There are those that say “it can’t be done in this current market…”, there are those who throw words like “success”, “drive” and ”fame” around like common buffalo nickles.  As Kevin Burdick’s business manager it is my pleasure to address you loyal and loving fans at this time, although the circumstances of this blog are not the most favorable. 

Kevin has diligently spent this recent year in hardcore dedication to finding a happy medium of the above mentioned beliefs.  We both feels that it can indeed be done… success, drive and fame… that is.  In fact we believe even a greater potential for his music as well as his very name and reputation. 

The search for this has come at a great “cost” and it is my responsibility to deliver the “bill”.  I regret to inform all of you that Kevin Burdick will be canceling his October shows at Hotel Utah in San Francisco and The Quarter Note in San Jose.  The mental, physical and spiritual strain on Kevin and the sheer time it involves has pushed Kevin into an emotional hibernation.  His Filling Station shows in Magna this past week were essentially the tail end of a one year road tour across the western states.  Living in a tour bus and traveling daily is just a fraction of what had Kevin virtually collapse from the wear and tear last week.  It’s a culmination of all things; financial expenses with touring, dealing with untrustworthy people in the industry, releasing his new album and the loss of friends. 

Sitting in mental, emotional and physical pain, and after a moment by himself last Saturday, August 23rd, he sought the advice of a close friend as well as his Medicine Man and Shaman.  The desire for a break turned into a “need”. 

The great news is that if most of you know Kevin as I do, he will soon awaken and the musical juggernaut will emerge from its slumber to again perform and bring you the music, passion, and entertainment you all love. 

A special thanks to Overtone Records and Media in Hollywood, CA.  Christian Ashton, CEO, is a blessing.  He is a huge support for Kevin in his time of rest, stating “Kevin is the next big thing…”.  Mr. Ashton’s professionalism and grace are unmatched, as he has gone out of his way to accommodate Kevin in a beautiful home in Hollywood, 3 blocks off Sunset Strip… The perfect place for a Rock Star to recollect and relax.  With that kind of support from industry greats as well as incredible fans I believe Kevin’s hiatus to last only a short while.

Kevin will still be playing his Los Angeles shows at The Cat Club on the 5th and 12th of September, The Nocturnal (Club TRiP) on the 11th of September as well as a special show on September 9th at O’Brien’s Pub in Santa Monica.  Please stay tuned for news on his recovery.  Again, we love and care for you all and hope to feel your support, prayers, and best wishes.

Best regards,
Kenneth Gray

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.

Only one more week to pick up the Walking Wounded CD Pre-Sale on the website: http://www.kevinburdick.com/buy.html

Quirky Kevin Burdick interview in the Napa Valley: 

More photos:

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

A walk in Santa Cruz with Kevin Burdick:

Pulling up to The Cantankerous Fish I expected to see a small bar mixed with a Long John Silvers and a Joe’s Crab Shack; instead what I got was a sexy high-end restaurant with some of the most delicious food I’d ever eaten.  The bar/restaurant pulled out the all star treatment for us, letting us park the tour bus directly out in front, giving us free drinks, and expensive meals for pennies on the dollar.  It was a lot of fun.

The crowd at the show was incredibly gracious and we sold a ton of merchandise.  We watched people finish their meals and stay for an hour or so after just to hear more music - I was very appreciative.  Non-customers stopped on the street and huddled in groups to hear more.  Over the evening we probably played to 200 - 250 people.  I have to admit that people in Northern California really appreciate their artists (and I really appreciate the people of Northern California).  My experience with the shows up here have been some of the best performances to date.

Big thanks to Max on drums and Dave on bass (two of the coolest cats ever and I’m proud to be playing with them), Ken Gray my ever faithful tour and business manager, the staff at the Cantankerous Fish, Jennifer for having booked the show, and Dusty the inflatable punching clown for haunting my dreams as I sleep (you start to get a little cabin fever living in a tour bus for a month). 

Additional Photos from the show:

The Beale Street Bar and Grill is one of the coolest venues I’ve been to in a while, mostly because of it’s location and it’s atmosphere.  Nestled in the middle of skyscraper after bay area skyscraper you might get lucky enough to just stumble onto this small 2 story bar with the great vibe and the delicious food.  By 6 PM this place was hopping as people stopped in to avoid battling traffic home during rush hour.  By 11 PM, headliner Kevin Burdick was center stage.

When we pulled into San Francisco this last weekend, I hadn’t even spoken with my local band.  Ken Gray had posted a couple ads on Craigslist and had interviewed a number of candidates before hand selecting these guys.  We had a quick 3-hour rehearsal on Tuesday and the guys came prepared (we had sent them out rehearsal packets a week before) - Max Macveety, a magically delicious drummer; Dave Hicks, a super-steady bassist; and Ken Seely, an old-school guitarist who can plain out shred.  I could tell it was going to be something special after just an hour of rehearsal.  We just really gelled, even though musically we were all so different.  Max is a hip-hop drummer, but more to the point, he his robot of percussion - the guy can flat out play and is tight.  Dave is an accomplished bassist who, I get the feeling, used to gig all of the time - he’s now a facial reconstruction surgeon, but he still loves to get out and rock the bass every now and again.  Ken’s resume was deep - the guy has played guitar with and for some of the absolute greats over the years and so it was pretty cool to add my name to that list.

