The Black Keys Release New R.L. Burnside Cover ‘Going Down South’

The Black Keys have shared another new cover from their upcoming album, Delta Kream. This time, they honor R.L. Burnside with their rendition of “Going Down South.”

To pay tribute to the song’s roots, the band shot the accompanying performance video at Jimmy Duck Holmes’ Blue Front Café, the oldest active juke join in America. Other landmarks highlighted in the clip are the town of Como, Mississippi, the home to Mississippi Fred McDowell, Chulahoma Community, the Burnside Palace, Aikei Pro’s record shop, and Blues Alley in Holly Springs, the hometown of Junior Kimbrough.

Watch the video below.

During an interview on Apple Music 1 with Zane Lowe, Dan Auerbach discussed why the duo covered the song.

“I had a session here with Robert Finley and I invited these guys up, this one guy in particular, Kenny, who was the guitar player for R.L. Burnside. And he played on a ton of records that I love, Junior Kimbrough records, all kinds,” said Auerbach. “I also invited this guy named Eric Deaton. He’s a bass player, crazy good player. Hill country, he’s just like an encyclopedia with that kind of music, with hill country music in particular. And I invited him up, we had such a good time. I called Pat, I was like, ‘Man, you got to come over here, we got to just play a little bit for fun.’ Because I just figured he’d really liked Kenny. And a day and a half later, yeah, we have a record done.”

The Black Keys’ new album, Delta Kream, comes out May 14th. Pre-order a copy here.

Ashley Perez Hollingsworth

Ashley Perez is a freelance music journalist based in Chicago. Her work has appeared on AXS, Chicago Innerview, New City, The Millions, and Illinois Entertainer. She also runs her own music blog at Radio Not Found. Some of her favorite bands include Nirvana, The Cure, Muse, Creeper, and Green Day.

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