Todd Burge
Parkersburg, West Virginia, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
I've listened to your CD several times and it sounds great. I think that it is your best work yet. The songs are well crafted and clever. They hang together as a group - it's a good listen. Your vocals are outstanding.
Of course Tim's playing and production are perfect - just what I would expect from him. What impresses me is there are no blazing solo's - just good solid grooves and interesting textures to support the songs. The production doesn't get in the way and draw undue attention to itself- it does what it is supposed to do - take a really good artist and make him sound better.
The engineering is first class. I love that it sounds organic and rich at the same time. The players are "in the pocket". But the true test is that it feels good.
Any way you can tell that I liked it? Congratulations!
Ron - Ron Sowell - Music Director for PBS's Mountain Stage
I love it! Pure, beautiful, and absolutely superb songwriting. You have captured the essence of each song - I feel like you are singing just for me in the comfort of my living room - - (of course, I'm in my favorite flannel jammies) Congratulations.
Lisa Biales
- Lisa Biales (Singer/Songwriter) Oxford Ohio
"The hardest thing for a singer/songwriter is to distinguish yourself to be original, because there are so many, I mean there are thousands of them out there and Todd has that quality. His music is unmistakable. You hear both his voice and the way he constructs songs, the way he rhymes things, what he writes about, all those things are unique. I don't know anybody else who does it like Todd does. There are some people who fall into traditions and you can say they sound pretty much like this person, but Todd doesn't sound like anybody and that's what I like the most about him, is the originality. From Bob Dylan to Randy Newman to Loudon Wainwright III, the very best singer/songwriters -no matter what their style of music - share a common trait: they all have a great, ironic sense of humor. TODD BURGE is West Virginia's contribution to this tradition. Around this state he's probably the 'dean' of all the singer/songwriters. The finest singer & songwriter that we have.”
Larry Groce, Host of PBS's Mountain Stage - Larry Groce
"Possibly the best songwriter to ever come out of West Virginia"
Eric Leighton, The Athens News-Athens Ohio
"..you seem to be "at one" with your instruments, every cell engaged in what you are doing. Cool, just damn cool. We were really happy with the performance as were the people we talked to afterwards and have already discussed having you back. Molly Watson, Washington State Community College - Humanities Series
"A short list of WV's finest performing songwriters would have to include Parkersburg-based Todd Burge. His by-turns smart, serious and funny tunes and his confident stage presence are a master class in the art of the solo singer-songwriter craft." Doug Imbrogno-Charleston Gazette
I've heard the new record...it sounds incredible...and I put it in our heavy rotation up here at U92!
Todd Burge has a knack of making you feel like he is singing right at you. When you listen to his music, you feel like he's right in the same room telling only you the story. Thanks to the super crisp production, you can hear Todd's pick scraping the strings and every breathe in his singing. Deft, Classy and instantly memorable. Let him into your heart and minds and you won't be sorry. Todd Encompasses the best of Townes, Dylan and Gram Parsons and should soon be in the pantheon of great singer/storytellers along with them.
Rob Werhle, Music Director U-92FM Morgantown, WV
- Various
Discography
Todd Burge - My Lost and Found (Produced by Tim O'Brien (2008)
Various Artist - Always Lift Him Up - A Tribute to Blind Alfred Reed - Proper American US - includes Todd Burge, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, Kathy Mattea, Ray Benson, Connie Smith and Marty Stuart, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jerry Douglas, Larry Groce, John Lilly and more.
Todd Burge - Hip About Time (2006)
Todd Burge - New Year (2003)
Complete list here
www.toddburge.com
Photos
Bio
For immediate booking info, call 304-481-2766
"Todd Burge's music and personality will grow on you. He draws from the same muse as John Hartford and Roger Miller, but there's something else in there that keeps it all Todd, all the time. The songs make me laugh and then think, and then laugh and think again." Tim O'Brien - 2006 Grammy Winner
"From Bob Dylan to Randy Newman to Loudon Wainwright III, the very best singer/songwriters -no matter what their style of music - share a common trait: they all have a great, ironic sense of humor. Todd Burge is West Virginia's contribution to this tradition. Around this state he's probably the 'dean' of all the singer/songwriters. The finest singer & songwriter that we have.”
