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To listen to Jonny Burke in more wistful, introspective
moments on his debut album, Distance And Fortune, and then
to look at this young guy in his 20s... It doesn't seem like enough
time and experience could have crossed his path to leave us with
that world-weary, knowing drawl and the insights of a wise old
soul.
The album begins with a few straightforward rockers in the style
of Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones, and yes, Tom
Petty & The Heartbreakers (one of his admitted influences).
While his band can seriously jam (and these songs must sound great
live in a crowded bar), things really start to get interesting
when they bring it down for the quieter, more personal tales.
This is when we get to the serious business of a thoughtful and
compelling storyteller. It's at these times, accompanied by softly
picked, heart-tugging acoustic guitar, when Burke shows glimmers
of such luminaries as Dylan, John Prine, Townes
Van Zandt, and where he truly shines.
As a singer-songwriter originally from Austin, Texas, Jonny Burke's
first band was The Dedringers, [formed] with a few friends
in high school. He was already performing in Texas bars when he
was 15. In his early 20s, he set out on his own, releasing his
debut 5-song EP, The Long Haul, in 2009. For the past few
years, it's been constant touring across the U.S. (most recently
with James McMurtry), performing solo or with drummer Alejandro
Adams and bassist Ronnie Johnson.
This full-length album debut is about his time on the road and
in his songs of lost loves; who he left behind and what he came
back home to. The album was produced by Marc Ford (Black
Crowes, Ryan Bingham) at the Compound Studio in Southern
California. As for the new album and its title, Burke says it's
about "not playing it safe and practical, but allowing your
future to be decided by forces of distance and fortune."
In other words, leaving what happens to fate and where the road
takes you.
His stories are about that life away from home, the hustlers
and liars, crazy living and the need for redemption. Searching
for a place to settle down and someone to be with. The eternal
search for love and salvation. How time changes us, and those
wistful longings and regrets. Burke channels Dylan in both tone
and sentiment for "You Wear It So Well." He speaks of
a long-time love's support via telephone while out on tour, and
then the sad discovery upon his return that she's now with someone
else. Simply stated and eloquently conveyed, he tells his story
plainly and honestly, and connects with the listener in an intimate
way. "Don't Let Me Fall" is a sad dirge about artists
who give everything for their art, yet never receive recognition
and die alone and forgotten. This could easily come across as
clichéd and over the top, if it weren't so damn honest
and pretty, mournfully sung and strummed. "And god knows
I've tried to hold on to a feeling a song or a memory to keep
in my heart I've asked forgiveness from those I've forsaken forgiveness
don't come and it tears me part / So don't let me fall, 'cause
I might not get up again / just hold me tighter, right now what
I need's a friend / I've come too far for this to be the end /
so don't let me fall 'cause I might not get up". "Quinceañera"
is a festive Mexican-flavored melody, about the simple joys of
life and appreciating and making the most of what you have ("The
love that you're giving you can't be refusing. Take what you're
living and put it to use some"). Following is the Soft
Boys cover "Human Music", of the search for purpose
and completion.
Burke's upbringing by his musician dad, listening to Dylan's
Highway 61 Revisited and Townes Van Zandt's "Flying
Shoes", is obvious throughout, and especially in the album
closer, "Long Steady Decline" ("And this long,
slow, steady decline, you show me yours and I'll show you mine,
we'll leave brother death and take father time, in this long,
steady decline.").
With such a strong first album, Jonny Burke is definitely worth
watching to see where his road takes him. To say "he'll
be touring to support the new album" is somewhat inaccurate,
as he plans to stay out on the road to reach as many people
as possible with his music. As he says, "To be up there
on stage and having that communication going back and forth
between a group of people - that's the best feeling for me."
-Julie Stoller
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