We have pre-released a copy of the Wake Me Alive Music video to YouTube this week. We are looking for feedback on the video. I am sharing this only with friends (which includes readers of this blog) and family. If there is anything you notice in the video that you feel is good or bad, please respond to this e-mail with your feedback. I appreciate your taking the time to view it and comment. You can simply respond to this e-mail with comments or post them to the Blog or YouTube page.
This last weeks shoot for the “Wake Me Alive” music video was a full and wild day of shooting. The crew showed up on-the-set at Stevens-Henager College in Salt Lake City, Utah at 7 AM last Friday and began getting the set ready for the hospital scene in the video (you’ll note I’m in a coma in some of the photos). The rest of us stumbled in about 8 AM and started getting our costumes, hair, and make-up straightened out. I can only image what the students at the college were thinking as they saw a sweaty shirtless tattooed man running around the halls followed by a video crew (I’ll leave the reasons behind those scenes to your imagination). By midnight, we had created the building blocks of a masterpiece (or so I’m told).
Big thanks to Kannika Coley who plays my ‘love interest’ in the video - she did a great job and we had great on-camera chemistry - Jaime Fletcher for filling in as the nurse on the video, Cynthia Dean for her hair and make-up work, and the entire crew at Super Heumann Productions for their super-human efforts. The video should be released on-line in mid-October and we will be posting more details as we get closer to it’s release. The single “Wake Me Alive” is currently available on iTunes.
I have to admit that I was overwhelmed with all of the kind well-wishes, calls, texts, and e-mails I received from fans and friends across the world with my recent sabbatical. Really, I’m doing fine. I’ve just taken a break and pretty much done nothing - slept, ate, went to the beach, watched TV, and enjoyed life in a house again. No, I’m not in rehab and no, I don’t have a drug problem. Yes, I probably still drink too frequently, but I’m working on it.
I really want to take a minute to thank Overtone Media’s President Christian Ashton for providing this Hollywood Sanctuary for me to rest and recharge. It’s nice to have a place to call home again. We’ve made some new friends here in L.A. and Christian has taken Ken under his wing and begun working with him directly as my business manager. I understand that they had a great meeting today to help plan out the next phases for my career.
Below are a list of upcoming shows here in Southern California. I really look forward to seeing any of my local friends and fans out at one or more of the upcoming shows down here:
9.05.08 The Cat Club - West Hollywood, CA
9.09.08 O’Briens - Santa Monica, CA
9.11.08 TRiP (formerly Nocturnal) - Santa Monica, CA
With this Northern California leg of our tour being complete, I took my attention from touring to relaxing. Jaime, a close friend of mine, flew in from Salt Lake City and Ken, Jaime and I hit the fields of grapes in Napa Valley in search of the perfect wine. It is beautiful countryside filled with incredible foods, beautiful scenery, and wonderful people. More importantly, it was a perfect and relaxing break from weeks of hard work, especially with the big CD release party in Salt Lake City just around the corner.
Not coincidentally, my great-grandpa’s 100th birthday party was Saturday in Yuba City, CA - so we finished our Napa Valley tour just in time to pull in and spend Saturday with Burdick relatives from all over the country. Women should be forwarned that we Burdick men live an extremely long time, so if you’re dating me for my money (ha-ha), I’m gonna out-live you!! Check out this photo of me, my nephew, my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather - 5 generations of stubborn Burdick men. Gotta love it!! I performed “Like a Star” off of my 2002 album for all my relatives and then spent a few minutes signing autographs and getting photos taken with my younger cousins in front of the tour bus before we hit the road for Salt Lake City. It was a great day and I’m definitely proud to be a Burdick.
Being on-tour isn’t always just shows and partying. There is plenty of downtime and this week, while waiting for my big “Wharf to Wharf Festival” show in Santa Cruz, we have had our share of it. I’ve written two more songs in the tour bus (with business manager Ken Gray even chipping in with some lyrics), we’ve tried a myriad of local California restaurants, we’ve been kicked out of two parking lots (it’s tough to find parking for this 31-foot monstrosity sometimes and FYI the Santa Cruz Safeway guys are total dicks), we’ve played a ridiculous amount of video games, spent countless hours at the 24-hour fitness, and have made some great strides with booking for September and October.
