First off, let me begin by saying that living in Southern California is kind of like living in an episode of the twilight zone.  Weird things happen and life can be pretty unpredictable out here.  Over the last 2 days I’ve bumped into the guy who played Dozier from the Matrix at an Olive Garden and I stumbled onto Willis (Todd Bridges) from The Different Strokes in a tattoo shop – “What you talking about, Willis?”  It’s always interesting what you might see in LA.

Friday night’s show at The Witches Brew was just another one of those epic Southern California nights.  Great music, hilarious comedy, and fun times for everyone.  Dale Spollett, my good friend who also assists me with social networking website management, opened up for me.  He sang some covers and originals and, specifically, got the crowd nice and toasty warm.  Then I got on-stage.  By the end of the night, Dale and I were both on-stage improvising such potential hits as “Robots on the Moon,” “Frogs Tap Dancing With You,” “Tom Cunninglingus Has Jungle Fever and Loves Orange Soda.”  Yes, weird suggestions from a wild audience, but somehow Dale and I ran with those and even had tight harmonies on the choruses.  It was a fun night.  The grand moment was a duet between Dale and I of “You Lost that Loving Feeling” which included an epic whistle solo.

I want to thank everyone who came out to the show to support and also The Witches Brew for taking great care of us.  Big thanks to Aaron Chavez for handing percussion duties, Dale for opening, and Ken for setting up the gig.  I look forward to playing back there in North Hills again sometime soon.

More photos from the show:

Hey California – I have three great shows coming up over the next week that I hope to see you at.   Bring your friends and don’t be shy.

Witches Brew epitomizes a local dive bar, like a cleaner version of Cheers, and has great drink specials.  O’Briens is one of the coolest Irish Pubs in Southern California – Even the owner Kevin bartends (and has a cool name).  Club Trip has all the top shelf saki and beer for bottom shelf prices and is one of the best up-and-coming local clubs in Santa Monica.

XOXO
Kevin

Chalk another one up for good-times and the home team as another successful acoustic show came to a close last night in Santa Monica.  Club TRiP as always was good to me and the travelling acoustic show, Hollow Body LA, was a great thing to be a part of.  All of the acoustic acts on the ticket were very talented.

Big thanks to everyone who came out to support, Aaron Chavez for his amazing percussion work, and the super audience for being so involved in the performance.  The audience suggested improv song entitled, “An Airplane Hit My Fluffy Kitten,” seemed to be a hit (and was a definite challenge) about me strapping a glider to my cat and teaching it to fly, and things going very badly after that.  PETA was not happy with me.  Note: I do not support actually strapping wings to a cat and teaching it to fly.  Bad idea.

Photos from the show:

If you are in Utah or Southern California, I have two incredible shows scheduled for your viewing pleasures next week.  Hope to see you at one of them!!

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Salt Lake City, February 24th:

The Art of Music

Musicians are inspired by art and art is inspired my music.  So with that, Keys on Main, the premier piano bar destination is bringing the two art forms together.  The evening of FEBRUARY 24 will a blend of art and music from 7:00 PM – midnight.

Keeping with the theme of union, new artist, J James, combines his passion for abstract and surreal art with his first 2009 exhibition. Local bands Mike Gross & The Statuettes, Atilast and Kevin Burdick will close the night, leaving stirring melodies in art exposed minds.  Keys on Main hopes to use this entertainment format as a springboard for future artists and musicians.  Join the Art of Music.

When:  
February 24, 2009
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM J James Art Exhibition
9:30 PM – 10:15 PM Mike Gross & The Statuettes
10:30 PM – 11:15 PM Atilast
11:30 PM – 1:00 AM Kevin Burdick

Where:
242 South Main Street
Keys On Main
Salt Lake City, UT

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Santa Monica, March 1st:
Sunday, March 1st, I’ll be performing at “TRIP” in Santa Monica. It’s a new series of concerts being put on by “Hollowbody LA”. The folks who brought you “Acoustic Cordiale” in the valley. These Sunday shows start and end early & are getting some great reviews!

Here’s the whole super star, fancy pants line up in order

Colin Wright 8:00
Lori Steele 8:45
Kevin Burdick 9:30
Beaudette 10:15

This is the best night to come see a show. No traffic, FREE parking. The show starts at 8:00 sharp and wraps around 11pm. Print the poster and make admission a friendly $5. Would love to see everyone there!

Also, I hope you’ll take a moment and click the poster below. Have a look and a listen to the lineup. The week before the show, we’re all on the poster and player. Send them a friend request too.

Thanks again!

We are pleased to announce that LDSCentral.com, a social networking website for members of the LDS Church has selected Kevin Burdick to be their inaugural featured artist for the site.  Though Kevin is not currently actively involved with the LDS faith, he had this to say about being chosen:  “It is a big honor to be selected as the inaugural featured artist for LDSCentral.com.  I am very proud of my upbringing and the values that my parents instilled in me as a young boy about the importance of family, honesty, and faith in God.  I believe these values are reflected in my music and how I treat others in my daily life and for that I will always be both grateful and proud of my background of being raised in an LDS home.”

