well well well...

Give me a little time to think, while I mix me another motherfucking drink.
- RL Burnside, "2 Brothers"