Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:13 What is up everyone? Welcome back to the In the Round podcast. You got Matt and Tyler and the Dakota Bear and the podcast. They are, uh, all up in our grill today. Felix is climbing up on the get down, get down cake is being all good. He's over there hanging by the drum kit, but Felix is being a pain in the ass today. But yeah, let's get on with it. Uh, great guest on today's episode. Happy Monday. By the way. We recorded this one on, uh, right after St. Patrick's Day weekend, which, uh, you all know how to do it down here, Tyler? Oh,
Speaker 2 00:00:41 Yeah, man. I mean, Nashville knows how to do it, period. Like it's a party every day, but especially when it was a holiday, it just takes it to the next level.
Speaker 1 00:00:47 Yeah, no, there were, there was a 600 person bar crawl going downtown. If, uh, dad wait for
Speaker 2 00:00:51 4th of July, man. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:00:52 I cannot wait. But our guest, we talk about St. Patty's Day weekend. We talk about what he's got going on. We talk about him growing up down in Florida, hunting alligators, doing all that cool, uh, alligator tail buying stuff, alligator tail, all kinds of, uh, cool things. And also he had a recent run-in with a bird scooter, so that was pretty interesting and wild. Some cool stories, some, uh, cool info. And, uh, a lot of, uh, lot of good, lot of cool conversation.
Speaker 2 00:01:16 Yeah, he's a Nashville og. Been here since 2012, you know, been here the longest that I've met somebody that's actually moved here, you know? Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:01:23 He was here before all of us. Damn Yankee started, uh, making our way down here. And, uh, yeah, changing, changing, flipping things upside down. It's our good buddy, Mark Burke. And stay tuned for the end of the episode, an exclusive brand new song called, that's Why God Made Beer. And, uh, it's an awesome track. So, Tyler, that further ado, hit that music. Let's go in the round with our good buddy, Mr. Mark Burke.
Speaker 1 00:01:54 What is up, everyone? Welcome back to the end of the round podcast. You got Matt and Tyler here, and we have a great guest, a guy that I've hung out with on Broadway, a guy that I've hung out with down in Midtown. Guy that we got a lot of mutual friends with, and a guy that's doing a lot of big things here in Music City. He's from Florida, he's a total badass, and he can play a good guitar, and he's got some new music out. It's our buddy Mark Burke. Mark, how you doing, buddy? I'm doing great, man. How y'all doing? Doing all right. Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, and, uh, we all had ourselves, uh, all had ourselves a day. Yeah, we did too. Uh, <laugh>, it was a rough one this morning. Where, where did you end? Where did, where did you end up yesterday?
Speaker 1 00:02:26 We, uh, we did the midtown thing, stayed at losers and winners and, uh, we went to Slider House for a little bit and then bounced over to the Mareen and went 10 roof. And then somehow we always end up downtown. Yeah, that's way past OurTime. You always end up downtown, way past our bedtime, trying to figure out how we're getting home. <laugh> and, and also how did we get here? How did exactly how did we start out at Losers and play, playing some games, listening to some good music and throwing, throwing back some drinks. That's
Speaker 2 00:02:49 Always fun. The next morning, trying to piece together your night through your bank account. You're like, how did I do that one
Speaker 1 00:02:54 Bank account and Snapchat. Those are the two things where you're like, who was at Waffle House at 3:00 AM <laugh>? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:02:59 Sure. Wasn't me
Speaker 1 00:03:01 <laugh>. Oh, for sure, man. For sure. Now you've been in here living here in Nashville for quite a while.
Speaker 3 00:03:06 Yeah, uh, June, uh, will be seven years.
Speaker 1 00:03:09 Damn.
Speaker 3 00:03:10 Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:03:11 Seven years. So you have seen the full transformation almost of what's popped up. I've only been here five months, so I've, for me, like what, what's there now is what for me has always been there. But you've got here 2012. So what was Nashville like for you coming from the Florida
Speaker 3 00:03:27 There? Florida there was a lot less bachelorette parties. <laugh>, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 00:03:30 Uh, a lot less pedal. Taverns. Yeah. There
Speaker 3 00:03:31 Was, there was no pedal taverns. I remember the first day I saw Pedal Tavern, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. And now it's like a video game trying to dodge 'em going down Broadway, <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:03:39 Yeah. The worst is whenever you catch 'em on first, like you're trying to get out and you take that right on first to go to like Korean vets and you catch one right there, that's just going super slow
Speaker 3 00:03:47 On the one ways. Yeah. Go around. That's, yeah. Yeah. No, the whole town's changed. I mean, buildings are popping up everywhere. There's, I feel like there's more, there's definitely a lot more bars than there was. And if you think about it, every bar's got four or five floors. So yeah, it's a lot of new stages, which is cool. I think it's great for the town, and I think it brings a lot of, obviously it brings the tourism in and it keeps those numbers spiking, so it's good. It, it makes, it's keeping us alive and it, you know, brings people here. So, you
Speaker 1 00:04:12 Know, coming from Florida, Florida a honey hole for country music, everybody talking about Carolina, talking about Georgia, talking about Texas, Florida's got some huge country things going on down there in terms of big name guys that you're, I'm sure most people are familiar with, like Jake Owen, Michael Ray, guys like that. And you, growing up, you were telling us that you grew up all around the alligators and
Speaker 3 00:04:33 Hanging out.
