Chris Burke is a
singer/songwriter that is taking the music scene by storm. This musician who
resides in Nashville is having a momentous 2013 with his music (“Roller Coaster
Ride”) being featured in the motion picture “Birthday Cake” and in an up-coming
documentary regarding the history of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Chris’s most recent album entitled
“Everything” is packed with tuneful tracks that will get you hooked. Along with
another single released this year; “Wash Over Me” is another hit. Chris is nonstop
busy between recording, performing live and sharing his passion of music.
Interview By: Mason Williams
Chris, l want to first start this
interview with a “Congratulations” with your music this year. It seems to be
all-coming together in 2013 for you.
-
Tell
us about 2013 and the journey that has brought you to have such a significant
year.
Wow, what an amazing year so far.
I feel like I have put so much work into my music and figuring out who the heck
I am as an artist for the years that I have been here in Nashville and before,
and there has finally been some movement in the right direction this year. I
have gotten myself connected to many different licensing companies, written
some of my favorite songs ever, had some successful singles on iTunes, heard
one of my songs on the big screen (WOO HOO), and shot my first video. Plus, I
sang 2 songs for the documentary you mentioned above that will be coming out
next year. I would say it has been a successful year so far! And, the best part
about it is I really feel like I have been creating an important foundation for
years to come as well. Pretty durn great year!
I love the old school holiday
music. Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Bing Crosby…. there is something so
comforting about that music. I also love the Drifters’ version of White
Christmas. SO FUN! I am always a little wary of new holiday music because I
will always be comparing it to the original versions. Not to say that there
isn’t some great new holiday music, but there is a reason it is called ‘Classic
Christmas’. That being said, I will
ALWAYS love Mariah Carey’s first Christmas album. Her version of the classics
is amazing, but her originals are just as good to me. ‘All I Want for
Christmas’ puts me in a stellar mood literally every time I hear it! She has a
song called ‘Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)’ that is so good it breaks your
heart. Holiday music can be chipper and fun, but it can also be nostalgic and
full of a warm sort of sadness, and she really covers it all on that album.
Soulful. I was raised singing old
classic soul, so even my more pop-influenced music is soulful. It just sort of
happens :)
It was kind of random how it
happened. A lawyer friend of mine in Atlanta was handling everything for the
movie, and when it was time for Chad (the writer/producer/co-star) to start
finding music for the soundtrack, the lawyer sent him to my site. The first
song he heard was ‘Roller Coaster Ride’, and it stuck. After watching the
movie, and LOVING it, I sent him tons more, but that was the one he kept. The
real zinger was that it was chosen for the trailer. There are a bunch of songs
on the soundtrack, and my song happens to be right in one of the funniest and
most outrageous parts of the film, but it is the ONLY song in the trailer and I
am front and center. SO FUN! Plus, the editor of the film and trailer loved my
song so much he offered to do a video, and I just recently returned from LA
shooting that as well! It has been a wonderful and fun snowball effect!
I have begun singing 2-3 hours
shows here in Nashville of old soul covers. I used to perform similar shows in
Atlanta, and I am THRILLED to be able to do them again. So, I am actually able
to perform most every classic soul song that I love. One of my absolute
favorites that would be unbelievable to record is Gladys Knight’s ‘Neither One
of Us.’ It is one of my favorites of all time, and recording it would be an
incredible thing. We also perform a couple Jimmy Cliff songs, ‘Sitting in
Limbo’ and ‘Many Rivers to Cross,’ and they would both be pretty amazing to
record and put my own spin on.
- You
have just completed shooting a music video in Los Angeles; tell us about that
experience and what that was exactly for.
It was AWESOME. As I said before,
the guy that edited the movie ‘Birthday Cake’ offered to shoot a video for the
song just because he loved it so much, and I figured it was an opportunity I
couldn’t pass up. There was no budget and it was only the two of us working on
it. We just had a good time together putting it together. I travelled out there
to LA (with my Mom, too, so it was extra special), and we shot some footage in
his studio and all over LA. We hit it off and had a blast checking out a bunch
of cool places in LA. So fun! As far as what it was for, it is going to act as
an additional promotional tool for both of us. It is another way for people to
see an hear what I am doing as an artist and him as a producer. And, it’s an
entirely different medium for my music, and it will be available to an entirely
different and new audience.
-
What
are some projects we can as fans look forward to in 2014 from you?
I already have 2 new songs that
will be fully mixed and finished at the beginning of the year, and I plan on
putting one or both of them out as a single. Plus the video for ‘Roller Coaster
Ride’ will be finished at the start of the year as well. I also already have
more of my old soul shows booked, so that will be a very fun addition to the
calendar. Plus, the documentary about the Gettysburg Cemetery that features me
singing 2 songs will be coming out and hopefully on the History Channel
sometime next year. THAT will be an amazing experience hearing my voice on TV!!
