We recently had the chance to connect with Chris Burke and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Chris , thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
This is such an interesting question. Because I travel so much, the visual that I get with this question is set in an airport. Am I wandering from gate to gate in the airport, unsure of where I am headed, or am I taking the moving path to get exactly where I need to be as quickly as possible? I think that having goals and seeing a future should feel like you are walking a set straightforward path to success, but my life has been nothing straightforward at all. I look around at my fellow performers and friends and family in the entertainment industry, and I see wandering. I see people moving gate to gate, finding their own way, and even taking the moving straight path and then doubling back, or stepping out of it even as it’s moving. And maybe this is true about everyone, even those working 9 to 5 jobs: that success always looks and feels different than how you first believe. So, maybe no one is walking a path at all, and we’re all wandering, finding our way. So, to answer the original question, I find myself wandering, but creating my own walking path as I go.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Chris Burke, and I am a soul singer/songwriter/entertainer from Nashville, TN. I have been performing, entertaining, and singing my entire life, and I have worked as a professional for the last 25ish years. I perform as a Guest Entertainer on cruise ships and perform shows around the country as a soul singer as well. I am also working on my first new original project in years as a songwriter. I also have been featured in regional and national print ads and commercials. It’s a crazy and fun life, maneuvering around to the next gig and the next and the next, whatever it is.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
Again, this is such an interesting question! As I have said, I have been singing and performing my entire life, maybe since I was about 5 years old in church. But there was a specific time that I felt very powerful on stage, maybe for the first time. It not only felt very powerful, but also very inspiring.
I was a freshman in college at Emory University in Atlanta. In my first few weeks on campus, I auditioned for an all-male a cappella group called No Strings Attached. There were 4 members already, but this was their first official year, and I made the roster. Within a few months of rehearsals and the occasional show here and there, we were asked last minute (the day before) to open for Bill Clinton and Al Gore who were the sitting president and vice-president, and who were coming to speak on campus. We were floored but also so thankful for the opportunity.
We knew it was going to be our biggest show yet (only together for around 3 months in total), but had no idea how big. We stepped up to perform our 7 song setlist to an audience of around 5000 people with tv cameras lining the entire back of the gymnasium. It was INSANE!
So, we performed to mild but supportive and nice reaction and response from everyone in the gymnasium until our last song, which happened to be my solo. Up until this point in the show, everyone talked amongst themselves and mostly halfway paid attention to us singing our hearts out on this little stage. For our last song, I sang ‘In Your Eyes’ by Peter Gabriel. I realized about 45 seconds into the song that the entire audience, the entire 5000+ people, had gone quiet as they were all suddenly paying full attention to us. I closed my eyes and decided not to freak out and just keep singing the song. As we finished, I closed my eyes in a HUGE ‘thank you’ to the universe for helping me get through the song. As I opened them, I saw the entire 5000+ audience standing up for us! For ME! My stomach dropped and I couldn’t believe my eyes. We were receiving a full standing ovation after my solo, and it was the most powerful I had ever felt on stage up to that point. It was remarkable. But also, it was hugely inspiring and changed the trajectory of my career.
Do you remember a time someone truly listened to you?
So, this is probably not the way the question was meant to be interpreted, but I remember the first time I thought an audience truly listened to me and my lyrics. Nashville is SUCH an amazing city and an incredible place to learn the craft of musicianship and songwriting. It is an amazing place to cut your teeth and be inspired by the most incredible musicians in the world, but it is very tough place to be noticed as an artist because there are so many others doing the exact same thing.
99% of the shows that you perform or attend in Nashville have a group of people somewhere talking loudly, even after purchasing tickets. I have seen some of the most incredible artists performing intimate shows where you have to pay for a ticket to watch, and a group of folks were in the back laughing and carrying on as if a show was not happening.
BUT, there are a couple big exceptions. Years ago, I had the chance to perform for the first time at the world famous Bluebird Cafe. What I didn’t realize is that the audience is not only naturally quiet, but they are shushed and eventually escorted out if they are talking at all. It is a venue to LISTEN to the artist, to LISTEN to the lyrics. I was blown away, and actually heard my own lyrics as if for the first time. People were not only listening, but they followed me and followed the stories I was telling in my songs. It was an unbelievable experience. There are other venues that have the same distinct enforced quiet and artist appreciation, but the Bluebird was my first experience with being truly listened to as an artist.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
I’m not sure if this is a cultural value or just a value in general, but I still believe that being a decent human being matters almost more than anything else. It matters in my personal interactions, but also in the world at large too. So much of our world is filled with awful people in charge, politically or otherwise, but if you take all the bluster away, you can always tell if someone is a decent human or not, and too often, they are not. It doesn’t seem to matter to so many people, but to me, how someone makes you feel with their demeanor or how they handle themselves, or how they treat people (especially people that can’t actually do anything for them) is so important. It’s something that I notice and can see much clearer as I get older, and it matters to me.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What will you regret not doing?
I try not to regret much. I believe that we do the very best we can with what we are given and what we know in the moment, but it is so hard not to look back and wonder about how different things could be if different choices had been made. So, it’s hard not to have regrets.
For me, the main regrets that creep up into my brain are of NOT doing something. There are times in my life I was scared or didn’t believe in myself enough to take a chance. There have been times that could have been turning points for me and my career, and it’s tough not to look back and regret not just going for it. Fear has always been a driving force when I hold myself back. Fear and imposter syndrome and feeling that I’m just not good enough are all factors in most of the regrets I have.
BUT, even though these moments stick with me and tend to pop up when I’m feeling low or vulnerable, I do understand that I am where I am and WHO I am because of the choices I made, and that includes the choices I didn’t make. And, I wouldn’t be here or be who I am at this moment without all of it, the good and the bad.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrisburkemusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisburkemusic/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisburkemusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChrisBurkeMusic/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chrisburkemusic
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/chrisburkemusic
- Other: https://linktr.ee/thechrisburkemusic
Image Credits
All of the black and white photos are Toby Gilbert Photography. The other 2 onstage are from my friend Bobbie Becker.
