San Francisco Bay Area musician, activist, gardener and photographer J Burn comes from a long line of talented musicians, and it would be fair to say he lives and breathes music and all that it brings. “To me, music is the universal language that can offer amazing power for change, today usually underestimated,” he explains, and that focus on meaning and healing through music manifests itself in his latest collection, a 4-song EP titled ‘Burnt Blue’. The record brings to the fore more of the band’s Americana influence, pushing their rock roots to the side without forgetting them entirely. Released in June, it serves as the lead-in for a full-length album later this year, and is inspired by the work of The Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Johnny Cash and Leon Russell.
The EP opens with a punchy fiddle line over a shaker beat and rhythm guitar, coming together to form the musical make-up of ‘Freight Train’, a classic country tale of moving on via a freight train because of the heartbreak that belies him at home. Banjo joins for ‘Memory Lane’, a nice little head-bobber that falls out of rhythm at times (hard to tell whether that was accidental or done for jam band effect). It covers a very relatable subject, reminiscing on a past love and musing on how doing so takes him away from the troubles of the present.
‘Old Time Heroes’, meanwhile, has more of a soulful groove to it, recalling honky tonk piano that tinkles over a laid-back beat and eases along lazily. “Let’s raise a glass for forgotten heroes,” J Burn sings, as he celebrates the people and times of old, remembering them fondly. This segues into the hazy closing track ‘Our Song Shared’, more of a foot-tapper, if that foot-tapper was set in the dust bowl at the height of summer. This is equally as nostalgic as the other offerings on this record, using music as a memory trigger – as is so often the case for many of us. Music underpins our daily lives like a permanent soundtrack, and an album or song has the power to transport you back to the time when you first heard it, or when you played it the most. For J Burn, this phenomenon is not so much the focus of his songs, but an underlying message.
This is a solid collection of material, although it is certainly an acquired taste. The playing is loose and free, and fits the slightly stoned nature of the songs in a way that reflects his influences from the 1960s and 1970s. The record sounds very much live and raw, and often Jay’s vocals are hardly what you’d call technically proficient, yet there’s a charm to them that suits the style of music in a back to basics, unpolished kind of way.
Perhaps for J Burn, that’s what the true essence of music-making is about.
Originally posted here.