Overall, though, I just plan on working and pushing forward much the same way I
have this year. I am going to keep following the giant snowball that ‘Birthday
Cake’ has started for me :) This year has been so huge for me, so I am going to
keep doing what has been working so far, and hopefully get my music out to more
and more people.
I performed in musical theater
and regular plays most of my childhood, and made a gradual switch to more of
solo artist singing in high school. I do really feel comfortable on stage as an
artist, but theater has always been a little scarier for me. BUT, now that I am
farther along and have grown up a bit, it is definitely something I would be
more interested in. I LOVE the stage and the few times that I have been a part
of musical theater have rocked my world, so I would definitely like to expand
back into more acting/musical theater. It is such a bonding experience with the
cast, and it would not only expand my repertoire, but it would expand my
experience as an artist and as a musician. I think, also, because acting and
musical theater scare me a bit, I feel like I could learn so much about myself
and about the overall craft from it. I think it would be a pretty natural and
fun process.
I always love any of the older
classic scary films like the Birds or anything Alfred Hitchcock-ish. I love the
way they look and the natural suspense of them. The movies that I remember the
most though are the ones that I watched over and over as a kid: ‘Pee-Wee’s Big
Adventure,’ Goonies,’ ‘Neverending Story,’ ‘Labyrinth,’ and more 80s films like
‘The Breakfast Club,’ ‘Sixteen Candles.’ I loved a movie called ‘Welcome Home
Roxy Carmichael’ with Winona Ryder. ‘Some Kind of Wonderful’ was so good to me
too. I loved Mary Stuart Masterson’s character as a hardcore punk girl that
played the drums. I also watched ‘A Chorus Line’ about a million times. I loved
the music and the dancing. It made me so happy that something like it even
existed. I also LOVE ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ and ‘Dumb and Dumber.’ Jim
Carrey is a comedic hero of mine, and those early movies still make me double
over from laughing.
‘A Chorus Line’ and ‘Labyrinth’
both were music-based, plus there were songs on soundtracks that rocked my
world through most any movie that I really loved. I can’t think of any one
movie specifically, though…. just that soundtracks always stuck out to me.
I don’t seem to have a ton of
time to watch too many new movies anymore, but I find myself always watching
80s movies when I see them on TV. It is probably a result of when I saw the
movies in the first place and how they formed how I saw and was able to relate
to the world as a child, but 80s movies as a genre are probably my favorite.
Probably ‘Pee-Wee’s Big
Adventure’ There is not one bit of that movie that doesn’t ROCK MY WORLD.
Hilarious. And ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ and ‘Dumb and Dumber.’ There is no
limit to how many times I can watch these films….
Totally! Seeing it as a part of
the trailer alone was an out of body experience. Seeing it on the big screen
was incredible, especially the second time I saw it in Atlanta because it was
with my Mom, my boyfriend, and a ton of good friends from there. It was pretty
amazing. And yes, I am not sure if I have rejoined my body yet!!
As far as an entire soundtrack
goes, ‘Stand By Me’ is amazing! I had not heard a lot of those songs before,
and from start to finish, it is still one of my favorite soundtracks of all
time. I had grown up singing soul music, and it really introduced me to so many
incredible songs. ‘The Big Chill’ is another soundtrack that still resonates
with me. Although I never saw the movie, the music from it helped form how I
listened to music and what I loved about music in general. One of the most
amazing single song soundtrack experiences I had growing up was with ‘Welcome
Home Roxy Carmichael.’ There is a song by Melissa Etheridge called ‘I Will Never
Be the Same’ that plays during the ending credits. I was immediately blown away
by it. AND she didn’t release it on an album for many years, so I just watched
and watched to be able to hear it. If I could sing that song with her, it would
pretty much be AMAZING.
I love to watch ‘Elf’ every year.
I remember seeing it in the theater with my entire family, so it just kinda
makes me happy. It is just a happy lovely movie with some hilarious moments.
‘Love Actually’ also just makes me feel the holiday spirit for sure.
hmmmm…. not sure if I can name
one off the top of my head. I love to watch Christmas specials though because
you get to hear your favorite artists singing some different material. It shows
a different side of many of them which I love.
Again, ‘Sixteen Candles,’ ‘The
Breakfast Club,’ ‘Some Kind of Wonderful,’ ‘Goonies,’ ‘Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure’
just to name my favorites. Pretty much anything with Jim Carrey in it,
especially early on. It also seemed like scary movies back then scared me more
because they weren’t quite as graphic and a lot of the fear came from what was
NOT actually seen. ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ ‘Exorcist,’ ‘Poltergeist,’ just to
name a few. :) AND, ‘Steel
Magnolias’ Everyone in that movie
shines! There’s some SERIOUS casting there!
Alright it is time for the fun
game that we have here at “Love Those Classic Movies!” which is the “Classic
Movie Word Association Game!” It is a simple concept that I will say one word
which could be a movie, actor, genre, song and you say the first word that
comes to your mind, have fun with it!
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