Check out these amazing photos from the March 31st concert in Arizona! Big thanks to nationally renowned photographer and lifelong friend, Jared Platt, as these are some pretty impressive photos.
To read Jared’s Blog and hear his analysis of the concert, go to: http://www.jaredplatt.com/?p=426
My favorite kind of show is where I can take my life and use it to inspire and entertain someone else as well as make a small difference in a community. Hopefully Gilbert, AZ is a little more inspired and entertained from my performances this week.
This Wednesday I had the pleasure to entertain and inspire several hundred Arizona youth and their families in both a day show and an evening show – the proceeds of which went to the Dempsey Burdick Memorial Foundation (www.babyheadstones.org) and Coronado Elementery School in Gilbert, AZ. The red carpet was rolled out for me at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts as I played on the very piano that Ronnie Milsap played on just a few days prior. I definitely felt to Ronnie Milsap energy flowing through me as I had a couple near mistake-free shows.
Day Show. Following the mid-day show for the youth, I went out to sign autographs. I was nearly eaten alive by young students who viewed me as some kind of Justin Timberlake with sideburns. Many of the kids informed me that they loved my rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” while other’s begged me to sign their foreheads. Hoping the parents would forgive me (I didn’t sign any foreheads), I went ahead and signed hands, shirts, shoes, books, papers, tickets, arms, and shorts at the show. It felt good to be appreciated and the show organizers commented that during the show ”this was the best they’d ever seen those kids behave.” Glad I could have been a catalyst for that.
Night Show. The night show for local families was slightly more serious, with me getting into some of the extremely sad stories of the families we’d helped at the foundation. I did break up the tears, however, with my super-medley rendition of Tiny Dancer, Cheers, Facts of Life, Charles in Charge, Greatest American Hero, and Laverne and Shirley. After the night show I mingled in the foyer with many old friends and new fans, signed autographs, and took photos. Many thanks to all of those that came out, supported, and donated to the foundation – as well as those who bought t-shirts, CDs, and posters – the support was hugely appreciated.
Thank Yous. Big thanks to Jared Platt for his intro and photography (I’ll be posting those next week), Jennifer DeTemple and Shayla Taylor along with Coronado Elementary for being their awesome selfs as the show organizers, Aaron “Chives” Chavez for coming out from Los Angeles to play amazing percussion with me, Senior Cody McCormick for his “Roadiness” and his excellent handling of Merch Sales, and the staff at the Higley Center for the Performing Arts for being so accomodating and easy to work with. It was a great day that I won’t soon forget!!
Photos of the show:
Those who know me know that I love women, in fact, some might joke that I love women “a little too much.” So when it comes to the gay community, I can’t say that I understand what it means to have a same-sex attraction or the societal challenges gays and lesbians face, but I definitely know what it meant to be persecuted because I was different (see High School). Needless to say, when my sweet lesbian friend Jessica called me to perform at her Utah Wedding last week, there was no way that I could tell her ”no.” Conveniently, I was already in Salt Lake City recording my new album, so on Saturday I drove to a church near the University of Utah having no idea what to expect.
During the wedding ceremony I played some pretty background piano music that I improvised entirely – mostly variations of church hymns - as Amanda and Jessica and their wedding procession walked to the front of the standing-room only chapel. Jessica’s only instruction to me was “you can play anything but the wedding march.” So I took some liberties, even adding some simple light Jazz to the mix. Later that night, during the evening reception at the Museum of Art, I played a brand new love song off of my new album called “God Made You Just For Me” as well as my rendition of “It’s a Wonderful World.” The brides danced with each other and then danced with their fathers as I sang.
All and all, it was a beautiful snow-covered day and the two girls looked both elegant and ecstatically happy. The biggest thing I got out of the experience was a simple reminder that no matter if we are gay or straight, black or white, or tall or short, we are all God’s children and we all deserve to have love and be loved. Everyone deserves happiness. Thank you Jessica and Amanda for reminding me of that and for allowing me to take part in your important day. Congratulations!!
Curious about the happy couple? Check out their blog: http://lesbianmomma.wordpress.com/
Saturday’s Barry Sobel Show was one of the surreal nights I’ll remember for a long time. As Paul Schaffer has been to David Letterman for years, I was to Barry this weekend – providing music in-between acts such as Late Night’s Spike Feresten, Chris Fairbanks, and Jonas Garvin. It was a lot of fun and Barry was kind, appreciative, and wonderful to work with. If you’re not familiar with Barry Sobel then you probably haven’t seen Revenge of the Nerds II and weren’t familiar with the Emmy nominated writers for Saturday Night Live in the early 2000’s. If you’re not familiar with Spike Feresten then you aren’t watching Fox later than 11 PM, but his talk show is arguably the one with the best “skits.”
At the end of the night I took about an hour and jammed with my great percussionist Aaron Chavez for the few stragglers who had stuck around to jam and drink. Big thanks to Barry and his crew, John the owner of Club Trip, Aaron “Chives” Chavez, and everyone who attended the show and stayed until the wee hours of the night to celebrate life with me.
Well, if you missed the short performance LIVE from my bedroom, I recorded for you. In it, I uncover my top-secret songwriting processes and give some tips to young songwriters (hope they help), plus I performed Basket Case, Never Let Go / Jump, and Camelot. It’s about 17 minutes long, I’m fully clothed, and you can fast forward any of the boring parts… Hope to see you at the next one.
