Dylan Burk

GOCCM: Dylan Burk, I am pleased to be speaking with you today. Dylan, you are a bit of an anomaly, from Knoxville Tennessee but now live in Canada and splitting your time between Milton and Nashville.

DB: My Dad was a pro hockey player who played for the Whalers and ended up in Knoxville. At a young age, my parents picked up and decided to move to Canada because that is where my Dad was originally from, Ontario. I have always had a love for country music. I was born in Knoxville, and there is so much country music there. I was going to pursue hockey too, but there was always something about country music that drew me there.

GOCCM: So, when did you actually start singing?

DB: I have always sang but I got serious about 5 or 6 years ago. I was working for a company. and when I went to switch companies, I had about $2600 saved up in an account, and I walked into the Bose music store, and they had a set up that had a microphone with it. So, I decided to invest my money in that. Just over the years of practicing and just kind of working at it, I decided to take music more serious. I have been loving it ever since.

GOCCM: So did you always have that rasp in your voice or is that something that has been cultivated?

DB: It is just something that just naturally came out. My belief is that everyone can sing, they just have to find their exact right sound for them. I went into a karaoke competition and I did my first song and I didn’t do really good at it. I think it was a Brett Eldridge song. The next time I went out I did Black Crowes, “Hard to Handle,” and the rasp kind of came out behind it. It suited me so well so when I sing it just comes out at certain times. I can do more soft sound if I want, but the rasp comes out when it suits the song.

GOCCM: So that is good to be versatile. You can be raspy or you can be soft. That is really good that you have that.

DB: Not a lot of people have that rasp. I get likened to Luke Combs a lot.

GOCCM: That’s not a bad one to be compared to. So, when did you decide to make this your career?

DB: About 3 years ago I got my debut show where I was opening for Eric Ethridge and we were playing for the James Barker Band. That was my start. I just remember going out into the crowd, getting their reaction, even though I only had two songs out at the time. I have taken those two down because they were part of my early writing style that I no longer use. Yes, just the crowd reaction, and being up on that stage, I knew I wanted to be doing this the rest of my life.

GOCCM: That is good that you found your direction. “Looking Like That” shows as your debut single, is it one you took down or is it still up there for us all to hear?

DB: No, that is the one I decided to introduce myself with as more of a serious artist. The first two songs that I had were good, but I didn’t know how you are supposed to get songs properly produced, mixed, mastered, and all that goes into recording a song. “Looking Like That” I did in Nashville with Patrick Jason Matthews, who has written for Luke Bryan and Billy Currington, so to be produced by him on my debut song was awesome.

GOCCM: That’s amazing. You also got television exposure on morning television and ET Canada. What was that like?

DB: That was awesome. I was really nervous to go out and I didn’t know it was one-take, one-shot deal. Even at a live show it takes me a good couple songs to really relax, no matter how many times I have done it. I did a show with Jade Eagleson last year, and it was the 10th show of the summer, our London show, with a decent-sized crowd, and I was still so nervous.

At the morning TV show they took me to makeup, did a quick sound check. About halfway through the song I started to mess up, my voice started cracking, the way the camera was I kind of got distracted, but, through the song I thought, okay we have another shot. At the end, they high-fived us, said Good job Dylan, we’ll let you know when it is going to air and we will see you next time. I’m like, Wait, wait, is there not another take? I messed up. They replied, no, you did fine. A lot of people didn’t notice but I do each time I watch.

GOCCM: What gigs were you most looking forward to in 2020 before we all got shut down?

DB: I had a show with The Reklaws that I was looking forward to more than anything. It was at Baconfest in London. Unfortunately, it got shut down and I am not on the bill for Baconfest next year. The Reklaws aren’t even listed on it. No, I was really looking forward to that one as it would have been my biggest show this year.

GOCCM: What shows did you actually get to do?

DB: Every show I had booked for this year was cancelled, every single one. There was a really great one up north that I did last year and was the headliner of it, near Kapuskasing. It was a great time, a couple thousand people out there and it was fantastic. That one I was looking forward to doing again. I was thinking it might be our only show this year since it was so far north, but it got cancelled in August.

GOCCM: Ah, how depressing. So what did you do all summer?

DB: I really worked hard on just getting more music out to everybody. I got a song co-written by my favourite artist, Chase Rice, “Take It Off,” and was able to put that song out this August. It was really cool to put out that song. Lots of studio time and just getting ready for next year’s shows. So far it is looking like this year [might be cancelled too], so fingers crossed that it isn’t.

GOCCM: I had noticed that you were busy putting out new music. It just seemed on your socials that it was new song after new song. In fact, you had two new releases in October. “Breaking Point,” what is the back story there?

DB: I was pitched that song last year, and I just loved it so much but the team around me said it is a little bit too rock for country. Something about the song kept bringing me back to it. So, I originally brought it to my producer who said it is really rock. I said let’s make it country, let’s do what we can to make it as country as possible but keep the rockiness of it.

He ended up giving me a phone call about three days after and said let’s just rock it. I said the only problem with that it that it is too good to not release as a single. But, I don’t want people to look at me and ask if I am doing rock now. So, I decided to release it the same day as “Whiskey Mind,” which was going to radio, because they blend so nicely together. So, after a year of pondering the idea, I decided to cut the song.

GOCCM: So that answered my question of why you put two songs out on the same day.

DB: It is not normally a thing. I know The Reklaws did that this year but not normally, because it is so expensive to record and produce. But I couldn’t leave that one by itself. It needed to go with something. I didn’t want to put it on an album. I just knew it had to be released as a single. I just had to do it at the right time. I thought of it early on but didn’t want people thinking I was switching to rock because I am country.

GOCCM: How did “Whisky Mind” come to life?

DB: That one I knew right away. Jordan Rager was one of the writers on it. It is very seldom in this industry to find a country singer who can write such great country rock music. That is why I am such a fan of Chase Rice. It is more so the music I like. I like old school Hank Williams, but some nice country rock like Jason Aldean or Chase Rice, I feel like it suits me and my voice.

When I heard “Whiskey Mind” it is so me, and I needed the right time to put it out. People liked the songs I had been putting out, but when I sang what I am good at, like “Whiskey Mind” and “Breaking Point,” with the raw country feel to it, my fans liked it.

GOCCM: What would you say your career highlight has been?

DB: Boots and Hearts 2019, which is a big one off the bucket list. That was really cool. To be able to cut a song that Chase Rice wrote was definitely a highlight.

GOCCM: Those are two pretty good highlights.

DB: Exactly. I also got to go on ET Canada. I always watched ET Canada so to be able to go on it was great. I got lots of messages from high school friends when they saw me on the show.

GOCCM: I want to thank you for chatting with me today. And I look forward to meeting you when the world rights itself and I can get out and see people.

DB: Yes, perfect.

GOCCM: I am just so sorry that all your shows were cancelled this year.

DB: That’s okay. Times will get better. Looking at the positive.

GOCCM: That’s all we can do. Thank you, Dylan.

DB: No problem. Thanks for your time.