Mat Burke

Nashville based folk-rocker Mat Burke is a blue-collar kid who wears his heart on his sleeve. His songs are short excursions on the well-traveled roads of pain, disappointment, heartbreak, and desperation. At 21, this old soul meets his audience in life’s darker regions where shadows appear real, then points to the light peering through the cracks above.



Raised on the streets of Philadelphia, Burke neared a breaking point at age 16 and left high-school for a short time. A caring teacher introduced him to the music of Bob Dylan. This proved to be a lightning strike across the bow of Burke’s wayward ship, and he returned to high-school with a new identity seared into the palm of his hands. Standing firmly on the shoulders of the folk giants, Burke inhaled all things Dylan then expanded his musical diet to include a long roster of folk-punk troubadours, most notably The Gaslight Anthem and UK-based Frank Turner. Following in the footsteps of Turner, Burke started playing basement house-parties in Philadelphia, and only twelve months later he was the only solo artist featured in the finals of the annual World Café Live “Philly Rising” contest in January 2008.



Relocating to Nashville in 2009, Mat Burke released his debut full-length record entitled Kill or Be Killed on March 2, 2010. Relentlessly infectious, Kill or Be Killed is a seamless pastiche of traditional folk, folk-punk, and raw emo more reminiscent of Roger Waters than Conor Oberst.



RECENT PRESS:



“Intelligent and thought-provoking, with stinging lyrics reminiscent of the early folk movement…. A formidable debut from a young songwriter firmly rooted in the prophetic folk-rock tradition…both political and emotional, Kill or Be Killed will remain relevant for years to come….” -- listennashville.com



“[Burke’s] songs ring with the sincerity of a singer-songwriter who means what he writes and sings what he means.” – syracuse.com



"Burke tells his experience with fast anthems in good folk-punk form. Let's hope we hear more from this singer-songwriter." -- starbeatmusic.net (NYC)



“It was as if he had walked right out of the pages of Kerouac's On the Road and climbed up on stage in Spring City with a guitar and started playing some folk songs.” – allaroundphilly.com



For booking please email Mat's agent: bookingmatburke@live.com



Nonstop Booking

P.O. Box 70446

Nashville, TN 37207

615-473-0326

bookingmatburke@live.com

Agent: Vince



Please direct all press inquiries to matburkepress@live.com



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