We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chris Burke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chris below.

Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a ‘full-time musician’, whatever that meant…. A career in music was always my goal. Because I wasn’t exactly sure how to achieve it or even what it meant to be a working musician, it took me a while to get there.
I started performing acoustic shows and writing music straight out of college. I was living in Atlanta and eventually moved to Nashville, TN to try to dig deeper into the music scene and find where I belonged in such a crazy music world. I wrote music, released albums, performed all around town at every local venue (including the world famous Bluebird Cafe and many others), toured with bands and friends, and pushed myself as far as I could, all while working full time as a server/bartender. I was literally doing every single project and going down every single musical road I came across. I had a lot of success but still was far from being able to work solely as a musician and flourish the way that I wanted, even while working my butt off literally every day.

Just as I found myself moments from a full burn out and on the brink of giving it all up, I remembered a conversation with a friend from years before about working as a guest entertainer on cruise ships, performing her shows on big beautiful ships. I had no idea what it entailed, but I took a chance and texted her out of the blue, and after some back and forth (and a lot of work putting together a basic idea for what would be my show as a guest entertainer), I took the chance at contacting her agency. I fought through all my insecurities and held onto my dream of performing and being a full time musician for just a minute longer. I was actively allowing my future to take shape on it’s own, understanding that my years of work on myself and my craft would lead me where I needed to go. Lightning finally struck, and I officially became a full-time musician.

As far as advice or lessons that I’ve learned, all I can say is that if the dream is big enough, and if it means enough to you, keep fighting, and allow yourself to succeed. The doors that open may not be the ones you thought you would go through, and the journey may not be the exact one you envisioned, but that’s all part of the fun. Roadblocks may just be diverting your path to a different route on your way to the same end.

Also, I spent so much time comparing my own success (or lack of it) to other people. I wasted so much time beating myself up for my own success taking longer than some. It sounds trite, but understanding that my path looks different from everyone else’s was an amazing realization.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t take a moment to appreciate all of the years and years of work it took for me to be able to do what I do now. Lightning struck, but I was ready for it.

Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a soul singer/songwriter and entertainer from Nashville, TN. For the last 5 years I have been working as a guest entertainer, performing my soul shows on cruise ships as a headliner all around the world. I have also performed all over Nashville and the southeast, as well as all up and down the east coast, including on NBC’s Today Show and the world famous Bluebird Cafe here in Nashville. I have recorded four full length albums plus multiple singles and EP’s that I have released over the last 15 years. I have been performing my entire life, from a very early age, but I can finally say that I am a full time working musician and loving every moment.

When I am not on ships, I am writing music for a couple upcoming personal projects, as well as working as a model/actor around the southeast, and working as a studio vocalist, singing on other people’s projects as well as my own. I feel like everything in my life has set me up to be successful at this very moment and to somehow be able to juggle the insane amount of life happening all around me.

As far as what I am most proud of, I have somehow been able to stay myself in my evolution as an entertainer. I can honestly say that I am not only a performer and vocalist, but that I am an entertainer. I put on a show that I am tremendously happy with and proud of, taking the audience with me on my journey to an through soul music. It seems to work because it’s part of who I am. I feel like I have become more and more myself onstage. And I am remarkably proud of that.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

So, at the beginning of 2017, I had an album release show/party for a new album and it went very well. I had a bunch of folks cheering me on and wanting to help see my album succeed, and an incredible band that wanted to work. But a few months later, the fire had died and I was once again left wondering what the next step would be. I had a couple other major things fall through at the exact same time. It was time for a change, but I needed a break from the struggle of the music business here in Nashville.

I remember driving into downtown Nashville for something random, and I had a spark of a memory of meeting with a sweet friend who had been working for years as a guest entertainer on cruise ships. But I hadn’t spoken to her in years, and I wasn’t even sure if she was still doing it or what it even meant to be a ‘guest entertainer’. Plus I knew nothing about the cruise industry at all, having never stepped foot on one nor even ever seen one. I texted her, and we met and talked for hours about everything, and bit by bit, step by step, I started a brand new career that I didn’t even know was possible.

I took one more chance at a career in music and had faith in myself and in my ability to overcome the tremendous fear I had. Every bit of it was challenging in so many ways, but I stuck with it and, again, it feels like everything I have done in my life up to this point has helped me succeed exactly where I am doing exactly what I’m doing.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is the actual moment of creativity or performance. There is something magical about the moments when the creativity is flowing or the performance is happening in real time and you are right IN IT. To me, being in the middle of the flow of a performance and the flow of creativity with songwriting are the same thing. They feel similar and are rewarding in the same way. There is so much preparation that goes into these moments along with years of experience and practice with a craft. I have been performing and songwriting and creating for most of my life, and what I have found to be the most rewarding is the act of ALLOWING it to happen without boundaries like insecurities or crazy expectations. It is actually DOING it, feeling the creative flow, allowing it happen and swimming around in it. There is nothing else quite like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ChrisBurkeMusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisburkemusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisburkemusic
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisburkemusic/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cburkemusic
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/chrisburkemusic

Image Credits
The B/W face photo and the photo in my suit are Toby Gilbert. The photo in my white long sleeve shirt was shot by AMAX agency. And the photo of me on stage is an action shot by a friend of mine on a cruise ship :)