Speaker 1 00:04:34 Grew in that, that area in Florida
Speaker 3 00:04:35 Grew up just north of the Everglades. And, um, Jake came from the town just north of me. And you know, Easton was from Bronson up there in north Florida. And yeah, it just, it's, it's a little different down there. I mean, I grew up fishing and it was weird because we lived less than, you know, five miles from the beach, but it's still very much country down there. I mean, my, my dad's from Alabama and my mom's from Shreveport, Louisiana, so, um, you know, I've always had that in me, but, you know, I love the beach. It's, I love being barefoot and going, you know, sitting on the beaches. How do you,
Speaker 1 00:05:07 How do you get your beach fix being up here? Because I'm trying to figure that out growing up.
Speaker 3 00:05:11 Oh, I definitely have to go
Speaker 1 00:05:12 Home. See, growing up up north, yeah, like the jersey, like going to, like the Jersey shore going out Long Island or places like that, up north. I'm on the coast down here. I know there's a lot of lakes and Coda bear over there says there, you got beach, you got like the lakes, shores or whatever that are like beaches or whatever. But yeah. What do you do? How do you get your, do you get your beach fixed here? One thing I, middle of the country tornado alley,
Speaker 3 00:05:31 One thing I, one thing I don't do is go on lakes. Uh, really? No, I grew up in Florida, so I was always taught if there's, if there's a body of water that you can stick your whole foot in, there's probably a gator in it. Yep. So I, we didn't swim in lakes. Like if you fell off your jet ski, you got back on it. Like if you fell outta the boat, you got back in <laugh>. Like, you don't see people just lounging in the lakes because your gator bait is, yeah. So the first time I came up here, I didn't realize that gators weren't up here and people were swimming in the lakes, and I'm like, get outta the water <laugh>. Are you crazy? Like, I'm telling people to, to run. And people, I guess north of Alabama, they, you can swim in lakes and you'll
Speaker 2 00:06:04 Be all right. Yeah, where I'm from, it's all practice water. So you're bait for both an alligator and a shark? Or a shark? Yeah. Oh, geez. No, I took a band down to Florida. It was the first time I went down to Florida and they like jumped in the water, like first thing. I'm like, what are y'all guys doing? You're gonna get eaten. And they're like, what do you mean? And sure enough, the next day an alligator was sitting on the bank right outside our cabin that we were staying in. I'm like, see,
Speaker 3 00:06:28 That's a no from me. Those
Speaker 1 00:06:29 Suckers are fast too, aren't they? They they'll get at you. Yeah, they can spray. Oh yeah, they can spray. I've actually never seen an alligator. Like I've seen 'em in like, the zoo and stuff like growing up. I've never been down. They've
Speaker 3 00:06:38 Seen him in my backyard.
Speaker 1 00:06:39 <laugh>.
Speaker 2 00:06:40 Yeah, they've been on my porch.
Speaker 3 00:06:42 I've seen em in my, my plate too.
Speaker 1 00:06:44 She's, yeah, I've had, I've had tails good. I've had alligator, I've had alligator up here at what was formerly Frisky frogs, uh, they used, they served on alligator and crawfish and all that stuff. It was really good. I'm sure Florida Gator though, and like Bama Gator and Louisiana Gator and all that. Like, cold season
Speaker 3 00:07:00 Seasoning
Speaker 1 00:07:01 Is all, is it really? Is it really all the seasoning?
Speaker 3 00:07:04 I mean, yeah, it's, I mean, if you eat gator from Louisiana, I guarantee it's gonna taste different than anything
Speaker 2 00:07:08 Cooked. All that ca
Speaker 3 00:07:09 Seasoning cooked, I mean, yeah, they cook it, they're like, get back in there. They, they're
Speaker 1 00:07:13 Like, <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:07:15 They to you still alive a little bit. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:07:17 A little bit crispy there.
Speaker 1 00:07:19 Yeah. I gotta, I gotta get down there and try that. So talking about the music stuff, when did you start getting involved doing some music things? Down in, uh, down in, uh, Florida country? So
Speaker 3 00:07:27 I, I didn't start playing guitar until I was probably 17, my senior year in high school. Um, I wanted up playing the talent show, so I learned a Johnny Cash song, a boy named Sue.
Speaker 1 00:07:38 Really? Yeah. That's how you got St. Wow. So a boy named Sue with a talent show. 17.
Speaker 3 00:07:42 Well, I, so it's funny, I grew up taking piano lessons my whole life. So when I wanted to play guitar, my dad told me, he's like, Hey, you already got piano lessons. You should be, you should know how to play guitar. He kind of thought like it was kind of universal. If you could play one instrument, you could play another really easily. So, uh, he bought me a guitar chord poster from Walmart, and I remember specifically him coming into my room and said, if you're gonna learn, you're gonna learn from this <laugh>. So I bought, I put the poster up on the wall and I would learn on YouTube and study that poster. And I just learned a couple songs and, and then I started dabbling in it and I got a couple gigs and started just doing it, and it kind of took off. And it's, it's been going well ever since. I haven't kind of looked back. So
Speaker 1 00:08:25 When was the moment that you were like, I, I can do this professionally. Like I can be Mark Burke, the guy on stage, like playing this and people come out pay to see it?
Speaker 3 00:08:33 Man, I tell you what, and honestly, it kind of evolved into that. There was never that moment for me. It was like, wow, this can do it. There's been moments where I've, I've looked back and like, wow, this is really cool. But there was never that moment where it was like, I'm gonna do this. It kind of, for me, it evolved and I was like, I started to believe I could do it, and then it started happening. And then, you know, you, you try to keep a mindset of like, you know, you're grateful for everything that you've got, and then you start setting your goals and then, you know, you start achieving those and you're like, wow, I can start studying higher goals. And you start getting music put out and people, you know, compliment you and it makes you feel good that you're doing something right. And if you're music's impacting people, that's the biggest compliment you can get. You know, when people come up and they're like, Hey, you're song man, I loved it. That's cool. You know, that's, that's why you do it, is to, to impact people,
Speaker 1 00:09:19 Especially as a writer. Yeah. Which you, which you're a guy that does, obviously if you're sitting here with us, you, you do some writing. Yeah. And, uh, so you, you start playing guitar. When did you start kind of writing your own original stuff?
Speaker 3 00:09:30 Man, I'll tell you what, the person that turned me onto writing songs was Eric Church. Um, and I'm, this is, I'm talking 2011, 2010 Eric Church, maybe even 2009, um, with some of the first stuff that he was doing. And I remember meeting Eric, he was playing for $5 at a bar called the Roundup, um, down in South Florida. And I went down there and camped out in the parking lot to meet him, and I got to talk to him, which was really cool. And this was, I mean, he would, Eric would play a show and after the show he would sit at the bar and drink because he, obviously, he wasn't famous back then by any means, and he was, uh, still a levelheaded guy, but he was just a normal guy. Yeah. And, um, I, he was writing his stuff and I was like, I wanted to be like Eric, you know? Yeah. I know a lot of people in this town that were influenced by church and, um, he's, he's the goat, you know, and I wanted to do what he was doing. So I listened to him and I listened to who he was listening to. And um, that's, you know, that's how I influenced my, or that's how I was influenced and kind of taught myself.
Speaker 1 00:10:28 Who were some of those people that you would, that
Speaker 3 00:10:29 You, that Eric listened to? Yeah, that, so I listened to, um, my influences are Josh Thompson, Jeff Hyde, Eric Church, um, Casey Beard. Um, but like his, you know, he was listening to Vern, guys and Waylon Jennings, um, you know, like Willie Nelson, the classics obviously. And yeah. Um, you know, Keith Whitley and you think about like the stories they're telling and there's only so many ways to write songs, but then again, like church has always found a way to rewrite a song. Like you've never heard it. I mean you can write, you know, so one title so many different ways. And then you give it to church and he's got a whole different mindset on it. And it's just all about your creativity on how you can spin something and get a point across or, um, how you can say something like somebody's never heard before. Yeah. So,
Speaker 1 00:11:18 Yeah. Well that's because Eric Church, that's the guy I've gotten to see in concert. He's, his show is great. His live show I set to see with Redding, Pennsylvania, he played for three and a half hours and it's a different set almost every night where he is mixing in. Yeah, he's great. Different things like covers and that and whatnot. Yeah. That's insane.
Speaker 2 00:11:34 And to me, he's one of the guys that's still staying true to, you know, like you said, his influence is where he's telling the, the story. And he's not just trying to write a song for radio. He's
Speaker 1 00:11:43 Actually trying that desperate man.
Speaker 3 00:11:44 It's never been about radio. And that's what I love about him. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:11:47 I
Speaker 2 00:11:47 Do too.
Speaker 1 00:11:47 Yeah. That he's been, that he's about putting out music cuz it's what he wants to do. And he knows his fan base that the church choir as he calls it, is Right. Massive. That fan base is.
Speaker 3 00:11:56 Yeah. It's unreal.
Speaker 1 00:11:57 So how long, so what year was that, would you say that you, you got to meet him down at the
Speaker 3 00:12:01 Round? Uh, 2010.
Speaker 1 00:12:03 2010, okay. Yeah. So that's still two years. So I, when was the breaking point? Like I got, I, I want to come up here.
Speaker 3 00:12:09 Um, you know, I kind of just took his advice and went home and I rode and played. My first gig was at Outback Steakhouse.
Speaker 1 00:12:18 Okay.
Speaker 3 00:12:19 I was a busboy there in high school. And then, uh, when I left out, or I stayed outback in, I asked my boss if I could play out on the patio on a holiday, uh, Valentine's Day. And she was like, yeah, go ahead. So I brought my guitar in this little fender amp that I had and I played and I was like, man, I kind of just wanna write songs. And I just met Eric and I was like, man, let's, you know, let's start writing. You know, they're not great at first by any means, but I thought they were. Yeah. You know, I was like, man, I'm writing. I wrote a song and I was just playing it, you know, whoever, whoever would listen to it, I'd play it for. So, um, I sitting in front of Outback Steakhouse for months, just as my gig every weekend, just playing for tips, you know, and, and some bread and some macaroni and cheese. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:13:02 That's some good mac and cheese though.
Speaker 3 00:13:04 He's good. Mac and cheese.
Speaker 1 00:13:05 That's some good mac and cheese. Yeah. You can't, so how old are you doing that?
Speaker 3 00:13:09 Uh, I was 19, 19, 20, 20 years old.
Speaker 1 00:13:13 Damn. And you're just going with the grind,
Speaker 3 00:13:16 Just doing it. Yeah. Sitting out there playing with guitar
Speaker 1 00:13:18 And then you, and then you just kind of packed up and moved here. Did you have a plan or did you I
Speaker 3 00:13:21 Didn't have a a plan. I didn't have a plan. I just did it.
Speaker 1 00:13:24 That's what, that's what you gotta do. That's what, that's kind of like what I did. I was told by, by my buddies, by our buddy Dave. Like, you just gotta, you just gotta do it. If you want to do it, you just gotta do it. And yeah, you come down people, people crouch people or crouch surf people, couch surf. People do all that stuff where they, they just gotta, you gotta get into town. You gotta figure out a way to just get down here and do it.
Speaker 3 00:13:44 Yeah. I mean, my, my mom and dad always told me there's never a perfect time for anything. Um, you know, whether in in anything in life, you know, there's never an ideal time to get married. There's never an ideal time to have a kid. There's never, you know, you just to do it and life comes at you and you're either gonna, you're either gonna step up to the plate or you're gonna strike out. So you just gotta do it, you know, if you wanna do something, do it and make it happen.
Speaker 1 00:14:07 Yeah. And you, and you made it happen. So what was your initial moment? What were your initial times in Nashville like? Like when you first got here, what was, man, what was that? Oh shit, I'm in Nashville moment. Scary. Cause it'll, going back town's a little bit different back then than it is now. It was
Speaker 3 00:14:21 Scary to be honest with you cuz I didn't know, I didn't know a single soul up here. Um, so I moved here. I was living, uh, in a little one bedroom apartment. Um, I didn't know anybody. I was, I had transferred jobs so I was just working my tail off cuz I didnt know how easy it was gonna be to make money up here. So I was, I was scared, to be honest with you. I'm not gonna lie. Um, I didn't know what to expect for like, you know, living and the weather. Obviously I moved up here in June and then as soon as fall hit, I was like, man, it's cold up here.
Speaker 1 00:14:53 <laugh>. Yeah. You're not, you're not in Florida
Speaker 3 00:14:55 Anymore. I had to buy some, I had to buy some clothes. Uh, but I mean, it, it was like, I come from a small town. I grew up in Stuart, Florida, so coming here and seeing big buildings and people that you don't see every day and people that you've never seen before in your life, it's, it's, you get a little shell shock at first. You know, you're like, man, you're a long way from home. You can't just stay on the phone with your mom and dad or, you know, and you're like, oh, I'll call my friends back home. Well, they get busy too, you know, and it's just, it's a different world, but you get used to it, you know, and that's what makes you who you are, you know? So yeah.
Speaker 1 00:15:26 First, first gig in town. What was it?
Speaker 3 00:15:29 My first gig in town? Uh, well writer's round or actual paid gig.
Speaker 1 00:15:34 Oh, anything. Something where you were able to get up on a stage, play something and people heard
Speaker 3 00:15:39 It. Nashville Palace.
Speaker 1 00:15:40 Oh dude, that is a cool first
Speaker 3 00:15:42 Gig. My first place I ever got on stage and played a song. That's
Speaker 1 00:15:45 Cool. For those people that don't know, that is a legendary place. Cool. That's where Randy Travis started out as a busboy. That's where like the legends that, and that's a super like, country, country venue. Like, you go in there, it's cowboy hats, people and boots and spurs. And it's
Speaker 2 00:16:00 Not, it's not on Broadway. It's little bit outta town.
Speaker 3 00:16:03 It's not by operat.
Speaker 1 00:16:04 It's quite a ways out of
Speaker 2 00:16:05 Town. Right. So, you know, you gotta be going to
Speaker 1 00:16:07 There. Yeah. Yeah. So what was, what was that like? And that stage setup is even different. Uh,
Speaker 3 00:16:12 It was cool. I different, I did, uh, a couple songs I had written and uh, a cover and I forgot what cover it was, but yeah, I did it and it went over well. I mean, people, people clap for you as long as you do your best. I've learned. Yeah. Um, but now looking back on it, you know, it's like, man, those songs probably weren't that great and I feel bad for those people that had to sit do it <laugh>,
Speaker 1 00:16:33 The Nashville Palace. That that's, that's a, as a lot of people, their first gig is just playing, playing one of the cover sets on Broadway or Yeah, they're playing, playing a writers round. But to end up at the palace, that's, that's freaking, that's freaking awesome, dude. Yeah, it's cool. That is real. That is really cool. Now you have a, have a cool crew. So I get to see, we see you a lot out on Broadway. Yeah. Um, hanging out and you're one of the, one of the locals in town and we're even out in Midtown. We'll catch you at a whiskey jam every now and then, things like that. Uh, you've got a, we got some mutual friends, guys like Taylor Phillips and Josh Melton and Matt Roy and all those guys. How'd you get with that crew? Cuz that's a good circle that you guys have. You guys are bumping out some great songs and you guys know, gone out on the road and got, do some cool things together. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:17:13 Um, it's kind of networking and meeting and we've all drinking a lot of beers together. Okay. Um, we've met all at Losers. I met Josh in a songwriting contest, um, about four and a half years ago. There was 580 of us at, uh, Puckett's doing a songwriting contest, uh, over like a five month period. And we placed, Josh and I placed in the top three and, uh, we actually became friends and we didn't talk for a year. We just swapped numbers. And then I messaged him one day and asked him if he wanted to write and we did and we hit it off and we became friends and then we became roommates and we started traveling and stuff together. So he's one of the best dudes, um, if not the best dude in this town. He's my best friend and my brother. Um, I think that's important too for, for helping you in a town that you don't know much about, especially when you just move here, is finding someone that you can trust, you know, with your wallet and your girlfriend and know that your wallet's safe <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:18:07 Um,
Speaker 3 00:18:09 Um, no, he's, he's such a good dude though. He, he would best person I know in this town, and Taylor and I met at Losers just through drinking beer and talking and we've become good friends and we've been out on the road a lot together. And, um, yeah, I mean we've, I've been fortunate. I've, I've made some good friends here in town, so
Speaker 1 00:18:26 Yeah. And you guys all, I'm assuming co-write together and get to do Yeah. That kind of, that kind of thing. So your first experience with, with co-writing, was that down in Florida or was that when you get up to
Speaker 3 00:18:37 Nashville? My first co-write was here. I had been writing by myself in Florida and when I moved here I remember, uh, I had to write with a girl at Belmont and I walked in. I didn't know what to expect and to be honest with you, it was awful. Not on her part, on my part. I didn't know what to expect. I was hungry. I could, yeah. It was just a rough day and, uh, I didn't know what to expect. And then I learned that was, I learned quickly that just because you think something's gonna song doesn't mean the other person does. So there's a lot of compromise. You got to figure out what you're gonna x what you're gonna add, you know, what you're gonna keep. That kind of stuff. So
Speaker 1 00:19:08 Yeah. It sounds like, I, I've heard it described as like you're working on like a school project with somebody else. It really is like where, where there's that, that collaboration and you can have some co-writes where there's like tons of people now where there's like five, six Yeah. Seven people and then you have other ones where it's just you and a buddy or you and somebody that you don't know. So for you, who are you, like who's like your circle that you enjoy?
Speaker 3 00:19:28 My favorite co-writes
Speaker 1 00:19:29 That you, that you enjoy? I mean, I'm sure those guys that you just mentioned. Yeah. I love, especially being roommates, that's gotta, that's, you guys have that, that extra level of connection.
Speaker 3 00:19:36 I love writing with. Um, with Josh, obviously we've written a lot. Um, Taylor and I have written a lot. I love writing with Matt Roy. Um, blue Foley is one of my favorite struggles. Blue.
Speaker 1 00:19:47 Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3 00:19:47 Yeah. He's such a, he's such a ball of energy. Like you cannot help but just love being in the same room with, with Blue. Yeah. Um, and uh, you know, Matt Roy, I already said him Blue. Matt Willis is great. He's, he's such a joy to write with. He's always got a different perspective on things and um, there's a lot of great people in this town to write with, you know.
Speaker 1 00:20:06 Do you, do you feel like you have to be in a writer's room or do you guys just kind of get together at an apartment? Do you prefer just being on a back porch, having a couple beers? Cuz I feel like there's so many different environments that people get together and write. I mean, we've had buddies come down to our apartment, spring Hill and they'll just bring their guitars and we'll be sitting there playing Xbox, just chilling, throwing back a few and doing some other things and they'll just, and they'll just pull up the guitars and just randomly start writing at like 2 30, 3 o'clock in the morning on like a Wednesday. That's crazy. And it'll just happen.
Speaker 3 00:20:32 Yeah, I mean I've, I've learned that a lot of my rights, uh, the best rights that Josh and I ever had because we lived together for that time. So we would, we would make time to write at, like, we would say, Hey, let's write at 11, you know, next Wednesday and come down like ready to focus ready. Right. Sometimes you don't get a good song, sometimes you don't get a song. But then like, sometimes we'd come home after a couple beers and then just be messing around in the living room and we'd get a song. So it's like one of those things where you can't always plan it. Sometimes it just happens and you know, sometimes you do plan it and it happens, but you never know when, when it's gonna hit you and when that inspiration's gonna, you know, generate an idea.
Speaker 1 00:21:09 Yeah. Like, I mean, Tyler you do you do a bit of co-write and things like that? Yeah. Like for you, is it that spur of the moment? Energy's gotta be, gotta be pretty cool?
Speaker 2 00:21:17 Yeah, I mean, I had a buddy back home that I'd write with a lot. His name's Nick and, uh, me and him, it was always, we'd start after midnight, like we'd be chilling playing Xbox or something and something time around midnight, one o'clock, like one of us would pick up a guitar and just go and it might be 4:00 AM in the morning when we're done, but we might have wrote three songs that night and they were all, you know, usually we'd come back the next day and be like, alright, that's something I'm happy with, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:21:44 That's cool. That's where it's at.
Speaker 1 00:21:46 Yeah, no, for sure. And uh, and I mean the co-writing concept, like, I mean, it's something that this town is really big on and people think that it's, I mean, it is a competitive place. Maybe not as competitive as New York where I'm coming down from like Northeast with, with the stockbrokers and this and that and everything. But it really, there's a sense of like family and like community down here where everybody kind of, where a lot of people support each other. Yeah. Did you get that vibe when you first came down here? Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:22:12 Um,
Speaker 1 00:22:12 Or came up here in your case?
Speaker 3 00:22:13 When I first moved here, I thought it was a very competitive town and, and it is in a sense, but I've also learned that it's, it's not, at the same time this town's about relationships. Um, and I've learned that, you know, when one person makes it over the fence, you turn around, you help the next person over. And I've seen that time and time again. I've seen it. And especially with Ashton McBride, um, the way she's going right now and she's turned around and helped so many people over the same fence that she's, you know, got over. And you see it with a lot of people, you know, Kane Brown's the same way. You know, you don't forget where you came from and you don't forget the people that have helped you. And
Speaker 1 00:22:47 Yeah. How'd you get to know, how'd you get to know Kane? Because I know you met out. I met you got to go out on the road with him a little bit and
Speaker 3 00:22:52 I met Kane, uh, through Taylor, um, and Taylor and I went out, I went out with Taylor and Taylor was a guest of Kane, so I was, uh, just tour managing Taylor at the time. And then also just playing acoustic guitar for him too. So we had to go out for the full band shows and acoustic. And we did some one-offs with, um, with them, um, you know, as well as like Granger Smith and stuff. So we, we've had fun out there with
Speaker 1 00:23:13 Him. How, how, what's, what's the Kane Brown crowd like? Cause I've been to a couple Kane Brown shows up north and they, that that crowd, I remember I, I'll tell you what, think it was like fi there was something crazy, some crazy amount of merch that he had sold at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey, which is like a 2,500 person like club venue, like where Bon Jovi and those guys got started and he sold like, some ridiculous number, like I'm talking like over like 20 Gs in merch. Yeah. Like, just an insane number.
Speaker 3 00:23:38 His fan base is definitely one of a kind. And they're, they're loyal and they love merch. Um, we did a show with them down in Palm Beach, uh, last March, and they set, it is called the Rib Round Up and it's in my hometown. And they have like five or six bands of like a big festival every, every year. And he set the merch record for like, all time for the whole festival. Jeez. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:24:04 Damn deep. And it's like,
Speaker 3 00:24:05 I mean, he sell, he sells out crowds. We, the last show we did with him in Charlotte, North Carolina, he sold that venue out two nights in a row and they were trying to book him a third night for in Charlotte, North Carolina, you know,
Speaker 1 00:24:16 And that's a big, that's a big market. That's
Speaker 3 00:24:17 Crazy. I mean, yeah, you sell out a venue three nights, two nights in a row, and they want you a third night
Speaker 1 00:24:23 And he's still just kinda getting, getting started. Yeah. He's still, he he's
Speaker 3 00:24:26 He's nowhere near being at Mc Potential.
Speaker 1 00:24:28 No, no, not at all. And
Speaker 3 00:24:29 He's a great man. Like he's a great dude.
Speaker 1 00:24:31 Yeah. We've seen him pop in popping at work and stuff and we've gotten the, gotten the cross paths with him a little bit and whatnot. And what's cool with, with him and, and similar to your style, like the latest one you just put out when it comes to you love the track by the way. Thank you man. Um, it's got kind of that blend of like what Kane's doing. There's such that crossover and you're one of those guys where it kind of fits in. Is that something you were aiming for with as far as like yeah,
Speaker 3 00:24:52 For that song,
Speaker 1 00:24:53 The pop? Well, well just in gen, like, I mean the pop country and it, it's, it's a, like people, people make it sound like it's a dirty word, but I don't think it is like that, like bro country for example. Like that whole style of what Chase Rice and FGL got started, which was ironically right around the time that you moved here, right? Like 20 12, 20 13. Um, that's like, what's it been like to come up to be in Nashville and you're basically here, you got here right at the beginning of that era. What's that been like?
Speaker 3 00:25:19 Um, you know, I think there, there's different styles of country music. I don't think one's right and one's wrong. Um, you know, I think if, I think at the end of the day it comes down to the song, if a song impacts you know, somebody, then you can't hate on the person for making it the way they did. Um, you know, when it, when it comes to you, we did the demo completely different than what the actual track is. Yeah. The demo was actually very, very country, um, had Dobro and stealing it. And then the actual track is very like modern country almost pop. Um, and you know, and it goes both ways. You know, some people that I've heard the demo say, Hey, I like the demo more. Some people have heard both say they like the actual track better. So, you know, it just, it's all your taste preference, you know. And there's no right or wrong way. If you're making good music and people relate to it, then do your thing, you know, and you don't have to, you know, you can make a pop country song and you can make a traditional country song. I don't think it makes you any less of a person. I don't think you have to. I think it's good for your marketing to kind of stay in your lane. But I mean, if you wanna branch out and just do something different, you know, there's nothing wrong with that, you know?
Speaker 1 00:26:24 Yeah. Now for Pop influences, for you, was that something like, were you like just coming from Florida? We were, we had, we had our buddy Henry on a couple weeks ago and he was saying how you would go to Warp Tour and like, be like really into like the rock like that, like that, that two thousands rock stuff. Yeah. Was that an influence for you? Like
Speaker 3 00:26:39 Kinda, I, um, I've been to a lot of rock shows. I, and they, they, they vary because I've seen Papa Roach in concert. I've seen Buck Cherry in concert. Oh,
Speaker 1 00:26:50 Buck Cherry Show. I've been to a Buck Cherry show. I've seen peddle of mud, like pot mud. That's another,
Speaker 3 00:26:53 I've been to all those things. So like, I like to think that I'm somewhat diverse in the music I listen to. Like, honestly, I listen to everything from, I'll listen to Eminem, I'll listen to Polka, like I'll listen to Bluegrass, I'll listen to, you know, Vern Gosden, but I can also listen to Florida, Georgia Line or I like, I honestly listen to a wide variety of all kinds of music because the melodies and the, the phrasings and things, you never know what's gonna influence you or where you can get your ideas from. Um, but yeah, I mean Rock, I listened to a lot of rock. My dad, you know, li made me listen to a lot of southern rock growing up. Um, he's skidder, he's
Speaker 1 00:27:29 A big Skinner skidder. The Outlaws Mount Hatch.
Speaker 3 00:27:31 Yeah. Allman Brothers. Yeah. Like all that stuff. And my mom, my mom always listened to like oldies. So, and I can't even hardly name you any oldies, <laugh>. I just remember listening to them, but I never, that's one thing I don't listen to. I've never been big. I don't know why I've never been big on like seventies and like sixties, like the Mamas and the Papas and stuff like that. Even the Beatles, I have a huge respect for 'em, but I've, I'm not a, like, that doesn't hit me. And that's, I'm the same way.
Speaker 1 00:27:59 Same
Speaker 3 00:27:59 Here. Yeah. And that's the thing. And that's totally fine. I still have a massive respect for him, but it's just not like, you won't see me with my windows down listening to the Beatles. Yeah. Can't Is that the Beatles?
Speaker 1 00:28:12 I think so. I don't
Speaker 3 00:28:13 Even know what that's the,
Speaker 1 00:28:14 I couldn't even, I couldn't even tell you <laugh>. I don't even know.
Speaker 3 00:28:16 I, but it makes me sound bad. But I just, I've, I've listened to him. Yeah. And I can hear 'em and tell you that's the Beatles, but it's just not, you know, everybody's got their own cup of tea. Yeah. And that's fine. That's why, you know, Baskin Robbins makes 31 flavors, not one.
Speaker 1 00:28:29 Absolutely. There you go. Ab absolutely. So for, so with, with this new track, how did that, what, what, how did that process of writing, writing this one when it comes to you come out and whatnot?
