Artist
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Michael Burks
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“Michael Burks is a flamethrower guitarist. He is the
complete bluesman: songwriter, singer, riff-master, bandleader, and
showman...Savage fury and heartfelt tenderness”
–Chicago Sun-Times
“Michael Burks is a guitar slinger with a brawny tone,
deeply emotional singing and rompin’, stompin’ blues power.”
–GuitarOne
Guitarist/vocalist/songwriter
Michael “Iron Man” Burks stands tall as a major contemporary blues figure. With
a nickname earned by his hours-long, intensely physical performances, fearsome
guitar attack, tough, smoky vocals and the thousands of miles logged behind the
wheel of his touring van, Burks is a modern blues hero. Nobody in today’s blues
world successfully bridges searing electric guitar blues with unbridled rock
and roll energy like Burks.
The Chicago
Sun-Times recently said Burks is “poised on the brink of major stardom.”
Boasting remarkable
natural talent and a blue-collar work ethic, Michael Burks is a musician with
deep roots in the blues tradition. He performs every song he plays with
intensity, conviction and soul. Even though he has been playing music since he
was a child, it was the release of
Make
It Rain, his Alligator Records debut in 2001, that brought Burks
well-deserved national recognition and made him one of the blues world’s
fastest-rising stars. His 2003 follow-up,
I
Smell Smoke, continued his upward trajectory, as his fan base increased as
quickly as his bookings. With inspiration from Albert King, Freddie King and
Albert Collins, Burks’ sound and style are all his own.
Blues Revue says, “Burks delivers blazing, explosive solos and
outrageous tone…part rock, part soul and filled with plenty of blues
sensibility.” According to
GuitarOne,
“Burks is a legend in waiting.”
The waiting is now over.
With the release of his new CD,
Iron Man,
Burks is set to take his place beside the biggest names in the blues. Produced
by Burks and Alligator president Bruce Iglauer and fueled by Burks’
hard-driving road band,
Iron Man
(featuring seven of twelve songs written or co-written by Burks) is an
electrifying slice of emotional, rocked-out blues. His fiery fretwork, gruff,
fervent vocals and overwhelming intensity are captured here live in the studio.
The album features some of the hottest guitar playing and most soulful singing
Burks has ever recorded.
Born in Milwaukee in
1957, Michael quite literally entered the world with blues in his blood. Joe
Burks, Michael’s grandfather, played acoustic Delta blues guitar in his
hometown of Camden, Arkansas. A multi-talented man, Joe was a barber, carpenter
and aviation mechanic in addition to playing in area juke joints. Michael’s
father, Frederick, was a bass player. For years, Frederick Burks worked in
Milwaukee steel mills and refineries during the day and spent his evenings
performing in the city’s smoky, dimly-lit blues clubs, often backing harmonica
legend Sonny Boy Williamson II, as well as other touring blues stars and local
front men.
Michael first held a
guitar when he was two years old, and Frederick immediately began teaching his
son how to play. Equipped with a fully functional, child-size guitar, the young
Burks began emulating the bass runs of his father. Soon he was learning scales
and songs. By the age of five, he was diligently studying his father’s 45s,
aided by an effective lesson plan. “I’ll give you a dollar if you learn this
song by the time I’m home from work,” Frederick would tell his young prodigy.
Sure enough, Michael would learn that tune inside out and sideways by the time
his father walked through the front door. Michael had begun to collect a tall
stack of dollar bills when the elder Burks realized his teaching tactics were
burning an unwanted hole in his wallet. Finally, Frederick told his son,
“Here’s another 45. You learn this one, and you’re gonna get a lickin’.” But
Michael kept practicing, and by the time he was six, he played his first gig
during a trip to his family’s hometown in Arkansas. The fledgling guitarist
took the stage with his cousin’s band and thrilled an unsuspecting audience.
