John Burge

One Man Folk Orchestra

Contribution to the Show

John is an astounding folk musician and we're very proud to be able to use his music as bed music in our Irish Mythological Cycle Summary Show, SP25a. We hope to feature his work a little later on! Read how John performs below - I promise you, you'll be amazed!

Biography

John plays: guitar, fiddle, bouzouki, mandolin & bodhran

‘techy’ bits : digitech recorder/looper & AER amplification

(plus head, hands , feet and heart !!)

Voyage of Hope

The “delivery method” of my music is likely to be unique amongst most musicians……………

PLEASE read on.

Being a multi~instrumentalist and a composer, the desire to write and perform tunes on more than one instrument is irresistible…………………

To play more than one instrument simultaneously would take some serious juggling !!
The use of modern technology provides a fantastic platform to write AND perform instrumental works in a LIVE setting, producing music that you would expect to hear from two or more musicians.

The basic chord patterns are recorded (by me), using a digital Recorder/looper, operated by footswitches whilst the hands and head do the playing. These “loops” are played whilst adding melody and harmony, creating a flexible musical performance…solo. Often, it’s simply guitar backing with fiddle added or a bodhran solo built on with bouzoukis……… the possibilities are endless and very exciting for me as a musician.

Having been a string player in various duos/trios and bands over the last thirty plus years (Mick Ryan/Kitsyke Will/Crows etc) I’ve decided to pursue my interest in composition…My influences are very varied and the flavour of my compositions can be anything from Old timey American to trad Irish / Celtic to Balkan/Hungarian to Vaughan Williams and more.
Be prepared to be very surprised and certainly intrigued by the end result, all produced by a real musician WITHOUT the use of sequencers or drum machines, just real instruments played with passion.

My CD (Voyage of Hope) contains fifteen tracks (twelve my own compositions), played as they would be in a LIVE performance, by myself…. alone.

I’m available for club/concert/festival performances and would be happy to send you a sample of my music (Promoters/organisers only) for you to check out “my stuff”………….and remember what you hear is performed live by a single musician using a small amount of music technology to produce music with passion and commitment.

Echoes

Hot - or at least pretty damn warm - on the heels of his fine Voyage of Hope comes this new disc from one-man folk orchestra John Burge. Actually, it was a rather quicker follow-up than the timing of this review suggests, as, although I have listened to it a lot over the past couple of months, I have just not been able to come up with a review. The thing is, this is a disc that, for me, really resists the analytical approach. With no vocals this time round, this is a beautifully sequenced set of instrumentals, which draw the listener in and take them to an almost cinematic landscape of the mind.

The Celtic influence is well to the fore, with some emotive fiddle weaving its way through a very 'modern Irish' (yes, the bouzouki box is ticked!) tapestry, though one which assuredly avoids the pitfalls of post- River Dance blandness which mire so much in this field. And, as with his debut release, multi-instrumental dexterity is never wheeled out for its own sake; rather, it contributes as necessary to the overall mood of each piece. 'Authenticity' has been a vexed concept pretty much since the label of 'folk music' was first bandied about, but listening to Echoes gives a sense that - for all the technology which permits this layered musical approach - here is a writer and musician responding to tradition and place in a heartfelt and decidedly authentic manner.

John Burge is definitely someone who deserves to be heard by a much wider audience

………..(www.thetalkmagazine.com)

"All the best and keep music live!"………….John Burge

Albums

John has 2 albums available.

	The Voyage of Hope Buy from John		Echoes Buy from John.

© All non-original items about John Burge on this page are copyright John Burge 2011

 Last Updated: April 20, 2012