Artist Spotlight: Jonny Burke

Jonny and Ben "Lovey" Dorcy (Dec 2013)

New Braunfels has an amazingly high concentration of talent within its walls for a "small town". Many people have migrated here over the years because of legendary venues such as Gruene Hall and the number of folks here with strong songwriting chops that make amazing collaborators and even mentors. The other side of that coin is the number of New Braunfels natives that have joined the local, unofficial songwriter's guild. One such talent is songwriter Jonny Burke. He was born and raised in New Braunfels, and was exposed to good music at a young age. His dad gave him the beginnings of his music education, feeding him with guitar fundamentals and great music. By the age of 15, Burke had already begun playing music in public, and even formed a band in high school that had a fair amount of regional popularity.

Jonny has spent many of his adult years on the road including a few years in Los Angeles, but has always considered New Braunfels home. Much of 2013, Jonny has been in Texas and has been writing and working on many songs in preparation of his as of yet unnamed full length album that is planned for a 2014 release. Jonny's prior discography includes a 2009 EP "The Long Haul", his first LP "Distance and Fortune" which he released in early 2011, and his latest full-length record "Cup Runneth Over" that was released in 2013.

Aside from touring and perfecting his new material, Jonny has been hosting a cool, new series at River Road Ice House in New Braunfels. His Rooftop Ramble series started out upstairs on Sunday afternoons, but when the chill of December hit, the ramble had to move downstairs where the doors could shut out the cold and keep the music playing. The guests that have joined Jonny so far read straight from the pages of "who's who" in music over the last year.

2013 Rooftop Ramble:
Nov:
3 - Kevin Galloway of Uncle Lucius
10 - Chris King
17 - Evan Felker of Turnpike Troubadours
24 - Jamie Wilson of The Trishas

Dec:
1 - Rob Baird
8 - The Damn Quails
15 - Owen Temple
22 - Mike Harmeier of Mike and the Moonpies

Many great weeks have past so far, but you can still make it to the final 2013 Rooftop Ramble at River Road Ice House with Mike of Mike and the Moonpies, which will most definitely end the series for the year with a nice dose of real country. Keep watching the schedule, as Rooftop Ramble appears to be in the works again for 2014!

2014 Rooftop Ramble:
March 9: Courtney Patton
March 16: TBA
March 23: TBA
March 30: TBA

links:
jonnyburke.com
Jonny Burke on Facebook and Twitter
River Road Ice House on Facebook and Twitter

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