Don Burnham
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Don Burnham

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"Don Burnham - I Dreamed Count Basie Was A Cowboy"

Don Burnham, the leader of Lost Weekend, the fantastic San Francisco, CA Western Swing band has just released a new album featuring 12 incredible cuts that he wrote, sings, plays rhythm guitar and produced and was backed by Lost Weekend.

For backing vocalists Don chose Chris O'Connell, Bobby Black, Bernard Peyton, Rick Dougherty, Tony Marcus, Pamela Brandon, Sarah Duckworth Burnham, Barbara Corff and Mylos Sonka. The steel guitarist heard is Hall of Fame member Bobby Black while former Asleep At the Wheel and Merle Haggard alumnus Paul Anastasio plays the fiddle with real class. Mark Holzinger is heard on lead guitar, Bing Nathan- bass and Shota Osabe plays piano. Jim Rothermel is found on reeds, Dan Barrett is heard on trumpet and Kevin Porter plays trombone. Rick Alegria is the drummer on all but one cut which has Trey Sabatelli. Bob Applebaum is the album mandolinist

The album opens with a fantastic cut and probable future hit Go Man, Go! There is a great Texas dance hall style item, I Can't Two-Step Houston Out of My Mind and another gem, the album title tune, I Dreamed Count Basie Was a Cowboy. Other enjoyable items are Fern Frond Boogie, Ms Busy, That's What I Love About You, Ex Factor and I Will Never be Your Fool. Then there are the three great cuts that Don had on a 2008 three tune CD, the hit Apple and Google and Gold, A Dog's Life and Driving Lesson. Finally, there is Don and the group's version of the jewel Emmett that Tom Morrell and the Time-Warp Tophands did so well a few years back. Don dedicates this album to this late Steel Guitar Hall of Fame legend.

This very enjoyable album can be obtained for $18 US, which includes shipping from Don Burnham, P.O. Box 276, Groveland, CA 95321-0276.

Mike Gross, KSEY-FM, Seymour,TX
February 5, 2011
- Swingin' West


"Don Burnham with and “without” Lost Weekend"

Don Burnham isn’t exactly stepping away from his 8- to 22-piece western swing band Lost Weekend because all of the players on his “solo” CD, I Dreamed Count Basie Was a Cowboy, are members of Lost Weekend’s extended family. Considering the natural ebb and flow of personnel in a band that’s been around over a quarter of a century, this band has out-grown family. By now it’s a tribe.

Lost Weekend, the band, built its name by covering songs by Bob Wills, Cindy Walker, the Light Crust Doughboys and like-minded western swing pioneers. Don Burnham, the band’s leader, has turned his attention to writing his own material, often updating the topical content while keeping the music true to its roots. “Apple and Google and Gold,” the release that launched the Don Burnham era, is a case in point. It’s a cowboy’s lament about sinking one’s life savings into Enron, dot-coms and sub-prime mortgages instead of investments that soared rather than sunk. Bob Wills never even wrote about the Great Depression, where Don Burnham is ready to face 21st century economics lock, stock and 401K. Video: Apple and Google and Gold. “Ex Factor,” a heartbreaking tale of woe about having your date walk off with her ex-whatever, is also better suited to our times than times gone by.

Write what you know is the CD’s credo, and this leads to tunes like “I Dreamed Count Basie was a Cowboy” and “Go, Man, Go,” which are a virtual lessons in how to arrange a western swing band; “Emmett” (Miller, 1900-1962) is a history about the man who, as Don Burnham and Wikipedia tell it, was the first to make a country jazz band swing; “A Dog’s Life” is an operator’s manual for living like a dog in the positive, rather than the pejorative, sense; and “Driving Lesson,” is exactly what its title claims. (The mystery question about this song is, “Did cars really have seat-belts to fasten when young Donald learned to drive?”)

Taken as a whole the musicianship is top shelf as decades in the business have brought Don some highly talented friends. The songs move easily between swing, bop, boogie, and ballads combined with wink of humor, a dash of life, a touch of romance and a lot of fun.