So yesterday, when decided to finally get out of the tour bus and wander the streets of Santa Cruz randomly (labelling it ‘Adventure Day’) we decided to film the momentous occasion and share it with all of you - see below. Consequently, we did find a ‘hole-in-the-wall’ restaurant in Santa Cruz called the Peach Garden which was some of the best Chinese food I’ve had in a long time.
PS A quick reminder, only 2 more weeks to order the new CD “We Are The Walking Wounded” at the discounted pre-sale rate: http://www.kevinburdick.com/buy.html
We are pleased to announce that Kevin Burdick has been chosen to represent GlobalComrades.com as their featured artist to the world. This is as much a testament to his global appeal as a recording artist as it is an endorsement of his deep desire to make a difference.
Global Comrades has been years in development and was created to allow people from around the globe to get to know each other in an environment of friendship and tolerance - an environment free of government influence and persuasion. By providing globally conscious individuals the opportunity to interact directly, they hope to bring down barriers created by borders and opposing beliefs - to unite a collective voice for the greater good of humankind.
Dan Felsing, the spokesperson of GlobalComrades.com, had this to say about making Kevin their first featured comrade on the site. ”We are pleased to introduce Kevin to a global market. His music is both personal and human and is indicative of the types of things we are trying to do on a universal level here at the site.”
Kevin is pleased to be the focused artist and musical spokesperson for the site - the concepts and ideals behind the website all support the things Kevin has tried to do with his music - break down barriers, tell personal and universal stories, and help people to connect. Kevin has already uploaded a number of mp3s to the site, including a sneak peek at the new album “We are The Walking Wounded” with a track featured only on the Global Comrades site called “Goodnight Darling, Goodnight.”
On August 8th, 2008 “We Are The Walking Wounded” will be officially released at the Walking Wounded CD Release Party at Liquid Joe’s in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 4th CD released by Kevin Burdick will be available on-line (iTunes, Napster, etc) and in some retail stores the following week for $12.99 - however, presale orders for the CD are being taken now from the Kevin Burdick website.
Fans of Kevin Burdick are able to pre-order the CD for just $8.99 and have it shipped on August 8th, 2008. Presale orders will all be autographed and will also contain a special thank you letter from Kevin Burdick, for his fans, many of whom have been supporting him since his first solo album in 2002.
Click here to be one of the first to pre-order “We Are The Walking Wounded” by Kevin Burdick!
Also, as a free gift to readers of this blog, we are giving away two of the pre-mastered tracks from the new 12-song CD. Simply ‘right-click’ on the links to the songs and select ”save target as” to save the tracks to your local hard drive.
Thanks for participating in the Kevin Burdick CD give-a-way. Each week we give-a-way 1 limited edition signed “The Hits” CD to a lucky new fan that contains all of Kevin’s greatest songs on his 3 album collection from iTunes.
In order to qualify for the drawing, please accomplish the following steps:
1) Become a “Fan” of the Kevin Burdick Music Page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Burdick/11411179427 2) Sign up for Kevin Burdick’s Blog by going here (which you’ve already done if you’re receiving this): www.kevinburdick.com/blog
3) Tell your friends about Kevin Burdick via your myspace or facebook page and encourage them to become a fan.
4) Post a comment here that you’ve accomplished these 3 things and your name will automatically be added to the drawing.
Good luck and thanks for being a fan of Piano Rockstar, Kevin Burdick!
About 4 months ago when I officially quit my day job, I joined thousands of Americans who currently have no health insurance. As a rockstar, with several expensive medicinal needs, I was relatively concerned. In fact this last week while on-tour, I ran out of a couple key medications and had to stop by a Walgreens. The total price for two medicines… $650.00! Unfortunately, these medicines are name brand and come with no generic substitute.