On the night of the show, we all arrived pretty early.  We were given the wrong call time and so everyone was there by 8 PM.  There were 3 opening acts kicking off the night and then I was the guy coming in at clean-up.  For the most part I really enjoyed the bands playing before me.  Actor/Comedian Robin Williams even made an appearance during the night, but he didn’t stay for much of my performance - still, it was cool to have somebody rediculously famous in the venue.  Ken Gray actually hung out at the bar with Mr. Williams for while - editted transcripts of their conversation went something like this:

Ken orders a water from the bartender.
“Just a water?” says Mr. Williams holding an iced tea at the end of the bar.
“I need to hydrate…  So is it Boston or L.A.?” Ken asks pointing to the TV.
“Neither, San Francisco.”
“I mean in the NBA playoffs.”
“Oh, Boston I guess.  I’m an idiot.”
“Yeah, Garnet needs a ring…  Would you like some gum?”
“What kind is it?  I only chew Dentine.” Smiles.
“Eclipse Polar Ice.”
“Aw what the hell.” Mr. Williams takes a piece of gum.
A few minutes later Ken orders another water.
“More water?” says Mr. Williams.
“I told you man, I gotta hydrate.” Adjusts hat goofily.
“You are a character, aren’t you.”
“You shut up…” Ken says with a smile.
Robin Williams laughs and the two begin to discuss the coolest venues in San Francisco.
End transcipt.

The show went great and the highlight was probably the improv song “Invisible Pants.”  That was a pretty cool suggestion from the audience and I was happy to oblige with one of my silly and rediculous make-up songs.

Well, having a great time on the road!  Wish you were here!!

Beale Street Improv Song, “Invisible Pants:”

Our 1st San Francisco leg of the tour was a great experiment: 4 stinky guys, crammed into the tour bus, with all the gear we could handle.  I wanted to know how the tour bus would hold up, as well as how we would do at not killing each other.  The tour bus beds are more comfortable than you might think, but are no 4-seasons hotel.  As we pulled back into Salt Lake City at 4 AM on Tuesday morning, I can safely say that the trip was a huge success and a lot fun.  San Francisco meet Kevin Burdick.  Kevin Burdick meet San Francisco.

Friday - My show at Bean Scene Cafe in Sunnyvale wasn’t super-well attended, maybe 50 people through out the evening.  However, the people that were there tipped well and bought CDs, plus I know that the employees of Bean Scene really liked what I was throwing down.  It was a chill, early show, that left plenty of time to explore the greater San Francisco area.  We ended the night at a birthday party at a tiny bar in Walnut Creek.

Saturday - We spent much of the day watching the NFL draft, before getting ready for my benefit show at Studio 333.  The proceeds from this show would specifically benefit art programs for inner-city and high-risk youth, giving them a healthy outlet to express themselves (as opposed to drugs and gangs).  It was a very worthwhile show and the several hundred people that attended seemed to really appreciate my performance.  The highlight for the show was the improv song I did for Chance who was one of the young artists there.  I sang about how he was the next Picasso and also auctioned him off to the highest bidding ladies during the tune.  It was pretty funny and a priceless moment to make the 12-year-old painter squirm and blush a bit.

Sunday - Just a chill day.  My allergies were killing me and I had very little energy after the two shows.  Mostly I napped and we spent some time on the beach near the Golden Gate Bridge.  It was a super relaxing day and I’ve included some photos below.

Big thanks to the Lineweavers for letting us use their shower and TV, for Courtney for her huge fan-ness and donation of In-and-Out Burger to the band, the hot older lady at Studio 333 who was undressing me with her eyes (very flattering), to Jennifer the best booking agent in the land, Steven a great drummer and photographer, for Paris for letting us borrow Steven, to Eric for filming much of the weekend, and for Ken for doing such a kick-ass job at being my business manager and personal tour bus driver for much of the weekend!!

Here are some random photos from the weekend courtesy of Steven Hansen!

The Kevin Burdick Tour is in full swing and hitting the road in a number of places/cities you may want to check out.  We will be in San Francisco on the 25th/26th of this month and will be in St. George, Utah on the 2nd and 3rd of May.  We’ll be back in Salt Lake City for a big show at Liquid Joe’s on the 16th of May (e-mail me at kevin@kevinburdick.com for tickets and I’ll have them at the door for you).  You can see the full list of upcoming shows on the right side of the blog.  We hope to see you out at one or more of the shows and are looking forward to touring throughout 2008 and deep into 2009.  Don’t be shy about coming up and introducing yourself as a fan/friend, especially if I haven’t met you.  I don’t bite much and am really approachable.

Tour bus life can be both a blast and exhausting, but luckily the musicians I hang out with and my best friend/business manager, Ken, are awesome guys to travel with.  See you on the road soon!!