Watch the HWS calendar for CD release parties coming soon. - Hicks With Sticks


"Model O Mandolin Review"

These are master musicians and well worth a 4-1/2 minute listen. How can anyone not smile while they are listening to Western Swing, especially when played this spectacularly? - JazzMando.com


"Get Lost!"

Yee-haw! Western swing, that ingenious, all-American big-band hybrid of swing-era jazz, blues, and fiddle-fueled early country music, is returning to the East Bay via the big-band badness of the legendarty Lost weekend orchaestra, in support of its scorching new album Harbor LIghts and Cowboy Blues. - East Bay Express


"Merle Haggard & Lost Weekend"

Lost Weekend, led by rhythm guitarist/singer Don Burnham, and featuring such extraordinary soloists as reed player Jim Rothermel, pedal steel ace Bobby Black and fiddlers Kevin Wimmer and Paul Anastasio, played true to the night's theme ... - The San Francisco Chronicle


"The Bands"

LOST WEEKEND: Western Swing. Lost Weekend is an 11-piece western swing band, and though the number of players may vary from show to show, they are all top flight. Don Burnham (rhythm guitar) leads the band. Pam Brandon (Belle Monroe and the Brewglass Boys) sings, Bobby Black (Commander Cody) plays pedal steel and Bing Nathan (Lavay Smith) plays bass. Beside band members too numerous to list, Burnham has a lot of musical friends, so expect some fine guest players at Lost Weekend shows. Site MySpace Facebook Video Audio Photos - Hicks With Sticks


"Arhoolie Records Founder, Chris Strachwitz"

Thursday November 5, 2009

Recently I heard three Bay Area bands at the new and super modern Freight & Salvage here in Berkeley:

First was the huge Western styled swing band: Lost Weekend - with 3 horns, lead guitar, steel guitar, 2 fiddles, singer and rhythm guitarist Don Burnham, piano, bass and drums! They were very tight, and played good dance music; at times as many as a dozen couples were having fun on the dance floor, which is a real asset for the New Freight! It was a fine program and the music was very good - my only complaint is that due to the size of the band very few of the excellent musicians really get a chance to solo at length and really get hot - especially I would have loved to hear much more from the 2 fiddlers! ... - Mr Chris' Blog


Discography

DON BURNHAM: I DREAMED COUNT BASIE WAS A COWBOY
Redoubtable Records RR99

DON BURNHAM: APPLE AND GOOGLE AND GOLD
Redoubtable Records RR49

LOST WEEKEND LIVE! 21 Years of Western Swing
Redoubtable Records RR120

LOST WEEKEND
HARBOR LIGHTS AND COWBOY BLUES
Redoubtable Records RR101

SWINGIN' OUT WEST/WESTERN SWING
Sonoton SCE 012 (Germany)

Photos

Bio

He's spent most of his life behind a guitar - singing and pickin', from campfire circles to concert stages. Guitarist and vocalist DON BURNHAM is best known as the bandleader of LOST WEEKEND Western Swing Band (since 1985).

Born in San Francisco (June 3, 1947), DON was raised on the SF Peninsula, and he attended the University of California, where guitars, music and songwriting ultimately prevailed over other studies.

Drafted by Uncle Sam in 1968, DON served in the US ARMY/Korea. He worked for a time in New York City at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) as a news assistant, before returning to California and the West Coast music scene. DON supported his music habit by working as a seasonal park ranger, where he developed his musical program known as 'Songs and Tales of California and the West'.

After years as a folksinger, troubadour, songwriter, and bandleader, DON'S overriding interest in swing music and traditional jazz produced his NEW CENTURY JAZZ BAND, and also the Western Swing outfit LOST WEEKEND. Ultimately these two bands 'merged' (1991). The modern Western Swing band known as LOST WEEKEND today is internationally recognized as one of the leading lights in contemporary Western Swing. DON was inducted into the Western Swing Hall of Fame in 2005.

DON continues today performing with LOST WEEKEND, as well as with smaller subsets of the group (the BOLOS, the OVERALLS) and also as he began, with just his Martin guitar.