Luckily, I have used the same physician for the last 5 years - he is a friend and also a fan of my music. It’s actually a unique and humbling feeling to look out into the audience during a show and see a man who actually knows the size and weight of my prostate staring back at me on-stage. He is the finest doctor I’ve ever known - attentive, detail oriented, non-judgemental, and a great listener. And, he’s always willing to try different treatments in order to come up with the right solution to any medical problem. So, when I contacted him about my new health insurance status, he told me - “Not a problem… I’ve got some great ideas on how we can work with that.”
It is from my meeting with him that I pass on these nuggets of wisdom to uninsured people everywhere in hopes that they can get the medical care and treatment that they need as well:
The Rockstar’s Guide to Healthcare in America!
1) First it is important to understand that having no health insurance just means that some of your options pertaining to your healthcare may have to be changed, but it doesn’t mean that you should go without medical care. Treatment plans for the insured may have to be altered a bit once your health insurance is gone. For example, one such treatment for my psoriasis costs an uninsured person about $24,000 per year - luckily (or unfortunately) that treatment made me very ill, so I don’t mind that it’s no longer an option financially.
2) Find a doctor who is a medical rockstar himself. A good doctor will understand your specific situation and will find ways to work with you to keep costs down. I want to thank my personal medical advisor, Dr. Brooks, for several years of helping to keep me healthy.
3) You may, or may not, know that Walmart and Walgreens both have programs for inexpensive prescriptions medications. Print off these lists below (or at least the ones that may concern you) and see if your doctor can prescribe a medication that can be both helpful and inexpensive. I left my doctors office today with 5 prescriptions to try - total cost, about $25. Here are the websites that will provide these lists for you -
Walmart $4 Prescriptions: http://i.walmart.com/i/if/hmp/fusion/four_dollar_drug_list.pdf
Walgreens $12.99 Prescriptions: https://webapp.walgreens.com/MYWCARDWeb/pdf/Value-PricedGenericsList.pdf
4) Samples of medications, especially ones needed for a temporary problem, can be completely helpful and obviously free. Ask your doctor (if they didn’t already suggest it) if there are any samples of any name brand or generic medication you can try for your specific ailment.
5) Most health insurance companies have programs for individuals who just want “major catastrophe” type coverage. This might be a good idea in case of an accident or some kind of major ailment. For $70 per month, for example, I could get an IHC plan that would cover me for anything over $5000 per year. Would something huge happen costing me hundreds of thousands in medical bills (i.e. like having my arms and legs broken by an angry unsatisfied fan at a show), it may make sense to consider a plan like that. Additionally, ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) members can also qualify for ”Rockstar Insurance” from MusicPro which has several cost effective options a musician might consider (see http://www.musicproinsurance.com/). To learn more about high deductible insurance, a great place to start is: www.hsaofamerica.com
6) Preventative maintenance is the best form of medicine. When on the road try and drink less, exercise, take vitamin supplements, avoid high-risk behavior (i.e. don’t have unprotected sex with midget prostitutes) and do your best to eat healthy. Note: Taco Bell has a healthier fresco menu and McDonald’s and Wendy’s also have healthy choices on their menu now as well.
As a final tribute to health (and how fragile it can be), I want to post this memorial video my friend Jared Platt created and my sister put on Youtube the other day. It’s a beautiful memory of my late daughter.
It’s kind of fun to do a search on-line and see what people are posting, filming, and saying about me. Here are the best of the Kevin Burdick bootleg recordings that have been made with cell phones and video cameras over the last year. Enjoy.
Huka Bar Recording of Release Me (Check out drummer Chris “Cock” Hancock in this one):
Beale Street Bar Recording of Undiscovered You in San Francisco (We played it a little fast, but I like it):
5 Monkeys Recording of Camelot (not my greatest performance, but it was cool to find):
Davis Youth Summit Recording Clip of She Does Her Crying Alone (short, but I was pleased to find some evidence of this show out there):
Fan Posting and Creation of a Kevin Burdick Slide Show (Very flattering that someone would do this - just discovered this the other day):
