Brendan Burns

Upcoming Balkan Performances

Brendan — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:10:31 +0000

I’ll be performing as part of Vessela Stoyanova’s Eastern Stories Under Western Skies project again on Saturday, February 27th at Gulu Gulu in Salem, MA, and then also the following Saturday, March 7th at Caffe Vivaldi, in Greenich Village, NYC.

Both of these sets will be in conjunction with Goli, and in Salem, we’ll be guests of Molly Zenobia.

Eastern Stories Under Western Skies is directed by Marimbist Vessela Stoyanova, and features Balkan music interpreted by western musicians (in this case: myself, Valerie Thompson on Cello, and Nate Greenslit on percussion).

Saturday, February 27th
Gulu-Gulu Café: 8pm
247 Essex St, Salem MA. 01970
978-740-8882

Saturday, March 6th
Caffe Vivaldi: 9:30 – 11pm
32 Jones Street
New York, NY 10014
212-691-7538

Bent Wit “Sin” on Valentine’s Day

Brendan — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:22:34 +0000

This coming Valentine’s Day, the Elephant Tango is taking the stage again as the house band for Bent Wit Cabaret’s monthly stint at Club Oberon. This month’s theme is “Sin,” and we’ve been working hard to put together the most unrighteous collection of tunes for this amazing show.
These shows sell out, so get your tickets now:

Showtime 8:00pm
Tickets: $20/advance, $25/door
Buy tickets HERE today!

PRESS RELEASE:

**** **** **** **** ****

Bent Wit Cabaret ushers in New Phase for Neo-Vaudeville Scene

You’re Welcome, Boston.

Finally a show to match the diverse, hectic, intelligent people of our city- it’s Bent Wit Cabaret!

Axe To Ice Productions’ Bent Wit Cabaret just premiered in January 2010 to great success at OBERON in Harvard Square. This fresh new show finally brings together the best from all corners of Boston and beyond- bridging the famous gap between Boston’s artistic communities- utilizing dance to spoken word, video to puppetry, and all strung together with outrageous comedy, character, and brilliant live music. Every second Sunday of the month in the upcoming year, Axe To Ice brings you this “high-end, low-brow variety show” laced with intelligent art from professional performers with a strong point of view. Bawdy, beautiful, delicious and disastrous- always come expecting the unexpected! This is the next level, Boston.

February 14th’s Theme is SIN and features artists: Good Asian Drivers, Evan O’Television’s Cousin Seamus, Bitches of Destiny, Clara LaFrance, Professor Burns, Lainey SchoolTree, Femme Brulee, Maria Kogan, Julia Van Daam, Daemeon Pratt, Alex Carrey-Cooper, and more.

House Band: Elephant Tango Ensemble (member of Humanwine & Goli)

Hosted by the outrageous and gorgeous UnAmerika’s Sweetheart Karin Webb, and the Legendary 86-years-young Mary Dolan

Cocktail of the evening: Sinfultini

*Advance tickets are available and seating is limited: Buy tickets HERE today!

Showtime 8:00pm
Tickets: $20/advance, $25/door

Sarah RabDAU’s Albumversary

Brendan — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:20:16 +0000

One year ago today, Sarah RabDAU and Self-Employed Assassins held their CD release party at the Lizard Lounge (Cambridge, MA). It was a wonderful night of music that celebrated the birth of an epic album.

This record has been a personal source of inspiration, and the track Autumn Spills is a standout delight among a solid collection of songs. In tribute to this very special body of work, and the people who helped make it become real, I recorded a Solo Guitar version of Autumn Spills. This cover-version does not use any overdubs, but rather a loop-station to create the overlaying effect of Sarah’s melodies. Thank you Sarah for writing a beautiful tune.

If you haven’t already purchased at least 3 of Sarah RabDAU & Self-Employed Assassins’ albums, take this opportunity to do so now. They are wonderful for the ears and mind, and also make great gifts!

Don’t know where to shop? Try one of these:

Congrats Assassins!

***Sarah RabDAU & Self-Employed Assassins will be celebrating their Albumversary tonight at the Rosebud Bar & Grill with special guests: Goli!

The Song That Never Ends

Brendan — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:14:05 +0000

I found out about Jared Nielsen’s project while checking my own site’s statistics. A noticeable “click-through” percentage was coming from his “The Song That Never Ends” page. As I’m always curious about who is linking in my direction, I did some exploring. This what I found:

“The Song That Never Ends is the world’s largest musical collaboration. It is a randomly constructed experimental composition composed of audio tracks contributed by musicians internationally….

How it works:

You create an audio track composed of one instrument and only one instrument. Or contribute a track you’ve already made. There are no limits on your choice of instrument, length of track, or style. Listen to a sample track.

You submit the track(s) to The Song That Never Ends by emailing the mp3 or its link to me at post[at]jarednielsen.com.

Your track will be added to the queue where it will be randomly mixed with three more tracks by musicians from around the world. When one track ends another is immediately selected and The Song plays forever.”