“Happy Birthday America!! How are ya doing DC?!?!” So the national parade was even better than I imagined. Early estimates were that over 1/2 a million people attended – looking forward to hearing what the actual numbers were. Intentionally, I wore an outfit that would give homage to the King himself, Elvis Presley, which I knew would get me noticed. What I didn’t realized is just HOW MUCH it would get me noticed. I had screaming fans, people who I’m sure had no idea who I was, putting their lives in harms way to try to get a photo with me on a moving float. Security, several times, had to get people to move back from the float. It was a surreal experience to be driving between all of the historic buildings in downtown DC, with Ben Franklin by my side, singing almost the entire way.
My personal highlights include moving the microphone to Ben Franklin who sang the “Never Let Go” hook with me – by the end, I’m sure, he had all of the words memorized. Also, at the judges station, they handed me a wireless microphone which enabled me to get off of the float for a minute and go give a number of kids high fives. One little girl with down-syndrome I particularly remember; She was so cute and seemed genuinely excited to be high-fiving a quasi-celebrity. Throughout the afternoon, I also had some fun, lyrically – I guess I got a little bored, but I ended up changing a verse or two, once to honor a cop I saw on a Segway (replace “Never Let Go” with “Cop on a Segway” – it works and it’s funny) and I often inserted Ben Franklin’s name in parts of the song. This often got some good laughs from the crowd.
Many said Obama was in attendance today, but I never saw him or knew if he was. I did see a number of high ranking military people and so forth. All and all, it was an honor to be involved and hopefully I created a little more awareness on who I am and what my music is about. Big thanks to my driver (whom I’ve forgotten his name – hope he’ll forgive me), Amy Walp for putting up with me and making all of the arrangements, also John Best and Kimberly Johnson for their involvement and support on this one… Now, off to nurse my sunburn and get something to eat. I’m exhausted.
If you were one of the many people packed into the downstairs of the Viper Room, you witnessed what I like to call, “Music History.” I was so happy to see a great turn out and hopefully my energy and appreciation came across from the tiny corner that Aaron and I crammed into for the performance.
Those who attended witnessed the improv (and tribute) songs “Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett at the Lake House” and “A Great White from the Land Down Under.” Extremely silly, but fun songs guest performer Dale Spollett and I made up on the spot based on audience suggestions. I also played many of the usual suspects – Robbie’s Song, Firefly, She Does Her Crying Alone. You could have a heard a pin drop when I performed “Too Good For this World” (I added a portion of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” to the ending) which finished to absolute cheers – definitely caught a few moist eyes in the crowd and I appreciate the support for my late daughter.
After the show, I was so wasted that I absolutely crashed – one of my friends took this hilarious picture. Woke up this morning still wearing my boots and clothes. Big thanks to everyone who attended and supported, Donovan Lyman and Hollow Body for booking the show, Dale Spollett for his comedy and voice, Kevin and Sal for getting me home safely, Aaron Chavez for his incredible percussion, Hep for flying in for the show from Salt Lake City, and the Viper Room for the hospitality and love!! Seacrest out!
Photos from the show:
Bootleg recording of “Firefly” from the show:
Last week’s Bedroom Sessions was a wild success as we had people from all over the world logging in during and after (on playback) to watch the short 3 song performance from my bedroom. Personally, I enjoyed it so much that I’ve scheduled another one. Hopefully you can make it. This time, I’m even going to brave an improv song based on audience suggestions.
Register For: The Bedroom Sessions with Kevin Burdick
Next Show: Episode 2, Tuesday, June 16th @ 6 PM PST
And for those of you that missed it.
As Kevin’s touring schedule has slowed and his writing schedule increased, he still wanted a way to reach out to fans and give them an opportunity to see him play. Luckily, with new internet technologies now available that becomes a relatively simple thing. Enter, “The Bedroom Sessions” – a new internet performance series by Kevin Burdick. At various times throughout the summer, Kevin will open up his bedroom LIVE via internet to fans who want to watch him perform from his rehearsal area right next to his bed in his Los Angeles home. It’s brave, it’s intimate, and it’s raw. Kevin will be featuring new tracks from the 2010 album he’s writing, plus perform songs from his other 4 albums on iTunes. Click the link below to register for the web series featured on uStream.tv:
Sneak Preview: The Bedroom Sessions with Kevin Burdick
Next Show: Tuesday, June 9th @ 4 PM PST
With my performance schedule slowing while I write my 5th album, there won’t be very many opportunities to come see me perform this year - Thursday, June 25th in Hollywood is one of those rare exceptions.
The Viper Room, originally started by a group headlined by Johnny Depp, is an icon on the Sunset Strip. Adding your name to the list of artists that have performed there is a right of passage for any musician. Hope to see you there before 11 PM on June 25th when I take the stage and add my name to that list!!
Print the flyer below to save money at the door:
Note: ….Hollowbody LA presents acoustic Thursdays at the Green Room, the downstairs lounge at the Viper Room. 21+, $8 w/ flyer. Guests will have access to the entire venue. The Green Room bar offers serious drink specials for its guests. Makers Mark, Tanqueray Gin, all flavors of Sky Vodka, Wine and many other premium brands are only $5. Pabst cans are only $4. Free street parking is easy for the early shows. Yellow, loading zones are safe parking after 6pm, as are any green curbs. Otherwise there’s a pay lot on property, which is only $5 after 11pm. 8852 W. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069
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