Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the crib,
My ipod was playing some ‘Bel-Boe-Deviv.’
I got up to switch it and put on something new,
As I quickly scrolled down to my favorite band Muse.

“Hysteria” thumped as I turned up the speakers,
The bass filled my body – my head to my sneakers.
It rattled my Christmas tree, and rumbled my walls,
Like visions of Stevie Ray Vaughan at Carnegie Hall.

As I rocked like a reindeer, I heard something crumble,
It was Santa who had slipped on the rooftop, he’d stumbled?!?!?
I grabbed me a ladder, and climbed up the side,
I yelled to Kris Kringle, “Are you all right?!?”

“I’ve broken me arm and I’ve injured me head.
I can’t pilot my sleigh!  Oh, Christmas is dead.”
I replied, “Do not worry, you are now in good hands.”
As I backed up my tour bus and called out to my band.

I dropped gift after present to my drummer below
As my guitar player, Joseph, had Santa in tow.
We loaded the tour bus, and filled it with gas.
I put on some music to help us relax.

Go Ben Folds, Go Bee Gees, Go Jay-Z and U2,
On Weezer, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and The Who.
We turned up the tunes as we checked on the cargo,
We’d have to save Christmas from L.A. to Key Largo.

We drove off in a flash as we went door to door,
And delivered the presents to the rich and the poor.
As we squeeled all the tires, I screamed out to the block,
“Merry Christmas to all – May your holiday rock!!”

For my friends and fans.  Thanks so much for all of your support over 2009.  Here’s to an amazing 2010!!
                        Love and Best Wishes,
                                           Kevin Burdick
                                           www.PianoRockstar.com

“All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth? Screw that – I want two new sponsors!” Luckily, I must have been on Santa’s nice list this year.  So, this Christmas I want to welcome Fashion Revolution and AcaiSoda for joining the Kevin Burdick family and being part of my music sponsors for 2010.

Fashion Revolution:  Working with Shane, Ari, and Veronica of Fashion Revolution these last couple months has been an amazing look into the world of commercial and retail fashion.  I was able to go with them to the fashion district in L.A. and was treated like rockstar royalty as we toured many of the lines of clothing that they carry.  In fact, I was so excited with the whole experience, I hope to have my own line of clothing someday.  I’m proud to have Fashion Revolution’s sponsorship logos on the tour bus and am pleased to wear their awesome clothes at night and on-stage.  You can see some of the samples of pants and shirts I got from them from our photo shoot at Runyon Canyon at the bottom of the post.  To find out more about Fashion Revolution or to order clothes off of their website (coming soon) go to:  www.fashionrevolutiononline.com

AcaiSoda:  I have been drinking AcaiSoda regularly for the last two months.  It’s a lightly sweetened energy drink which has helped me control my appetite without crashes.  You simply tear open a pack and add it to a bottle of water.  I am excited to be able to call them part of my music family.  Dr. Anthony Kleinsmith, the creator of AcaiSoda and also a fan of my music, had this to say about the new relationship, “AcaiSoda is excited to be sponsoring Kevin Burdick’s music. I formulate while listening!”   Thanks Dr. K, for the support.  To try a 15-day Risk Free Trial of AcaiSoda, go to:  http://www.acaisoda.com/?aid=kb

I have heard of L.A. referred to as “The City of Broken Dreams” as thousands of dreamers make their way to the harsh landscape of Hollywood each year.  For every Brad Pitt, there are hundreds upon hundreds of Bradley’s you never heard of living somewhere in Southern California.  It’s no surprise that Los Angeles is the homeless capital of America with nearly 300,000 homeless taking refuge on her streets.  The dreamers come out here with nothing and often leave here with nothing.  In reality, the City of Angels is not paved with gold, but with bones.

Truth be told, the weather in L.A. is often spectacular, but it can get a little chilly in the winter months especially at night.  For many of the homeless it can be a challenge to stay warm while huddling up under their favorite overpass during Christmas-time.  Tonight the temperature would get into the low 40’s.

For the last few years, my parents have forgone the neckties, the chocolate covered cherries, the tool sets, and the Shamwows and, instead, have requested that their 5 children partake in a random act of kindness on their behalf.  A “charitable act” is all that they want for Christmas.

And so it was with my parents request in mind that I placed one of my favorite sweat shirts in the backseat of my car.  It’s a black Hurley sweatshirt, thick and warm, with a zipper that goes all the way up the hoodie.  It’s still stylish, but with 4 other cool sweatshirts in my closet, it will soon be forgotten.  I told my close friend, Tim Nichols, that we were going on a drive tonight.  I explained that we’d get some dinner, and then, by a miracle of the universe, stumble upon the right homeless person who would most benefit from this jacket. 

