What the press is saying about Michael...
Michael Burks will singe the whiskers right off your face, kicking every tune in the butt with the chunkiest sustaining siren-wail of a tone this side of Albert King, by mixing back-snapping funk and traditional postwar blues grooves. He's a big, bad blues guitar slinger with a brawny tone. Fans of rompin', stompin' blues power are the beneficiaries of Burks' trials and tribulations, as his deeply emotional playing and singing derives from his personal experiences. In a blues world desperate for a post-Stevie Ray guitar hero, Michael Burks is an immensely talented guitarist and singer poised to fill the void... Big, fat guitar tone over modern funky blues...excellent--GuitarOne
Michael Burks is a bluesman who stands poised on the brink of major stardom. A fierce flamethrower guitar slinger and an exciting soulful singer, his music has phenomenal firepower. He plays with a decidedly urban, contemporary blues style, fused to a soul-infused vocal style that suggests some down-home cooking. ...tough and tender blues. Burks is a complete entertainer: songwriter, singer, riff-master, bandleader and showman. There's no more exciting young guitarist in the blues. The CD features a live-in-the-studio sound that closely captures the excitement of a live Burks gig. Burks supplies plenty of his trademark man-on-the-ledge solos...incendiary playing...chilling and heartfelt. --Chicago Sun-Times
Burks plays and sings with conviction, as he proves with each impassioned song. --Guitar Player
Michael Burks' voice is dusky and sensual yet shot through with virility. He can fuse erotic angst with righteous outrage, stare emotional devastation in the face with open-nerved courage, or spew caustic irony. His fretwork is skin-tight yet emotionally explosive--he coils medium-resister notes together like springs, finally erupting into stratospheric flurries shot through with a palpable sense of release. Burks has learned to burn his own signature onto almost everything he touches. The aching passion of Burks' voice and the probing intensity of his guitar lines come together in a searing evocation of desire and desperation. Burks has the ability and the imagination to fuse the best of the old and the new. Tubular, rough-edged tone, writhing string-bends, melodic and improvisational ideas, gruff baritone vocals...sure-fingered and supple fretwork ...Burks' leads churn and explode under a Bad Sign...a miasma of furious funk--Living Blues
Burks' down and dirty guitar screams and wails on every cut...driving crossover blues-rock executed with dexterity and panache...topped with large dollops of sweat and grit. Burks' fiery guitar and larger-than-life stage presence can drive a festival crowd into a lather. When you see Michael Burks on stage, it's hard not to compare him to certain blues masters but make no mistake, Burks is his own bluesman. Hard-hitting blues, outrageous tone...blazing, explosive solos skills...no watered-down blues here, Burks' [music] is full of soul and passion. His vocals possess the rich soulfulness of B.B. and rival his stinging guitar work as his greatest talent. There's a confidence to Burks' playing and singing that suggests he deserves to fill the void left in the electric Chicago blues field by the passing of Luther Allison, Albert Collins, and Albert King.--Blues Revue
Anyone who's seen Burks in action know that the smoke from the pickups of his trademark Gibson flying V will be setting off smoke detectors. In Burks' hands, the blues is a deeply felt nuance soulfully expressed: not gratuitous volume and licks for licks' sake. Think Freddie King's edge, Albert King's lyricism, T-Bone Walker's jazzy inventiveness.--Indianapolis Star Tribune
Burks' gruff baritone sounds both aggressive and wounded, his guitar tone is keening and supple, and he salts his sharply articulated lines with tight clusters of notes. He's developed his own voice as a songwriter as well; both his originals and his treatment of covers demonstrate a refreshing degree of nuance and emotional complexity. Lung-pumping soul-blues...convincing and genuine...Burks plays a blend of raw blues and stripped-down funk with cranked-up tempo and metallic guitar tone of contemporary blues rock...a gospel-soul plea for salvation ...soaring, ecstatic guitar...searing. -Chicago Reader
An exceptional blues album....Burks' most forceful CD to date. His exquisite growl of a voice and his fierce lead guitar rule the record from the get-go. It opens at a fever pitch, striking like a hammer blow, the heavyweight rhythm section underwriting Burks' howling lead guitar. Diamond-hard blues-rock that cuts a mean groove...appropriately wicked....classic, original and beautiful. Burks is a powerhouse blues guitar slinger...he blasts through licks like Clapton used to play -- think lightning.--Billboard
Wielding a scorching Flying V, Michael Burks mine territory explored by Freddie King and 1960s British blues/rock bands. Bearing a vocal resemblance to Albert King, Burks has hit his comfort zone as writer and recording artist.--Vintage Guitar
''Make It Rain''-- #22 on GuitarOne's list of greatest blues guitar recordings of all time.--GuitarOne
In Burks' hands, the blues is a deeply felt nuance soulfully expressed: not gratuitous volume and licks for licks' sake.--ToneQuest Report
Hotshot blues guitarist with a deep and soulful voice.--Chicago Tribune
Roaring vocals and unbridled guitar playing. Burks singing is a potent as his picking.--Dallas Morning News
Burks wails with the kid of ferocious intensity that helped Albert King singe-handedly launch the blues-rock idiom. Hard charging, imposing funk and gospel-flavored...extraordinary chops and emotive, real-deal vocals and Herculean string-bending prowess...energized and contemporary...just the right touch of raggedy-ass distortion and a deep reservoir of down-home feel.--Jazz Times
Blistering, gospel-ringed...sweet...nasty...Burks will warm your heart at the same time he puts a chill down your back.--Vintage Guitar
''Living Blues'' magazine named guitarist/vocalist Michael Burks ''Most Outstanding Musician -- Guitar'' in its 2004 Critic's Poll. Burks' two Alligator CDs, MAKE IT RAIN and I SMELL SMOKE, along with non-stop touring, has helped him win over thousands of fans both domestically and internationally with his fiery fretwork and soulful, smoky vocals. ''GuitarOne'' magazine said Burks is ''An immensely talented guitarist and singer who will singe the whiskers right off your face.''