LDSCentral.com released this statement earlier today:  “When LDSCENTRAL.COM chose to add musician and artist profile pages to its LDS social network, it was driven by the desire to showcase the amazing work of the many gifted and talented members of the church. Each month, an artist is to be recognized for their great work and achievements in their field and featured on the homepage of the site. As our debut featured artist for the month of February 2009, we have chosen to feature the amazingly talented rock pianist Kevin Burdick. With the recent release of his 4th album “We are the Walking Wounded”, Kevin has continued to write feel-good songs that his listeners can identify with and enjoy on a personal level. Whether he’s singing about hard-working single moms, the loss of a child, or our need to feel alive, Kevin’s heart-felt lyrics are inspired by real events from his life and the lives of others. If you see his videos, read his blogs, or hear him play live, you’ll also come to know Kevin as a true entertainer full of rare personality and humor… capable of pulling at your heart one minute or making you burst out in uncontrollable laughter the next. He’s quick-witted enough to improvise hilarious songs from audience topics and brave enough to sing in nothing but a green Speedo just to make you smile. Thank you, Kevin, for putting such great heart and passion into your work and for being so real.”

To see the LDSCentral featured artist page of Kevin Burdick, go to:  www.ldscentral.com

Having your best friend from high school become one of the top photographers in the country is pretty cool on a number of levels.  It means that, when he’s available (which is less and less these days), I get to benefit from his sharp eye and his amazing talent.  I guess having your best friend become a rock musician has its benefits too – free CDs… and, uhm, I babysit sometimes.  Seriously though, it is a good synergy the two of us have had for years, so I now give you the photographic stylings of my good friend, Mr. Jared Platt (www.plattphotography.com), in the form of my latest photoshoot in Mesa, Arizona.

This Christmas, my parents challenged all their children with one simple request – “All we want for Christmas is an act of service given to someone in need.”  Instead of buying them a gift (and really, what do you get an attorney and his beautiful wife, my mom, who honestly have pretty much everything they need already - an iPod?  A wafflemaker?) , we were told to record the act of kindness and share it with them for Christmas.  So, this month I’ve been working diligently to complete that request – which brings me to this weekend’s shows.

To begin with, Saturday night I performed at Club TRiP in Santa Monica, with a number of young comedians, at a Toys-4-Tots Benefit Concert and Comedy Show.  It was a lot of fun – the stand-up comedians were genuinely funny and the evening was filled with a ton of random goodness.  The wildest moment was at right around midnight when a drunk and (who I can only guess) homeless woman, somehow found an unplugged microphone and jumped up on-stage in an attempt to give a very passionate, and uninvited, set of backup vocals.  It sounded much like you would expect the speaking in tongues to be at some Pentecostal revival and so, in true Kevin Burdick form, I just rolled with it.  The end result was an improvised song about Whitney’s Houston crack addiction and a number of “Where’s Bobby” references.  The audience howled with laughter and at the end of the improv song, the staff escorted the crazy woman out of the bar.  By the end of the night we had an entire stack of toys donated for the kids, which I felt really great about, and the people who attended exclaimed it was “one of the funniest shows they’d seen in a while.”

Sunday night, specifically, I was able to complete the “Christmas service” task that my parents had requested.  Earlier in the month I had Ken track down a list of retirement homes in the area and we found one near us, the Sherman Oaks Retirement Center, that said they would love to have us come perform for their guests and their families.  We arrived to find a grand piano surrounded by a group of mostly beautiful, older women waiting for their music man.  I kept to a 45-minute low-key set (didn’t sing “We are the Walking Wounded” for example) and then spent a good 45 minutes visiting with my new friends at the home.  The staff informed Ken that I was the ”most talented performer that they’d ever had out…”  Though, Ken did say he overheard one elderly woman with hearing aids complaining that I was “the worst musician she’d ever seen – terrible, just terrible.”  I got a good laugh out of that – I guess you can’t win them all.  After the show I grabbed some dinner and then drove home where I quickly drifted off to sleep, content with that Christmas feeling that I’d done something mostly selfless, and totally rewarding.

A big Happy Holidays to friends, fans, and family!!  I love you all and want you to have a very merry and very safe rest of 2008!!

As I sat across from my friend Shelly at the Bayou in Salt Lake City, I began explaining to her how easy it is to reject someone or give someone some bad news about themselves.  She was having the most difficult time breaking up with a guy that was so clearly not right for her, because she “didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”  Maybe it’s because I’m jaded or maybe it’s just because I’ve had to explain to too many women in my life ”why they aren’t the one” that this method just developed naturally for me, but after talking with Shelly, I figured I’d share it with all my friends in hopes that it might help others out there needing some help delivering bad news. 

