Chris Burns

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Featured Artist of the Week: Chris Burns

Invading our second installment of "Rock For Hunger Featured Artist of the Week," Orlando's Chris Burns is a musician that possesses a true artifice. With a completely authentic and genuine folk sound, each of his masterful musical attributes complement one another impeccably. The influenced artist cites musicians like Ani Difranco and Ben Folds, perhaps from a songwriting viewpoint, but on a performance level, you may tend to hear more Rocky Votolato than anything else. Being the generous person that he is, you can sample a bunch of his tracks on both of his websites: Chris Burns Radio and www.myspace.com/chrisburnscbradio.

For any skeptical draconian that does not hear Chris Burns' "it" factor has evidently never seen him perform live. Burns' stage presence is far from unfledged. Like many of his influential predecessors, he has mastered the "vocal trumpet," which enables him to coerce any unobservant individual that he is playing with a full band. Give him a few years (and a lot more guitars) and this fellow may turn into the next Keller Williams.

Burns is a class act with extreme potential. Never dressed in dishabille and always jovial, he knows what it takes to make it in the music business. Since the industry has become more frangible than ever before, he may have a shot making a name for himself as a touring independent musician.

- Logan Lenz; Treasurer/ Event Coordinator, Rock For Hunger
- Logan Lenz, ROCK FOR HUNGER

Chris Burns
from volume 02 issue 07 // Megan Leppla

In Your Own Backyard
Words: Megan Leppla

Chris Burns – Orlando

What He Sounds Like:
A simplistic sound is conveyed through the various instruments that Chris Burns brings to his performance. Chris has a warm and welcoming voice that keeps his listeners engaged. Inspired by such big names as Paul Simon, Keller Williams, and, of course, The Beatles, he has taken these inspirations in his life to produce a unique role in the singer/songwriter genre.

In His Words:
REAX: How do you differ from other singer/songwriters trying to do the same thing?
Chris Burns: I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel. I just write what is true to me and hope that people can relate to it and enjoy it.

REAX: What made you want to do the solo thing? I see you have played in different bands, but you have settled into this roll quite nicely. What brought you here?
Chris Burns: I loved being in a band and maybe I will be again down the road. Right now it’s just easier. It’s just me… succeed or fail it’s just me.

Why You Should Check Him Out:
This hardworking musician recently released his first solo EP, CB Radio, and is in the works of mixing a live album from Underground Bluz. CB Radio is a creative conceptual album linked by clips from what sounds like old radio shows. He is diligently working on promoting this new album and eager for everyone to hear his creation. To help promote, Chris is currently performing all over the state of Florida through December, and has a listing of all upcoming shows on his MySpace page.

chrisburnscbradio.com
myspace.com/chrisburnscbradio
- Megan Leppla (REAX Music Magazine)

Recently, I had the pleasure of being able to see Chris Burns at the Studio Café. While the atmosphere was most definitely chill, Burns was definitely able to capture the audience’s attention. As he made himself comfortable by casually taking his shoes off on stage, he picked up his acoustic and went into his first song. Everyone’s heads and ears were perked as he serenaded the audience with incredibly well-written songs like “Drive” “Inside” and my personal fav. “Bread”. His ability to draw you into the song with him is a wonderful quality that is characteristic of any good song- writer. He is obviously very comfortable in front of a crowd as he skillfully strums his acoustic and opens himself up to you. Chris Burns is a local talent to take note of for sure, you can catch him around the local Orlando area. Check out his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chrisburnscbradio for his upcoming shows or to sneak a peek at some of his work. About the album: Chris Burn’s debut “mini concept album” CB Radio is a pensive and creative work. Chris plays acoustic and electric guitars, banjo and mouth flugel while being backed up by local “The Fling” band members Alex Eastman on bass and Erik de la Cruz on percussion. The album effectively displays Chris’ talent for song writing as it takes you through the pains of heartache with the songs “Heart” (Don't you hold this against meAll of these moments in time It's hard to forgive but it's harder to live without Without the one that you love Here…) and “Long” (Give me one more day Give me one more night And I'll make it right That's what I always say It's what I never do) to the more light-hearted side with songs like “Inside” (I'm walking through a painting that my Grandma made It's hung on every wall of every room I've ever paid rent) and “Bread” (I’m lookin’ for love, but I hope it’s lookin’ for me Cause every time I open eyes to see I’ve been pickin’ all the wrong ones… they’ve been pickin me too). The album was really well thought out and put together and I honestly feel it’s worth checking out. You can buy Chris’ album on his myspace: http://www.myspace.com/chrisburnscbradio. - Orlando Bands .COM

Chris Burns, CB Radio: Extra points to singer-songwriter Burns (chrisburnscbradio.com) for the well-executed concept of CB Radio. From the nostalgic packaging to the retro-sounding radio clips that bridge the songs, this collection is polished.

It's not clear how the literate acoustic ballads fit into the old-time radio theme, but Burns is a commendable cross between the easy vocal style of John Mayer and the technically precise guitar technique of, say, Ani DiFranco. On introspective love songs such as "Heart," it's the guitar rather than the voice that impresses.

Check out the contrast between breezy "Inside" and the gentrified roots music of "Nostalgigrass" for a thumbnail of the album's range.
- Orlando Sentinel, Jim Abbott

LOCAL CHRIS BURNS EXPANDS THE CONCEPT OF THE SOLO MUSICIAN

All right, enough with the funk already and on to another style equally dear to my heart: the acoustic singer/songwriter. See above, re:limp. Ditto with acoustic artists. Local musician Chris Burns is one such creature and all that his chosen genre implies. Howeverrr, he's got one big hook that differentiates him from the beige riffraff. At Tanqueray's Jan 9, he took a page out of Keller Williams' book and expanded the cocept of the solo musician by building songs with overlapping loops created on the spot. Beyond just guitar loops, this dude uses his strings to make beats and DJ scratches. Utilizing his considerable resourcefulness still more, Burns employs his mouth for beatboxing and trumpet sounds. The songwriting's boilerplate, but his layered approach is a noteable improvement on an anemic genre.

THIS LITTLE UNDERGROUND by Bao Le-Huu

Jan. 17-23, 2008 Orlando Weekly
- The Orlando Weekly (by: Bao Le-Huu)

Glide Magazine Review

Chris Burns
CB Radio

By Jeremy Lukens
January 21, 2008

The debut EP CB Radio by Chris Burns is an energetic acoustic album with enough hooks to carry any full-length release. The metaphor-rich lyrics and soft, boy-next-door vocals punctuate the songs, but it's Burns' compositions that stand out.

The opening track, "Bread," sets the tone with its slap rhythm and tap percussion, alongside Burns' distinctive voice. "Drive" features up-tempo guitar arpeggios and an accompanying banjo riff. The song adds layers as it goes, stacking guitar and banjo solos and percussion. The rhythm gains intensity until the jam is brought to a crescendo and then scaled back to a single acoustic guitar. It is shifts like these, in addition to the smooth finger-picking that help Burns stand above most of those in the singer-songwriter genre. For anyone out there who hates Keller Williams, CB Radio should be skipped. For everyone else, this is a glimpse of an immense talent that has yet to reach his peak.

www.glidemagazine.com

- Glide Magazine