Larry Groce, Host of PBS's Mountain Stage
This latest CD by West Virginian Todd Burge, (My Lost and Found – Bunj Jam 2008) was produced by 2006 Grammy Winner Tim O’Brien and recorded at John Prine’s studio, The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville TN, with David Ferguson (Johnny Cash, John Hartford) as engineer. The band includes Dirk Powell (Loretta Lynn, Sting)-Cajun Accordion & Keyboards, Dennis Crouch (Alison Krauss, Robert Plant)-Bass, Kenny Malone (John Prine, Darrell Scott) -Drums, Dan Dugmore (James Taylor) -Pedal Steel and
Tim O’Brien on Fiddle, Mandolin, Bouzouki and backing vocals
TODD BURGE BRIEF BIO
Over the last decade, Todd Burge, has played everything from Alternative Rock to Bluegrass, performing over 150 shows per year in venues as diverse as CBGB’s and the Kennedy Center. Burge is a repeat guest on Public Radio’s Mountain Stage and has been called the “dean of WV songwriters, the best we have”, by the show’s host, Larry Groce. Todd recently recorded Telephone Girl by Blind Alfred Reed, for a tribute compilation (Always Lift Him Up – Proper American) that benefits the WV Music Hall of Fame and includes Kathy Mattea, Ray Benson, Marty Stuart, Connie Smith, Tim and Mollie O’Brien, Little Jimmy Dickens and More. Burge also hosts his own radio show and podcast, Songwriter Night with Todd Burge (www.songwriternight.com).
CD REVIEW
*Todd Burge – My Lost and Found Produced by Tim O’Brien
“The latest CD by Todd Burge, My Lost and Found, takes us lucky listeners through a nutty psychoanalysis of sorts. This is Folk CD for certain, with Bluegrass & Americana flavor. All the songs revolve nicely around the title track and travel the twisted West Virginia roads in Burge’s ironic head. Songs of birth, fearing death, suicide, love, old time religion vs. Buddhism, war, peace, global warming, and drunkenness are all found here and with touches of humor throughout. The thread that seems to keep it all in line are some parts Burge’s fantastic charm, expressive baritone and style, and other parts Tim O’Brien with this stellar band! This is a must listen! And, the more I listen, the more I discover. Support this man’s music, because I need to hear more of it!”
Byron Alan – Over the Fence Music
The Todd Burge Nutshell:
- Tim O’Brien (2006 Grammy Winner) Produced Burge’s new CD (read more below*)
- “The Dean of WV Songwriters” – Larry Groce, Host of PBS’s Mountain Stage
- 150 plus/yr performances including PBS' Mountain Stage, the Kennedy Center and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 08
- Songwriter workshop coordinator for New Song Festival (2003-2006)
- Has collaborated/shared the stage with Tim O’Brien, Kathy Mattea, Ricky Skaggs, Bela Fleck, Chris Smither, Robbie Fulks, Don Dixon, Mike Seeger, Diana Jones, and many more.
More Quotes:
"Possibly the best songwriter to ever come out of West Virginia"
Eric Leighton, The Athens News-Athens Ohio
"..you seem to be "at one" with your instruments, every cell engaged in what you are doing. Cool, just damn cool"
Molly Watson, Washington State Community College
"His by-turns smart, serious and funny tunes and his confident stage presence are a master class in the art of the solo singer-songwriter craft."
Doug Imbrogno-Charleston Gazette
A Note From Todd
This new CD is a collection of tunes revolving around characters with and without character, lost souls and new found spirituality. Over the years I’ve played everything from Punk-a-Billy to Bluegrass. This mix of sounds has often times excited, confused, and frustrated me and I hope that I have dispatched some of that mental angst into some interesting stories and sounds here.
The final mix here sounds part Folk, Cajun, Country Blues, Bluegrass and Rock. I’m thrilled that we were able to reel it all into some cohesive shape by having Tim O’Brien produce. For the past few years I’ve often wondered what my tunes would sound like while under the influence of Tim. Now I know and I hope you dig it a fraction as much as I.
I wrote the lyric for My Lost and Found, the title track while watching the dream sequence in the Big Lebowski. I was sick and nodding off and when I
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