In the early 1970s, after
a machine accident left his hand injured and his musical career severely
hampered, Frederick Burks moved his family back to their southern home. There,
Michael and his siblings helped their father build the Bradley Ferry Country
Club – a 300-seat juke joint. By this time Michael was fronting his own band as
well as backing several of the blues and R&B greats that passed through
town. Johnnie Taylor and O.V. Wright were just two of the luminaries to call on
Michael’s services. Business at the Bradley Ferry thrived for years, with
Michael Burks leading the house band every Thursday through Saturday. Tables
near the stage had to be reserved two weeks in advance.
When the Bradley Ferry
finally closed in the mid-1980s, Michael needed to find a day job. For over a
decade he worked as a mechanical technician for Lockheed-Martin; at one point
during his stint with the advanced technology corporation he even built missile
components. But Michael’s desire to perform remained strong, and in 1994 he
formed a new band and began playing clubs and regional festivals. Despite his
not having a record, the diesel-powered energy of Michael’s performances began
to earn him festival offers from Florida to California. Fortunately, Michael’s
boss was a blues lover. He recognized Michael’s ability and encouraged it,
giving Burks the flexibility of long weekends in order to tour. On more than a
few occasions, Lockheed even entertained its clients by flying them to
Michael’s festival appearances.
Michael released his
self-produced debut CD,
From The Inside
Out, in 1997. The album confidently announced Michael’s intention to take
the blues world by storm. His impassioned, string-bending solos, combined with
his fiery tone and smoldering vocals, left no doubt that Michael Burks was an
emotionally-charged blues powerhouse. Critics and fans loved what they heard.
Blues Access proclaimed
From The Inside Out to be “the most
impressive indie in recent memory,” and
Living
Blues rated it as one of “the best debut discs of the year.” In 2000, Burks
received a Blues Music Award nomination for Best New Artist, even though he was
already a hard-working professional.
It had become clear that
Burks had to pursue his musical career full-time once again. Fueled by a tank
full of positive reviews, Michael began to play more festivals than ever
before, appearing at the Chicago Blues Festival, Telluride Blues Festival,
Mississippi Valley Blues Fest and Kalamazoo Blues Fest, and making headlining
appearances at the Mississippi Muddy Waters Blues Fest, Arkansas River Blues
Fest and the Blind Willie Blues Fest, among others.
Burks joined the
Alligator family in 2001 and released the critically acclaimed
Make It Rain.
The Chicago Sun-Times called the album “chilling and heartfelt.”
Billboard agreed, declaring, “Burks is a
powerhouse blues guitar slinger…he blasts through licks like Clapton used to
play–think lightning–just because he can. He is a great guitarist.”
Vintage Guitar said, “Gospel-ringed,
sweet and nasty. Burks will warm your heart at the same time he puts a chill
down your back.” He immediately hit the road in support of the CD, bringing his
blistering blues to fans across the country and throughout Europe and Australia
as well, with gigs at clubs, concert halls and major festivals everywhere.
His next album,
I Smell Smoke, featured songs fueled by
Burks’ feral guitar playing and tough, soulful vocals. As raw and passionate as
ever, Burks played with the precision and dedication of the seasoned veteran
that he is.
Living Blues said,
“Burks’ fretwork is skin-tight yet emotionally expressive. His voice is dusky
and sensual yet shot through with virility. Burks burns his signature onto
almost everything he touches with aching passion and the probing intensity of
his guitar. He has the ability and the imagination to fuse the best of the old
and the new.” Burks received three Blues Music Award nominations for his work
on the CD, including Contemporary Blues Album Of The Year and Blues Song Of The
Year for the title track.
The unstoppable,
heartfelt intensity that Michael brings to the stage lies at the very core of
his appeal. Dedicated fans around the country and in Europe, Australia and
South America already know and appreciate the sweat, passion and intensity he
pours out each night. A constant string of performances at premier festivals
and clubs continues to add even more word-of-mouth fuel to the fire. Burks’
deep, soul-infused music and undeniable charisma make him an overwhelming force
in the blues. The music on the new CD – forged by his unquestionable talent and
fueled by the experience of years on the road – proves that electric guitar
blues is alive and well in the skillful hands of the Iron Man, Michael Burks.
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MP3 Sample Tracks:
