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Burke Ingraffia
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Out of 5 votes - Similar Artists: Michael Franks, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, John Gorka, David Wilcox, Mose Allison
Out of 5 votes
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
- Genre: Folk » Folk-Jazz
Biography
- As a child of the '70's in New Orleans, Burke Ingraffia was introduced at a very early age to the funky street beats and second-line rhythms of the Mardi Gras Indians, The Meters, and Professor Longhair as well as the more historical Dixieland sounds of that same city where American music was born.
Later in life, the words began to matter. The singer/songwriters of the East Coast like David Wilcox and John Gorka fueled Burke's fire, songs of life and love with lyrics that free the mind.
In the early '90's Burke had a brief stint at the University of New Orleans' jazz studies program and continued to write and perform acoustic folk music with songwriter Howard Hyde. They cut their teeth on Danneel Street at the Neutral Ground Coffeehouse, and the duo moved to Boulder, Colorado with a lot of lessons learned at small, no-pay gigs highlighted by an occasional opening spot at the Fox Theater.
Continually seeking and not finding it in the Rockies, Burke moved to Steubenville, Ohio in '94 to finish college where he studied theology. It was there the first, self-titled CD was recorded with drummer Paul Spencer and engineer/guitarist Mike Ofca. In addition to those two, Burke met bassist T.J. Pillion and violinist Luc Dauvin, and they collectively formed the Burke Ingraffia Group.
In the summer of '95 Burke returned to Colorado as a semi-finalist in the Telluride Troubadour Contest at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
Then, for a year, there was Austin, that beautiful city with its vibrant music scene. Slinging coffee by day, Burke was introduced to a whole new approach to music, learning and loving the Texan tradition of songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and playing gigs at places like the Saxon Pub and coffee shops on Guadeloupe.
For the next two years, Burke found himself in Dallas where the second CD, Throwing Shadows at the Sun, was recorded. This was a time of freedom and more learning. At the University of Dallas, Burke received a master's degree in the humanities and developed a further love of language in the poetry of Homer and Ovid, the plays of Aristophanes, and the novels of William Faulkner.
But it was back in New Orleans, his birthplace, where Burke belonged. He picked up a weekly happy hour gig at Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar, and in the summer of 2001, the five song EP, Good., was recorded at Word of Mouth Studios with producer/musician Cale Pellick, bassist Mark Anderson, guitarist Ted Ludwig, and guitarist Paul Turnipseed.
In 2001, Burke was nominated for "Best Emerging Country or Folk Artist" by Offbeat Magazine, and in 2002 the Telluride Bluegrass Festival once again gave honorable mention to his songwriting.
There were a lot of hotel and restaurant gigs (a folk singer in a tux!), and Burke put together a band to play clubs with John Brewer (keyboards), Alan Broome (bass), and Joe Gelini (drums). The most memorable gigs were on tour in British Columbia, back home at the Maple Leaf and the night before Hurricane Lili at Snug Harbor.
For the past three years, Burke lived in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana - the birthplace of his father and his father's father and the source of inspiration for the title track of his latest record, "Independence, Louisiana."
Then a hurricane named Katrina threw the city of New Orleans in a tailspin that landed Burke back in Austin, Texas in late August of 2005. That is where he now resides, hoping that his hometown can fully recover and make a fresh new start.
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