R.L. Burnside was the epitome of "backstage loose" recently in New York

City, sippin' whiskey and blithely discussing the "low-down," "dirty"

sounds coming on his next record, which is due out in June.

Clad in a flannel shirt and a black hat emblazoned with the legend "Mr.

Wizard -- R.L. Burnside," the 71-year-old blues musician said his next Fat

Possum release will be "low down." "It's dirty," Burnside proclaimed before

a Feb. 25 show at the Cooler that also featured Fat Possum artists T-Model

Ford and 20 Miles. "Dirty deeds done dirt cheap."

Lately, Burnside has enjoyed a certain cachet in rock circles. Proto-punk

rocker Iggy Pop would drop by later that night to check out

Burnside's Cooler show. Not that one of the last genuine Mississippi

Delta bluesmen would care. The blues-rock pioneer has been at this musician

thing quite a while.

Having finished five or six songs for the new record, all of them his own

compositions, Burnside appears to be heading into this period in his long

career with utmost confidence. Interest in the as-yet-untitled album

should be high, considering the underground buzz about his two previous

releases. He recorded 1996's Ass Pocket O' Whiskey with cult

heroes the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. And last year's Mr. Wizard

was put together with guitarist Kenny Brown and drummer Cedric Burnside,

R.L.'s grandson.

Brown and Cedric -- who are also in R.L.'s live band -- are backing him on the new album,

which is being recorded in an Oxford, Miss., studio, he said. Fat Possum

owner Matthew Johnson, present at the Cooler show, said Burnside's record

is due in June.

Even the Godfather of Punk Iggy Pop is a major fan and will almost

certainly be picking up a copy of the new LP. "I just have all the records,

love 'em to death," he said after Burnside's performance that night.

It's clear that Burnside knows that he's a member of a select, but

dwindling breed. Sitting backstage, he turned contemplative, reflecting on

the recent passing of his friend Junior Kimbrough. A fellow Holly Springs,

Miss., resident and Fat Possum recording artist, Kimbrough died of a heart

attack on Jan. 17. Burnside remembered the day when he first saw Kimbrough

play live.

"I had heard of him, but I never heard him play," Burnside said. "After

that, I would tell him where I was playin', and he would come, and he would

tell me where he was playin', and I would come."

Kimbrough's children continue to run the juke joint he owned, according to

Burnside. That's not surprising, he added, considering Kimbrough claimed

to have 36 children.

With his sadness over Kimbrough's death articulated, Burnside took the

stage. He and the longhaired, bearded Brown were seated next to each

other, in front of drummer Cedric. They engaged in a fiery give-and-take.

Burnside's blues howl answered Brown's screaming slide guitar on Mr.

Wizard tracks such as "Alice Mae" and blues

chestnuts that included Howlin' Wolf's "Poor Boy."

Sometimes, before hitting a mean slide lick, Brown grinned slyly at

Burnside, who capped particularly hot numbers by exclaiming, "Well, well,

well!" The crowd of white, urban twentysomethings, about 300 strong,

seemed to want to dance, but the poorly placed tables in front of the stage

inhibited most of the potential rump-shakers.

Between songs, Burnside peppered the set with homegrown humor. "I am from

a poor family," he said. "My family couldn't afford kids. My neighbor had me."

Nearly two hours of Burnside's blues -- Delta country style with a loud

Chicago kick -- ended with a one-song encore, a blazing rendition of "Dust

My Broom." "Shake what ya brought with you," implored

Burnside before the song.

Burnside's shake appeal wasn't lost on Pop, walking away from the show at

2:30 a.m. on New York's desolate 14th Street. Having seen his first live

Burnside show, Pop was obviously still in awe of the legend. "What a

fuckin' thrill, to see R.L.," he said as he headed into the night.