Somewhere, in one the pieces, I believe my Solo Guitar work is being used. I haven’t heard it yet. It’s a neat idea, I’m glad to be part of it…. just don’t know how it happened. I tried contacting him, but his e-mail address was “returned to sender.”

Bent Wit Cabaret – Blue

Brendan — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:01:32 +0000

Stating in January, the Elephant Tango Ensemble (Valerie Thompson – Cello, Vessela Stoyanova – MIDI Marimba, Brendan Burns – Guitar, Nate Greenslit – Drums, + special guests) is back for Bent Wit’s monthly Cabaret at Oberon. January’s theme is Blue, which means all performers (include the house band) will use Blue as the inspiration for their performance. This amazing show is put on by some incredible friends and performers (see below). It will be a tremendous amount of fun, and we’ll be doing a whole new show the 2nd Sunday of each month (February’s theme is Sin). Come see them all!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Sunday, January 10^thAxe To Ice Productions presents:

BENT WIT CABARET- A high-end low-brow variety show.

From the team that brought the smashing successes “Mary Dolan Presents…Vaudeville!” and “Boiling Point Burlesque” comes a series so warped and smart it could only be dubbed “Bent Wit”! January 10^th marks the premiere of this monthly engagement of variety shows at Club Oberon, each in turn bringing a new theme for our artists to dismantle and put back together, and led by the live House Band, Elephant Tango Ensemble.

This multimedia event brings together such acts as the clowning of gender-blender Johnny Blazes, the rich vocal stylings of Le Roi Noir, the comedy of Julee Antonellis (of All The Kings Men), the sweet and sexy hooping of Lolli Hoops herself (of The Boston Hoop Troop) and the wickedly talented Boston Tap Company to boot! With a core of outrageous performers, including Femme Brulee, The Steamy Bohemians’ Lainey Schooltree, and The Slutcracker’s own Sugar Dish, this show is a non-stop ride through as many genres as we can muster, set to make you think, engage, and love the ride. Hosted by the outrageous and gorgeous UnAmerika’s Sweetheart Karin Webb, and the Legendary 86-years-young Mary Dolan. Bawdy, beautiful, delicious and disastrous- always come expecting the unexpected!

*Advance tickets are available online now and seating is limited: www.cluboberon.com

Showtime 8:00pm
Tickets: $20/advance, $25/door
Oberon Theater
2 Arrow Street
(Corner of Bow + Arrow Streets in Harvard Square)
Cambridge, MA

Stop by www.axe2ice.com for details, pictures from our last show, and more!

New Site!

Brendan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:31:00 +0000

Can you believe it?!! A whole new site design!

This is something I’ve been trying to do for over a year now, but haven’t had the proper time or energy to devote to it. This Holiday break, I enlisted on the fine designers of NattyWP to do the heavy lifting for me. Although things look new, it’s really the same site – hopefully a little cleaner and easier to navigate.

Just like anything else new, there might be a couple kinks that need to be ironed out. If you notice anything, please let me know. I’d really appreciate it.

With the new site, and having Wordpress doing all of the work in the background, I’m excited to interact more with this platform.

Happy New Year!

School House Rock – Cover-Up

Brendan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:56:47 +0000

On Halloween (Saturday, October 30th @ 8pm), I’ll be sitting in with Schooltree performing for Brendan Boogie’s Cover-Up series at the Lizard Lounge. It’s going to be a fun night of music featuring your favorite local bands covering some of your favorite songs from your favorite time of life: childhood (think The Muppets, Schoolhouse Rock, Willy Wonka, Disney, Saturday morning cartoons, etc.).

The Line-up: Larry Banilow, Apple Betty

Dylan in the Movies, Brendan Boogie & The Best Intentions, Schooltree (members of Steamy Bohemians and Valhalla Kittens), Ashley and the Pussycats (from Boston Band Crush), Ryan Schmidt, and many more special guests!

Guitober 2009!

Brendan — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:26:12 +0000

Guitober is Guihappening again!

At Brookline Music School we are celebrating the guitar with it’s own month: Guitober! This year’s activities include clinics, concerts, videos and a giveaway.

Head on over to Guitober.com or BMSmusic.org for all the details.

And play a Guitcrossword puzzle while your at it!

Ra Quintet – September 25th @ Lilypad

Brendan — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:01:32 +0000

My biggest project of the year – The Ra Quintet (led by Brant Grieshaber) will be celebrating the release of our debut CD on September 25th at the Lilypad (10pm). Come check out the genre-bend, face-melting, extravaganza of music. Also on the bill: Tamandua

Balkan Stories @ Johnny D’s

Brendan — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:00:25 +0000

Vessela Stoyanova’s Eastern Stories Under Western Skies will be making a reappearance next Friday, the 28th of August at Johnny D’s with Goli & Humanwine. Come early for dinner, or showtime at 9:45pm.

Here are two clips from our performance in Chicago this past April: