Jonny Burke to hit the road with James McMurtry in June

Austin, TX and LA-based singer-songwriter Jonny Burke is set to tour with James McMurty in June (see tour schedule below).  He will be hitting the road in support of his new album, “Distance And Fortune,” which was released on February 22, 2011.  Burke has toured with McMurty in the past; he’s also hit the road with folks like Todd Snider, Ryan Bingham, Band of Heathens, and Hayes Carll (with whom he co-wrote “Don’t Let Me Fall,” a song on “Distance And Fortune”).

Press praise for Burke’s new album has been extensive.  Here are some select press quotes:

• LA Daily News:  “On his debut album, Burke sounds equally at home spitting out roadhouse rock, sweetly singing country ballads, bopping his way through jangly pop and wringing just the right emotional notes out of melancholy folk tunes.” 
• Aquarian Weekly: “…an impressive affair as he goes from Stones-like rock ’n’ roll in the first two tracks to surefire country twang (accent on believability and tradition, with a left-field hippie aesthetic). … with an earthy acoustic underbelly that puts Burke’s eccentric voice up front…”
• Austin Music + Entertainment:  “…[an] engaging, impression-making debut.” 
• Shepherd Express:  “Burke's got a style all his own, out of time though it may be. About the only thing missing is the vinyl crackles as this album spins to a contemplative close.”
• Lone Star Music Magazine:  “…as impressive as Burke’s writing is throughout… it’s his voice that’s the ultimate charmer.”
• Texas Music Monthly:  “…both timely and timeless, a musical call toward the future with eyes doubling down on the past.” 
• San Antonio Express News:  “Burke is a gifted writer, from the clever word play of 'Into the Autumn' to these lines from 'Long Steady Decline'… Burke not only knows what he's doing, he's doing it with literate grit.” 
• Austinist: “…don’t make the mistake to thinking that Jonny Burke is just another predictable Americana singer/songwriter. 'Distance And Fortune' has a literate pulse but beats with a rock & roll heart.” 
• Jersey Beat: “Representing good, solid, straight up with no-bullsh*t pretense meat and potatoes downhome country-tinged rock’n’roll, this album gets right down to engaging brass tacks and hits the pleasing sonic spot with a winning blend of wit, warmth, and rompin’ tunefulness.”

“Distance & Fortune” was produced by Marc Ford (Black Crowes, Ryan Bingham) at the Compound Studio in Southern California.  The album kicks off with a double blast of rip-roaring bar rock - the Chuck Berry-riffed look at 20-somethings, “Broke Again,” and the Stonesian “Come Stand” – but also finds room for quieter, more contemplative tracks. Burke composed “Little Girl Of The World” like a letter to address a “personal need and to get some sort of redemption” from a broken relationship. “Don’t Let Me Fall” addresses another type of loss – how artists and poets can devote their lives to creating art but can wind up forgotten and dead in the gutter.  The new album also reveals Burke’s open approach to songwriting. He doesn’t have a specific style of music that he’s trying to create; he simply wants to play good songs. Just because he hails from Texas, don’t think he’s just a Lone Star State troubadour. His sole cover is “Human Music,” from the decidedly non-Texan band, the Soft Boys.

Burke formed his first band, the Dedringers, with his school friend Sean Faires, and it became a popular regional band while they were still in their teens. The Dedringers were named Best New Group of 2008 by the Austin American-Statesman, while their R.S. Field-produced “Sweetheart of the Neighborhood” garnered a 3-star Austin Chronicle review. After seven years together, however, Burke and Faires decided to part ways.  Burke followed his own creative muse, and in 2009 he released a 5-song EP (“The Long Haul”) that attracted attention in the blogosphere with songsillinois.net praising its “Pettyseque rockers (and) Townes-influenced gently picked tales,” while Radio Free Americana’s Warren Catlett heralded it as a “mini-classic.”

JONNY BURKE TOUR DATES (all dates below with James McMurtry)

6/2/11 – Oxford, MS – Proud Larry’s

6/3/11 – Louisville, KY – Headliner’s Music Hall

6/4/11 – Newport, KY – Southgate House

6/5/11 – Nelsonville, OH – Stuart’s Opera House

6/8/11 – Albany, NY – Valentine’s Upstairs

6/9/11 – Londonderry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall

6/11/11 – Ellsworth, ME – The Grand Auditorium

6/14/11 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater

6/15/11 – Annapolis, MD – Ram’s Head On Stage

6/16/11 – Fall River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts

6/17/11 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s

6/18/11 – Brooklyn, NJ – The Bell House

6/21/11 – Charlotte, NC – Visulite Theatre

6/22/11 – Greenville, SC – The Handlebar

6/23/11 – Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Theatre

6/24/11 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks

6/25/11 – Lafayette, LA – Blue Moon Saloon