The Sandwich Method (a Kevin Burdick original) – This is my method of delivering bad news, breaking up with a girl, or genuinely being an ass without actually being an ass.  It is the perfect delivery for news that is hard to deliver to a boyfriend, co-worker, or family member.  The Sandwich Method includes two nice fluffy pieced of white bread (metaphorically speaking) and a big slab of greasy meat in the middle.  When delivering criticism using the sandwich method, your employer might try this: 

Bread Piece 1 (Positive):  You are a great person Steve.  Well liked by all your co-workers and a really hard worker.

Meat Hunk (Negative):  But to be honest with you, some of your co-workers have started complaining that you smell a little weird, kind of like a dirty baby’s diaper or a monkey’s armpit – I am going to have to ask you to get some cologne and work a little harder on that in these close quarters we’re in.
Bread Piece 2 (Positive):  Don’t take this personally, like I said, everyone here likes you a lot.  You’re the hardest worker on the team, an enormous asset to the company, and the guy here with the biggest heart.  No one will even remember this in a few weeks.

So by starting with positive statements and finishing with positive statements, the meat of the discussion (i.e. criticism) is a lot easier for the employee to swallow.  Now let’s look at this example from a boyfriend/girlfriend situation.  Let’s say you are trying to break up with your girlfriend using the sandwich method: 

Bread Piece 1 (Positive):  Look Jane.  You are a beautiful girl, sexy, intelligent, and funny.  Everyone knows that.
Meat Hunk (Negative):  I have to be honest with you though, you aren’t the girl I’m looking for and I don’t want to sit here and try to change you into someone else.  You deserve to have someone looking for your qualities – I need someone who is less controlling, somewhat mentally and emotionally stable, and someone who allows me more independence.
Bread Piece 2 (Positive):  I know there is someone out there who is going to fit better with you and who will gel with you.  I’m sorry it’s not me, but knowing all of your incredible qualities I am confident that your dream guy is still out there – you just need to go out and find him. 

The Sandwich method of delivering tough news is good for almost anything.  Feel free to adapt it to your own tastes – maybe you like mustard on your sandwich or maybe you like your sandwich with smaller pieces of bread.  Regardless, a sandwich just isn’t a sandwich without a little bread – so soften the blow with a little bit of positive before and after your bad news.  Hope this helps!!

The Hell’s Eve show at Club TRiP in Santa Monica was one of those wild adventures that, if you were one of the lucky few to attend, you will probably be telling your grand-children about.  I performed the second half of the show as Michael Phelps:  including speedo, shiny jacket, 8 gold medals, swim cap, goggles, and removal of most of my body hair.  I take my Halloween costumes very seriously!  Through out the night I gave away my gold medals to fans and friends for best costume, most energy, and biggest support.  Even my drummer, Dylan, got one for commitment to excellence, as he had the unfortunate position of staring at my green speedo covered butt all night… but I digress.

The show was a huge hit for those who attended and I know I made a few new fans.  The improv songs were, as usual, silly and fun – “The ladies just don’t know who Burt Reynolds is anymore…” and “Waves Against the Shore.”  Weird suggestions, but I made the most of them.

Those who stayed until the final song witnessed me removing my jacket, throwing off my last 2 medals, and playing “Mercy” in just my speedo.  Some people might call me crazy, or even drunk, but in reality I make myself vulnerable every night on stage by pouring my heart into the true stories I tell with my music.  I figure, shirt or no shirt, you really can’t get any more naked than that anyway.

Lunch at the world famous Chateau Marmont yesterday may have included salmon sandwiches, spaghetti bolognese, and a little bit of Kevin Burdick for the hundred or so people eating lunch prior to attending an AIDS awareness event called “FilmAid.”  As I filled the room with delicious background piano music, I gazed around the luncheon area of the world famous hotel located just off of the Sunset Strip.  It didn’t make me nervous that 2 of the members of the band Maroon 5 sat some 15 feet away on a couch listening, or when Christoper “Doc from Back to the Future” Lloyd walked by the piano barefoot.  I also was not intimidated when Winona Ryder stopped to listen before crossing to her table on the other side of the room – I was probably more concerned that she’d steal my sun glasses that lay on piano in front of me (just a joke, Winona).  It was a little ’dream-like’ as I looked over the piano and made eye contact briefly with Leonardo DiCaprio as he talked to a couple friends in the lobby.  But what made the afternoon for me (and also made me a little nervous) was when I noticed Bono and the Edge finish their meal and walk out.  As a musician, performing anything for Bono is nearly like showing your kid’s high school paintings to Picasso.  It is intimidating.

Mostly it was just one of those magical and surreal Hollywood Sunday afternoon’s where a musician from Salt Lake City got to bring his original music and charm and spread it across the ears of the rich and famous like musical peanut butter.  Perhaps they didn’t give a second thought to the piano man bringing them their afternoon dinner music before their charity event, but just for a moment they all stopped and heard me – even if just for a moment.