CONTACT:Kenneth Gray
Racelden Records
801-602-7949
kennethagray@gmail.com
www.kevinburdick.com
PRESS RELEASE * PRESS RELEASE * PRESS RELEASE * PRESS RELEASE
MUSICIAN LEAVES SIX-FIGURE INCOME TO LIVE IN HIS TOUR BUS AS HE HEADS FOR THE BAY AREA—AND HIS RECORD LABEL IS FOLLOWING HIM!
To call piano rocker Kevin Burdick “up-and-coming” is a bit of a stretch; he’s already here and taking the music world by storm. So really, it’s just a matter of time before everyone knows his name and his special brand of music. What might be appropriate, however, is to call him just a little bit crazy. In the past several months, Burdick has quit his six-figure-a-year job, traded in his two luxury cars, sold his condo and his 6 bedroom house in the Salt Lake City mountains, liquidated all his stocks and emptied his 401k.
He now lives in a tour bus, and his leaving his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah to head for the bright lights of the San Francisco Bay Area. To some people, having that kind of money and those kinds of possessions would be a dream. To Burdick, getting rid of them was the dream.
In 2003, Burdick, a Brigham Young University graduate, had a successful career selling medical software, rising to the level of national salesperson and even vice president. He had just released his first CD of original music, Deep Blue America, in 2002. He had a wife, Debbie, and they had a baby on the way. However, Burdick’s world was shattered on April 2, 2003, when their baby girl, Dempsey, was born with a congenital heart defect. Doctors performed surgery to try and correct the problem, but baby Dempsey died 31 days later from complications arising from the surgery. Tragically, Debbie and Kevin divorced a year later. Statistics show that 80 percent of all couples that face the early death of a child end up that way.
“It’s still something that keeps me awake at night,” says Burdick. “The pain can be unbearable at times.” Since then, Burdick’s music has been the outlet his emotions have needed—soothing him, comforting him and, ultimately, saving him. He dedicated a song and music video to the memory of his daughter, entitled “Too Good for this World,” and started a foundation in her name, the Dempsey Burdick Memorial Foundation, which now assists families who experience the death of a child and can’t afford the cost of a headstone. For the past few years, Burdick has been pounding the pavement hard, and has risen to a successful level in the indie music world, touring to play an incredible amount of live shows, recording several successful albums and launching an impressive marketing campaign. All of it has been paying off, in huge ways—the music video for his song “Firefly” has racked up nearly 14,000 hits on YouTube just in the past few months; he has more than 23,500 friends on his MySpace Music page, with nearly 10 new friends adding to that total every hour on most days; and Cingular Wireless made his song “She Does Her Crying Alone” into one of the top downloadable ringtones on its Mobile Music Station on MySpace, calling him “one of today’s hottest emerging artists.”
Just last year, Burdick signed with indie music label Racelden Records, who also helped propel Burdick into further Internet fame, launching the Internet reality show “Who in the Hell is Kevin Burdick?!” The show, which has already released three episodes, follows Burdick on his tour bus as he chases his musical dreams. Everything seemed to be going Burdick’s way, so he decided to take the ultimate plunge, and completely surrender to his dream. He quit his six-figure-a-year job, sold off his two luxury cars and his condos in the Salt Lake City area, emptied his 401k and liquidated his stocks. He bought a modest car and a tour bus, and decided to move to the San Francisco Bay Area in search of musical fame. Naturally, most people think he’s crazy.
“Yes, it was a great career and I was making a great deal of money, but after my divorce and the death of my daughter, I just wasn’t into anything anymore, except my music,” Burdick confesses. “Those things, they’re nice, but if you can’t have your dream, they don’t mean anything.”
In an even bolder testament to its confidence in Burdick’s potential as a mainstream, successful artist, his record label, Racelden Records, has decided to pack up its offices and follow Burdick the nearly 1,000 miles across the western U.S. and set up shop in the Bay Area as well.
“We feel, and have seen, that Kevin epitomizes dedication and passion, as well as a sincere willingness to forego luxuries such as his fulltime job, just so he can bring his music to the people; to others who need an emotional outlet to help them deal with the challenges we all face in life,” says Kenneth Gray, president and CEO of Racelden Records and its parent company, Seductive Rock. “That’s why, as a label, I’m sticking by his side. With that kind of heart, dedication and passion, he’s bound to be successful, both monetarily and emotionally. We believe he can have it all.”
Before Burdick even set one foot in the great state of California, word had already spread of his arrival, and he already has a slew of live shows set up on his calendar, to celebrate his new West Coast residency. Two impressive shows to note are his invitation to appear as the featured performer for the charitable “Art in Transformation” event, a benefit for the Lincoln Child Center and its programs to teach art to underprivileged children; and an invitation to perform in front of thousands at the Wharf to Wharf marathon and festival in the Santa Cruz/Capitola area this July. Most importantly, Burdick is just excited to continue in his journey to connect with music fans everywhere.
“I know people think I’m crazy, but I’m just living a minimalist lifestyle, crashing on couches or renting rooms and living out of my tour bus,” says Burdick. “There’s not a lot of things I need in life. I just need to play music. Now that I’m doing that, this is the happiest I’ve ever been.”
BE ONE OF THE FIRST BAY AREA NEWS OUTLETS TO INTERVIEW KEVIN BURDICK AS HE ARRIVES TO TAKE THE BAY AREA BY STORM!
See Kevin live at one his upcoming Bay Area shows in April: HIS INAUGURAL BAY AREA PERFORMANCE!
Friday, April 25, 7-9pm
The Bean Scene
186 S. Murphy Ave.
Downtown Sunnyvale, CA
~ FREE SHOW ~
Saturday, April 26, 6-10pm
Benefit for “Art of Transformation” and the Lincoln Child Center
At Studio 333
333-A Caledonia St.
Sausalito, CA
~ Suggested Donation: $20-50 at the Door ~
This weekend’s shows at Bogey’s in Clearfield, Utah and Club Allure in Sandy, Utah were a great welcome back to my home state. 
The Club Allure show on Saturday was for a packed house, with 100 - 200 people in the crown room at the club in Sandy at any given time. People were dancing, singing, and genuinely enjoying the show on all sides of the stage. One pretty lady flashed me and then climbed on-stage and put a $20 bill in my underpants, which is always appreciated on several levels. Audience influenced improv songs included “Ken’s Sexy A**” (about my business manager’s best asset) and “The Pull0ut Method.” Another epic night, and we’re only half way through the Utah leg of the tour.
I’m really looking forward to my next 4 shows here before heading back to Hollywood. Utah is where I really came into my own as an artist and found a home in the local music scene, so it will always feel like home to me when I hit the stage here.
