Kevin Burt

is an extraordinary talent – the whole package in a one man show, and he is coming to Florida.  Kevin won 3 awards at the 2018 International Blues Challenge, winning best solo/duo act, best guitar player and best harmonica player. See him in January and February at the following venues:

January 27 The Villages
Jan 29 – Feb 5 Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise
February 6th Funky Biscuit – Boca Raton
February 7th Funky Biscuit – Boca Raton
February 13th Center Park Concert Series – Bonita Springs

Kevin has a unique style playing guitar and harmonica, has an expressive sweet and powerful voice, and plays music with unmatched emotion.  Kevin has been a full-time traveling musician, prior to Covid, playing 325 to 420 shows every year for over 20 years. He worked his home state of Iowa tirelessly, becoming a “hometown performer” all over the state.

“I’m one of the few musicians that get the “local label” statewide. I play in Waterloo, Iowa, which is an hour north of me. I’m local. Quad Cities, an hour east of me, I’m local. Des Moines, two hours west of me I’m local. Inside of a two-week period, all of those places got to see me.”

When not in Iowa, he was touring an array of major cities within a three-to-four-hour drive from his home. He regularly played Madison Wisconsin, Minneapolis Minnesota, Omaha Nebraska, Chicago Illinois, Kansas City and St. Louis Missouri, all cities he could get home from each night to be with his family.

“I learned early as a performer, no matter how good of a musician I was, no matter how beautiful somebody thought my voice was, they’d never be able to walk away from my show and explain to someone what they had heard me do, in a way that could translate into what I sounded like. But if I can make them laugh, if I could tell a story, if I connected, I created a memory and an experience that they walked away from my show with. They’d tell that story as many times as they could. And so that would create word of mouth advertising.”

In 2018, Kevin won three categories, something that had never been done in the history of the IBC’s, nor done since. “I won the opportunity to participate in some pretty high visibility festivals and events.”  His success at the IBC’s opened new doors including the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, The Blues Bender, and festivals like the Heritage Blues Festival.  “I’ve been here for 30 years, and now because of the IBC’s, there are now a lot of people that hear me outside of my home radius. In the last couple of years, this machine I’ve been building has changed my life and taken me to places and events that I’m excited to go back to.”

Kevin always put home and family first.  When not playing music, he prefers to be home with his family or doing something with his family.  His music career has become a family business. His wife Nicole left her career in 2019 to become Kevin’s manager. His daughters, Delaney and Phoebe help with social media, have appeared in his online shows during the pandemic, sell merchandise, and contribute in any way possible.

Kevin is a disciple of the three Kings – B.B. King, Freddy King and Albert King, as an entertainer and when he plays lead guitar.  As a songwriter, he was influenced greatly by the late Bill Withers.  He considers Bill one of the best storytellers of the human experience.  Kevin visited Bill at his office in Hollywood, California office, a transformative encounter.  Kevin did a Bill Withers tribute show online covering a number of his songs, and interspersed video of his meeting with Bill.

“I have a feeling that with the Gulf Coast label, at some point time, I’ll be doing a tribute to Mr. Withers, and along with that, I’ll be releasing the actual interview, the DVD of the interview with Mr. Withers.

Kevin joined the Gulf Coast record label last year and released his second CD, “Stone Cold” which was produced by musician/producer Mike Zito.

“People talk about the song ‘The blues overtook me’, but I wasn’t a little boy” Kevin declared.  “Once it got stirred into me, it became part of me.  Everything we listen to is an evolution of blues, including everything that is categorized as popular music. A lot of folks have said to me ‘you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself as a blues artist.’  To me, there’s nothing wrong with that.  We are one of the only cultures that tries to hide our past and downplay its significance, and that doesn’t make sense to me. I need to embrace being a blues man and I need people to accept me for being that.  Blues is honest and it’s the truth.  You can’t fake blues – and be any good at it.”

“My heroes in music are all the folks that persevered and continued to be who they were.  I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to sit down and talk to people like Koko Taylor and B.B. King, who I once opened for.  They told me what it was like to drive from show to show in the South during a time when anything could happen, and anything did. These folks rolled with it and just kept doing it.  They kept making music, bringing their messages, and performing their truth.  Those folks persevered in the ugliest times of our country’s history and continued to tell a truthful story. They are my heroes.” – by Andy Weinstein | Photo Laura Carbone