Speaker 3 00:28:40 Man, I had, uh, I had that title in my song for the longest time and I didn't know how I wanted to write it cuz there was so many ways you could approach it and twist it. And, um, I was with Matt Roy at his house one day and we were about to write, and I had this title and I said, Hey, what do you think about this? And we played with it and um, we wrote a verse and then we, we stopped and we kind of thought, man, the, it could be bigger and not the song, but like, the actual meaning of the song. Like when it comes to the, the original was more along the lines of, you know, when it comes to you, like, I don't mind holding your purse in the mall. Like when it comes to you, I don't mind doing like, the small things. Were like, what, what's the bigger picture like when it comes to you? Like, I don't mind settling down when it comes to you. Like, I don't, like, I'd fly to the moon. You know, like, yeah, I'll figure things out when it comes to you. And I think that was the bigger picture of what, um, we wanted to portray in the song. So we wrote it and we did the best we could with it. And I, I think we got a good song. So
Speaker 1 00:29:39 I think you did too. And thank you. It's, it's a, it's a smash and whatnot. And now just, um, looking forward now we're in 2019, it's hard to believe we're, we're already as far into the year as we are March. Yeah. Right. It's freaking crazy. Um, for you, what are you looking to do this year? I know you've gone out and been been around and got Yeah. Go on the road and go to some cool different kind of places. I know you've been, you were up in the northeast Yeah. In the, in the fall, early part of the winter. You obviously go down to Florida, you go out west. What is, uh, what's going on the world of Mark Burke for
Speaker 3 00:30:09 2019? So we're getting ready to record a new song, um, in a couple weeks. Um, we've gotten narrowed down to two. Okay. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be a song called, uh, that's why they make beer.
Speaker 1 00:30:21 Oh, okay.
Speaker 3 00:30:22 Yeah. So it's gonna be a little upbeat party party song, which is something I don't necessarily have yet out. So, um, or anything like that. So I thought it'd be kind of cool to put one of those out, especially with summer coming. Um, and then, uh, hopefully get a video done for that and uh, just keep it rolling. I'd like to, I'd like to get three more singles out before the end
Speaker 1 00:30:41 Of the year. Now that music video that, that, that's gonna be, is that gonna be shot here in Nashville? Because
Speaker 3 00:30:46 That's someone I like it too. I thought it'd be kind of cool. Do it at Whiskey Road, to be honest with you. Do
Speaker 1 00:30:50 That Whiskey Row. You would do it. Do it somewhere. Thought
Speaker 3 00:30:52 It'd be great.
Speaker 1 00:30:53 That would be pretty wild because Nash, that's the place to do it. Yeah. Now who'd, who'd you write that one with?
Speaker 3 00:30:59 With uh, that's why they make beers, uh, blue Foley and Josh Melton.
Speaker 1 00:31:03 Oh, that's a, I cannot wait.
Speaker 3 00:31:05 It's funny cuz Blue and I wrote it and then I wanted to tweak the, the course and the bridge a little bit. So I came home and like a couple weeks later I was messing with it and Josh actually helped me tune up the chorus. So it's kinda like we all wrote it, but we weren't in the same room together.
Speaker 1 00:31:19 Yeah, it was one of those threeway Yeah. Threeway kind of rights. It's cool. Which that can work out because it's just different sets of ears. Yep. Jumping on it, dude. So dude, that's awesome. Then you gonna be hitting the road at all?
Speaker 3 00:31:29 Uh, yeah, we've got some shows coming up and uh, I got one in New York at Angry Orchard and then I'm getting ready to go to Kentucky. I'm going to Iowa, uh, in May and then I'm doing, uh, I got another show out in Clarksville, which is nice cuz I don't even have to go that far. Yeah, that's, I grab
Speaker 1 00:31:45 The road. That's, that's a nice, that's a nice easy trip. Yeah.
Speaker 3 00:31:47 So we're staying busy. It's been good.
Speaker 1 00:31:49 That's awesome, man. Now where can people go on to go on to find you on stuff? Because you're, you're on, you're on all the social media stuff. Yeah, I follow you on Instagram. I see those Instagram stories when y'all are out. And
Speaker 3 00:32:00 So Instagram is, um, at Mark Burke, mark with a K and Burke with a e. And um, Facebook is Mark Burke live. Um, you know, and we post shows and all that stuff on there where we're gonna be
Speaker 1 00:32:13 At. And then one last thing I wanted to touch on, you were telling me and Tyler before we sat down here, um, you were, we were talking about, um, about scooters. Oh. And the surge and, and the stuff and whatnot. Yeah. I I I I have to, I have to bring it up cuz it's just, it's just a wild thing and we see, we see it happen and whatnot. So when I first moved to when I, I moved to town in, uh, in November or October and then I'd seen you a couple months later and whatnot. You were in a slick. I'm like, what the hell happened, man? Like, you good. Like, and I saw you carrying the guitar, so I'm like, this guy's trying to gig while wearing a sling. What the hell? And you and I think I, you didn't explain the whole story to me because you were running to go and gig somewhere and then you just explained it to us before we sat down. So how did, uh, mark Bur end up in a sling in uh, January?
Speaker 3 00:32:55 You know, I, for the longest time I was trying to come up with something cool to say that happened to me. I told the lady at Walmart I got shot and she didn't believe me.
Speaker 1 00:33:03 <laugh> <laugh>.