Later in the evening, as I emerged from a convenience store lobby with drinks in hand, I noticed a man shivering near the front door.  “Would you have some change that I can borrow so that I can get me some smokes?” the man asked politely.  His pants were dirty and his t-shirt was old and worn.  “Sure,” I said taking $5 out of my pocket and handing it to the man. “It’s kind of cold out.  Could you use a coat too?” “Yes sir,” he replied, “That would be nice.”  Walking to the back of my car, I pulled out the Hurley jacket I had set aside just for this very purpose.  “Here you go, man.”  I quickly pointed out the finer details of the jacket to him, how the zipper could go up to the top of the hoodie for “total face warmness” and how he would probably be the hippest guy out here.  He laughed.   As he walked away I said, “Merry Christmas man – hope this year’s a warm one for ya.”  He nodded and waved as he slipped away into the night to join the army of other homeless people on the streets of Los Angeles County.

So tonight, somewhere out there in the darkness, you may encounter a hip homeless man wearing a Hurley jacket.  Hopefully, he’ll remind you that it’s never too late to do something nice for someone else this Christmas season. 

In thinking of tonight, I remember that Jesus Christ himself was born homeless in a stable near Bethlehem.  One of my favorite Bible quotes that I learned as a kid reads:  “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:40).”   This, my friends, is the spirit of Christmas:  The act of giving for the sake of giving – The spirit of Jesus Christ. 

Thanks so much for reading my story, and may you and your loved ones have a very merry Season of Giving!!

One of the biggest questions I get at shows and around town is, “What do your tattoos mean?”  I am definitely proud of my tattoos that I’ve had designed by three different tattoo artists.  My first bit of ink was a memorial for my daughter Dempsey (www.dempseyburdick.com) and will be the only tattoo I get on my right arm.  It’s a very simple piece designed by John McAffee and colored by Nate McMillan in Salt Lake City of a pair of angel wings down my shoulder, a halo with a sunset, and her name.  It is a constant reminder of the angel that sits on my shoulder.

Nate McMillan went on to design my second piece which is a Salvador Dali inspired idea of heaven, with my life being recorded as a great Piano Symphony in the sky as the hands of God reach to play the keys.  This piece stretches around my left shoulder and comes underneath my arm – it is complete with bullet holes for my divorces, an emerging butterfly symbolizing my daughter, and the two hands of God (see partial photos below).

And finally, Adam Moorhead of Los Angeles has been working on my colorful 3/4 sleeve that is ripe with symbolism.  Attaching to the Piano in the Sky on my shoulder, it is a collection of images and ideas that represent my life and who I am.  A giant winged lion stretches up the arm as a rememberence of who I’m becoming, while 3 women (symbolizing the women that I have truly loved) are bathing in a pool in a grotto nearby.  The lion is ready to pounce on a gazelle to provide food and support for his subjects as his rusted iron crown with red jewels lays fallen on a rock near where he perches.  A better understanding of the detailed symbolism includes the knowledge that I’m a Leo, my birthstone is ruby, and my Native-American totems include iron and salmon.  I won’t get into the rest, including the death of the old me and rebirth of a new me, the roses and my family, and how this piece intersects with the hand of God and heaven.  Instead, I’ll let you click on the photos and analyze for yourself the 22 hours I’ve spent in the chair on this 3/4 sleeve.  And to think, I’ve still have another 10 hours of work still to go on my arm – it’s a good thing I have a high tolerance for pain.

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.

Recently I stumbed onto a website where LeAnn Rimes bravely discussed her lifelong battle with psoriasis.  It was truly inspiring.  As you probably know, psoriasis awareness has been one of my passion projects over the last few years and I hope to inspire others living with the disease to come forward and pursue their dreams – I’m excited about LeAnn coming out and hope they’ll be others.  Psoriasis is not a contageous (nor sexy) disease, but is connected to so many other problems – including alcoholism, depression, heart disease, and other system-wide problems.  As a sufferer, I am almost always uncomfortable in my own skin; skin which cracks, burns, itches, and bleeds frequently as my immune system stupidly attacks my it as if it was some kind of dermal virus.  Sometimes I want to send a memo to my own immune system, which would read something like this:

Dear White Blood Cells,
Yo, it’s your boss Kevin (You know, owner of the body you live in and are hired to protect).  Yeah, what’s up?  Hey,  here’s a naked photo of me - you see that semi-tanned layer of soft flesh with cool tattoos and a bit of hair in all of the right places?  Yeah, that’s called “skin” you idiots!!  So when you get done playing X-box, or whatever it is you do everyday, maybe you could stop screwing around inside my body and instead focus on the flu that’s going around or making sure I don’t get some kind of STD.  I’m definitely keeping your damage deposit and may have to evict you if you guys don’t get your act together.  You are officially on f*#$ing notice – my skin is off-limits!  Hugs and Kisses.
Love, Kevin

Each October, which includes World Psoriasis Day on October 29th, I try and create some additional awareness for the disease and this year I’ve decided to do something a little radical.  For the last 2 weeks I have pulled myself off of all my psoriasis medication, medication which was managing the disease moderately well - yep, right now I’m allowing the psoriasis to ravage my body.  Don’t worry, I’ve not gone completely crazy and there is a method to this madness.  Later this week I’m participating in a drug trial for an experimental new medication called AIN457 by Novartis, some cutting edge stuff which probably won’t be FDA approved for at least a couple years.  Hey, someone’s gotta test it and if it kills me at least I die for a good cause.  Regardless of the results, I’ll be tracking my progress including photos, ideas, funny anecdotes, and whatever else comes to mind.  Hopefully you won’t mind the break from the usual music posts for a few weeks as I work through this process. 

Thanks for sticking with me and supporting me.  If want to learn more about psoriasis, it’s research, treatments, or anything else, check out:  http://www.psoriasis.org/

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Check out the Memorial Edition of The Bedroom Sessions by clicking on this link:  The Bedroom Sessions LIVE

This week I was able to pick the tourbus up from Salt Lake City where Jared Rice repaired the several thousand dollars of damage we did to the back last year, and Schmidt Signs upgraded the exterior with a slightly improved wrap.   The new wrap is simpler with the tagline “North American Tour” and featuring the easier-to-remember website – www.pianorockstar.com (which simply leads people to my main website).

The thrill of picking up the tour bus was quickly forgotten as a couple hours outside of Salt Lake City one of the four back tires blew.  Luckily, the three other backtires continued to carry me all the way to Las Vegas.  A couple days and several new tires later, I was on the road again.  In the meantime, I made a couple hundred bucks in Vegas and had a lot of fun.  Check out the photos and big thanks to Discount Tire.

As I sat with my chicken dinner tonight next to a couple of college students, I couldn’t help overhear the conversation they were having.  They were reading a text message that the boy had received from an apparent ex-girlfriend.  The text went on to tell the boy how completely, “shallow and insecure” he was.  There was a number of expletives in describing the boy’s mental state and his prowess in the bedroom, all of which were not flattering.

It’s always interesting to me, with all of the means of modern communication available, how often I myself resort to text messages.  My busy schedule involving strange hours, sometimes text messages are just the easiest and simplest way to get a message to it’s hopeful destination.  Still, in this modern age, it seems that we have traded actual connections with people for the “McDonald’s Happy Meal Form” of talking – we like our dinners fast and our conversations even faster.  160 characters rarely sum up anyone’s feelings and are a poor substitute for, what our ancestors used to do, and that’s actually talk face-to-face.  Wow, remember those days?

According to Nokia, nearly 70% of people send at least 1 text message per day.  I’m not saying that text messaging doesn’t have it’s value – it does.  As the quick form of getting a short important message to a friend or colleague, there’s nothing better.  The problem is when people begin substituting “texting” for actually “connecting” – and we wonder why we sometimes feel so isolated. 

It’s even worse when you think of how cowardly a text message is for “negative” communication.  Remember when Britney Spears informed Kevin Federline she was divorcing him via text.  A commitment they made face-to-face was easily dissolved by a simple 160-character message to his cell phone.  I believe a face-to-face commitment deserves a face-to-face resolution – we’ve got to get back to the days of looking someone in the eye and really letting them have it: the good, the bad, and the virtually ugly.  It’s too easy to hide behind our cell phones and our computers and pretend like we are truly connecting with someone – we aren’t.  Case-in-point, my mother discovered text messaging a couple years ago (God Bless Her) and now our preferred method of communication seems to be the text message.  The good news is we text way more than we ever called each other - the bad news is, now we have little reason to call.  Well, little reason except for the simple process of “connecting.”

I’m writing this rant because I am part of the problem.  I’m guilty as hell of wasting my own precious connections on a series of text messages and twitter updates, e-mails and emoticons.  That’s why, as I type this, I’m also making a list of things I need to pack.  Tomorrow night I load up my car and drive the 8 hours to my parent’s house where I will spend a couple days, for no other reason than just to hang out, visit, and talk face-to-face, just like our ancestors did. 

Oh, s#%t – I just remembered I need to text my mom and tell her I’m coming.

• Face to Face.  Talking, touching, intimate.
• Phones.  Voice to voice contact.
• Mailed Letters – the intimate, thoughtful, written word.
• E-mails, Chat Services, Facebook, Myspace – the sterile written word, in real-time.
• Text Messages, Twitter Updates – 160 characters of modern connection

One final thought – I’ve started scheduling Sunday nights as my ‘call-people’ night.  It was nice.  I had my first one on Sunday at caught up with a couple old friends.  It felt good.

A huge thank you to Internationally Renowned photographer Jared Platt (www.plattphotography.com) for assembing this incredible photo montage from our various photo shoots over the years.  Jared has always been a friend and a supporter, as I am of his work also.  Big luck and big thanks to him for everything he does to support me in my efforts.

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.