John Burge

Music:

Member Since: 1/10/2007
Band Website: www.myspace.com/johnburge
Band Members: Just John..... His band members are his instruments which are : * George Lowden 010 guitar * Peter Abnett Bouzouki * Gibson A2 Mandolin * Jay Haide vioin * Bodhran by Roddy Turner. John uses a digitech "Jamman" digital looper/recorder to record multi-instrumental pieces LIVE .............................. and of course his head , hands and feet and heart ! So, what you get can be anything from solo guitar with a single added fiddle melody,a selection of songs with guitar/fiddle/mandolin accompaniment or a full band performance with six fiddles,two bouzoukis,bodhran and guitar...the possibilities are endless !! Playing in ensembles,of course is the best way to improvise and "bounce" of other musicians,when John will quite happily dispense with the electronics and play "conventionally" when the opportunities come along.
Influences: IRISH ,ENGLISH,SCOTTISH AND AMERICAN TRADITIONAL MUSIC AND SONG. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS, BALKAN/HUNGARIAN AND MORE. as long as it gets to the heart ! John got interested in folk song and music in his mid-teens, and in the early 1970's was encouraged and nurtured along with his class mate, Mick Ryan,at the famous Swindon folk singers club at the Greyhound pub,run by Ted and Ivy Poole.Mick and John served their "apprenticeships" and went on to play at festivals and clubs across the u.k. Later they formed a band with friends in London called " Crows" becoming well established on the festival and club circuits in the south of England.Around 1980, John moved to north yorkshire joining Peadar Long in the ground breaking instrumental trio "Kitsyke Will",playing festivals and clubs in Britain and Europe over an eventful four years. Slogging around the motorways in the Vw van took its toll, and finally persusaded John to pursue a musical career on a semi-pro basis,whilst bringing up a family and working in the music distribution industry,in order to pay the bills. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's , John continued playing in duos, trios and bands(Jack Burge,Pete Wray, Perfect Cure,Jago), performing at folk festivals and clubs mainly in the north of England. Also a lengthy stint with popular covers band "Moondance", with John playing electric fiddle and bouzouki,around the music pub circuits in the north east of England.More recently,John has given up the day job of "music repping" and focused his music making, recording and composition working in his studio at home.John is now keen to work with other musicians again should the opportunity arise.... e-mail John if you are interested...... [email protected] long interest in Irish, English and American folk music has inspired John to pursue instrumental composition with his beloved "band" of assorted musical instruments, including guitar,fiddle,bouzouki,mandolin and bodhran. The use of digital technology, in the form of a digital recorder looper, has enabled John to perform ensemble pieces totally live, combining his considerable instrumental skills and composition , producing an ever increasing repertoire of original music ...... he has been described as a "one man folk-orchestra", being able to very cleverly play and record LIVE on his digital looper,switch instruments sometimes several times durng performance,which takes some nerve and skill to achieve.............. have you seen that before ???????
Sounds Like: All of John's instrumental compositions are influenced by thirty plus years of playing with and listening to many musicians from all parts of the world.His vinyl record/cd collection includes anything from Turlogh O'Carolan to Vaughan Williams to Django Reindhart to Liam O'Flynn to Steeley Dan to Doc Watson. John's musical heroes and their music have no doubt had an influence on his music, pulling on the memory banks of all these genres. Now that "myspace" enables musicians to download ten tracks, John has recently re-recorded these all recently on his new eight track apart from track no.1 which is a live radio show recording........Here is a bit of background on the tracks you can listen to: 1." The Bouzouki Rag " ( LIVE radio show) Composed after listening to an old Scott Joplin Vinyl, which apparently felt like a rag when completed. 2.John David... written in memory of his Dad.He was a quiet gentle man who witnessed the horrors of Hiroshima at the end of world war 2, and worked hard the rest of his life in engineering passing away after virtually no retirement. 3. The trapeze waltz...... the first of four pieces from John's Circus suite ,composed for a sad and hopeless clown. 4. Old for New.... written for Winnipeg based musician D'arcy Stearns,who had his bouzouki stolen from his college rooms.John saw his add on "Gumtree" seeking a good bouzouki.John had just replaced his 1979 Peter Abnett bouzouki with a brand new one from the same fantastic luthier......... nice to know his old 1979 Abnett bouzouki is being played and cherished across the pond. 5 " Zorbas' Waltz" ...... John remembers a Cretian holiday some years back,and being knocked out by the bouzouki playing of the resident band in the local bistro.Most people wanted fast and furious tunes to smash plates to in the tradition,whilst the musicians just looked despressed with it all .John wrote this sad waltz to remember these fantastic players. 6. The Voyage of hope............. written in honour of the thousands of Irish emigrants from centuries past,travelling the world seeking work and taking their families, fiddles and pipes with them. 7.The Bouzouki belly dance..... a mad title and an equally mad tune... you'll need to be olympic standard to belly dance to this one. 8.Summerhouse Lament........... Summerhouse has been John's home for several years and has been inspirational to him for his music composition. Soon to be moving onto pastures new, John wrote this tune to celebrate this beautiful rural hamlet in county Durham. 9. The Endless Road........... John spent many years driving the motorways of England as a music rep. The tune and it's title sums it up for John. 10. The Recovered Mandolin ........ A music dealer friend of John's turned up a 1918 Gibson A2 mandolin which was in a dreadful state. Much care and attention brought it back to life and the tune was written in celebration. The tracks listed here,are just a small number of John's compositions, with new tunes seemingly "arriving" almost daily.Incredibly, as a self taught multi-instrumentalist , John has never learnt how to note down his tunes on paper,and relies totally on recall for the melodies and arrangements. Make your own judgements on the small sample of tracks you can listen to here........ John hopes you enjoy them !!
Record Label: None presently..........open to interested labels
Type of Label: Unsigned