Speaker 3 00:33:05 Um, no, we had, uh, I had just got done playing a, a, an a little acoustic gig with Josh actually. And we were like, Hey, let's jump on some scooters and just ride back to the parking garage. And um, I thought to myself, I was like, man, these things are kind of dangerous, so I'm gonna stay in the alley and not even get out on the main road. And um, I had my guitar on my back and I hit the smallest pothole ever and the whole scooter stopped and unfortunately I didn't. And uh, I went straight over the top of it. I came down, uh, with my guitar still on my back and I landed with my arms out. But when I landed I shattered my shoulder, um, in pieces and we thought it was just dislocated at first. So I, um, had Josh turned around and he came back and I was like, Hey, just pop it back in the socket before it swells up and we won't have to go to the hospital.
Speaker 3 00:33:49 I'll just go home and take some Advil and go to bed. So we stood there for about 10 minutes watching how to pop an arm back in the socket on YouTube and then, uh, trying to pop my arm back in and we couldn't get it in there and shit. He was like, maybe we'll just go to the hospital. So we went to the hospital and I walked in, I told lady and I was like, Hey, my shoulder's just dislocated, but it hurts really bad, so you're gonna have to put me out if you're gonna pop it back in. And she's like, well let's just do an X-ray. I'm like, no, we don't need an x-ray. Like we just need to pop it back in. She's like, let's do it just to be safe. And um, they had a a, the x-ray tech had a trainee that day and uh, I remember having my back up against the board and the way they had my head is I was like looking at them through the glass and I remember when she took the picture, the x-ray trainee mouthed.
Speaker 3 00:34:35 Oh shit, <laugh>. And that's when I knew, I was like, oh man, this could be bad. So I walked out and when she came out I said, is it bad? And she said, well I'm not a doctor. And I was like, that means it's bad, isn't it? So, um, we waited for the actual doctor to come in and before she even said hi, she just asked if I played baseball. And I said, no, why? And she said, good, your career would be over. Geez. And I was like, well, nice to meet you too. So, uh, I had to have partial replacement surgery and I was in a sling for a couple weeks and I ended up going back down to Florida just to relax and recoup and yeah, get outta town for a little bit and you know, let some salt water heal me up. So it felt good, but now I'm getting back to it. I don't have full motion yet, but I'm doing my physical therapy and I can play guitar and just grinding away at it, you
Speaker 1 00:35:18 Know. No more scooters.
Speaker 3 00:35:19 No more scooters, man. It's better to walk sometimes. That's dangerous too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:35:23 Oh, downtown. Especially on Broadway. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:35:25 Absolutely. There's potholes everywhere.
Speaker 1 00:35:27 Yo there are, there are potholes and crazy things everywhere. So, so at, uh,
Speaker 3 00:35:32 No, that's dangerous. I can't do that.
Speaker 1 00:35:34 Coat of bear over. There's showing, showing some videos and whatnot. But um, but so we always wrap this up with, uh, with you playing with somebody, playing an original. Yeah. And um, you wanna play the one that's out right now you wanna play when it comes to you? Or do you wanna play? I'm intrigued to hear this one that you wrote with Josh Melton and Blue Foley. Yeah, well
Speaker 3 00:35:52 Do uh, that's why they make
Speaker 1 00:35:53 Beer. That's why they make beer. And this is one that is gonna be coming out hopefully later on this
Speaker 3 00:35:58 Year. Yeah, it's coming out in May.
Speaker 1 00:36:00 Coming out in May,
Speaker 3 00:36:00 April. We're recording April. Well, we're recording at the end of April. So shit hit I'm shooting for end of May.
Speaker 1 00:36:06 End of May. Okay. So brand new one co-written. This is Mark Burke, co-written with Mr. Blue. Fully shout out to Blue and Matt Roy, or no, Josh, Mel. Josh, Mel Josh, me, excuse me. Matt Roy. Head written when it comes to you. But thank you guys for tuning in as always. For myself, for Tyler, for the Coat of Bear for the podcast. They were actually hiding today. I think cake is somewhere. I think he went, he or she went up the stairs. I don't even know the genders of these cats. And, uh, Felix is laying over there in the control room. But shout out to the podcast. You can always follow along in the round podcast on Instagram, in the round, on Facebook, in the round podcast.com. Shout out to our webmaster Jacob Albert for all that stuff. Also make sure you subscribe, give us those five stars if you like what you heard. And make sure to follow our buddy Mark Burke. Look him up, Instagram, Facebook, check him out if he's coming to a city near you. And, uh, make sure to follow him along on Spotify, apple music and all that good stuff. Now, without further ado, it's Mark Burke. What's the name of the song again? I I will cut this out. That's why they make beer. Without further ado, here is Mark Burke. Co-written with Josh Melton and Blue Foley. That's why they made beer on in the round.
Speaker 3 00:37:25 More lawns in the middle of June on a D one 10 John Deere Baptist Church. Soft ball champs for the second consecutive ear in the middle of the lake when the fish aint. But you're just gonna steer outta here, right here reaching the cooler and pull on out. Cause that's why they make beard weather. The rock is a blues, a blue ribbon on you gotta do is turn it up and start spam, pop a tile and tip it on back. Tip it on back. Cause it can be a highlight five star or light ball. Just hold it up. And that's why they may be college football. Saturdays cheering on the volunteers. Well, that big promotion, you got the sling your career. You see your ex-girlfriend, we're the brand new man and you just want to disappear. Hey man, it's all good cause that's why they make beer. Whether the rock is a blue, it's a blue ribbon. All you gotta do is turn it up and stop, pop a tie and tip it on back. Tip it on back. Cause it can be a highlight in a five star or a Bud Light in a dive bar. Just hold it up and cheer.
Speaker 3 00:38:53 That's why they may be, it can be a high life in a five star or a Bud Light in a dive bar. Just hold it up and cheer with everyone in here. That's why they make beer. That's why they, yeah.
