We had the good fortune of connecting with Keith Burnstein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Keith, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I never thought about music as a business, not really. Instead, just followed what felt right and worked on the craft in a way that allowed it to sustain me. While that sounds maybe a bit highfalutin (or using the word highfalutin is just that), that’s where I started, but certainly not where I ended up. Now, the business is a result of those years of preparation, so that when it comes time to talk turkey, I know what it’s worth.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’ll give you some other people’s words: “The songs, while instantly familiar, remain very much their own creations” (Secret Sound Shop), “combining the bedroom intimacy of a singer-songwriter” (Seven Days VT) with the rich harmonic palette of jazz, electronic, and “world” music.

Was it easy? What worth doing is easy? Pshaw! Music and art in general is surfing, there is no control, but you move with it. Technique and hours are what make surfing possible. Improvisation and composition are a conversation with wind. If you grasp and try to control it, you lose. However, there is control in your confidence, and as you train, you relax and you listen. Then it’s communion.

So yes, it’s difficult to take something that in its purest form is sacred and bring that into a bar, into a club. I’d like the world to know that I don’t have a brand, that time is over for me. With that said, I know what those hours spent practicing, emailing, sleeping on couches, and traveling the world to play some silly song you wrote are worth. Gold bricks, baby, gold bricks. I once heard Bjork say she’d travel the world to sing a song, and be satisfied with a cup of tea as payment. I’d agree, but I always say that the best form of currency is your attention. Money is nice too, when it comes.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ll give you a perfect day, if that’s ok. I’m from the Northeast, and as such, am a lover of the bagel. The best bagel in town is, hands down, Small Mart in the Marigny. So, we’d meet there at 9 am, bagel it up, then walk around the Marigny, maybe to Crescent Park over the rusty rainbow and stroll by the river. While we’re in the hood, let’s head to the French Quarter, walk straight down Royal St to M.S. Rau. I’m so grateful that my mom introduced us to this place. It is an embarrassment of riches. On display there is: the cigarette tray from The Godfather II, doctor’s kits from 1834, priceless works of art by Rockwell, Picasso, et al, that are actually for sale. Best part is, there’re no crowds.

After that, I’d probably Uber home and meditate, then pick my friend up and we’d go for a late afternoon hike in Barataria Preserve on the West Bank. After that, we are eating Vietnamese food. People always think that New Orleans is a spot for seafood and etoufee, etc, (which it is), but we also have some of the most banging Vietnamese cuisine in the country, and that’s a fact.

After that, I’d say go to Buffa’s to see Tom McDermott and Aurora Neeland play music to silent films and then head to Frenchmen St. to see music at The Blue Nile, DBA, or Snug Harbor. There ya go!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out the late, great pianist Connie Crothers, who told me, simply, that “There is always more music.” Boy was she right!

The person who taught me how to use more subtle and rich colors, sonically speaking, was Dick Odgren. When I was 19 or 20, I waxed poetic to Dick saying, “The piano gives you exactly what you put into it.”

He said, “You’re wrong. It gives you back more than you put into it.” Again, right!

Website: www.keithburnstein.com

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPZ1xpRuFAStms5WZXB-j1Q

Image Credits
Jazzfest Photo courtesy of Nathan Rocky. Photos, art, and album cover by Lauren Marie Breaux.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutColorado is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.