Thanks to everybody that voted, emailed, reposted, tweeted, twittered, twinkled, telegraphed, smoke signaled, and pony expressed us into the number 5 spot.  The support we got was incredible and overwhelming.

For now, we’re working hard on new material for you.  Until we get it on wax, enjoy our finalist video for “School” off our debut CD, “Pretty Close to Very Good”.

Cheers!

-MBB

https://connect.charter.com/Concert/Finalists/Details/218

Thanks so much for your support!

-MBB

Ok, so let me first apologize for the incredibly long lapse between posts on this site. I never claimed to be the world’s most timely blogger. Truth be told, I’d much rather be writing and performing than pulling together a post for the site. But alas, it is a necessary evil, especially with all the EXCITING stuff that’s been going on.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: For those of you that don’t know, WE WON THE CHARTER BATTLE OF THE BANDS FOR OUR REGION. Thank you all SO MUCH for voting consistently and getting your friends to do the same. We were all blown away by the enthusiasm you all showed and the dedication you had for getting us the votes we needed. However, while we have won the battle, the war is far from over.

Here’s what happens now:

Charter (click HERE to bookmark the battle of the bands website) is sending a film crew down early next week to film a private MBB performance. They will spend the next couple of days editing that performance and interview material down into our finalist video, which will be posted on their site and YouTube account sometime before September 18th.

THAT’S WHEN WE’LL REALLY NEED YOUR HELP AGAIN.

While we did a great job pulling ahead and winning the #1 spot for our region, we’ve got some stiff competition now that we’re competing nationally. During the regional contest, we were averaging around 40 – 70 votes per day, which is awesome. However, the top three bands in the country were pulling around 150 – 250 votes per day. We can only assume they’ll do the same, if not more, during the final week of national voting.

WE REALLY NEED YOU ALL TO VOTE ONCE EVERY 24 HOURS DURING FINALS WEEK AND GET EVERYONE ELSE YOU POSSIBLY CAN TO VOTE AS WELL.

We are one of ELEVEN bands left in the competition. We are SO CLOSE to OPENING FOR PANIC! AT THE DISCO and this could be the break we need to really catapult our music careers to the next level. All we need is your help with voting and getting the word out about MBB.

Keep an eye on the Facebook and Twitter accounts: I’ll be letting you know about the progress of the final video shoot and when to expect the first day of voting to be officially (we’re almost 100% sure it will be SEPTEMBER 18TH). At that point, we rally.  Oh, and if you want to make it easier to follow the details of the contest as they unfold, go on over to the CHARTER FACEBOOK PAGE and like it.

Every one of us thanks you all SO, SO MUCH for your support thus far. Let’s give it one more final push in a couple of weeks and see if we can take this thing!

Cheers,

Matt, Brue, Ken, Gordy, & Mike

* * * Nominated For CD of The Year * * *

- Indie Music Digest

“After you Download This Album you will realize that you are in on the ground floor with a band that is most definitely ON THE RISE!”

The Matt Burke Band – Pretty Close To Very Good

Reviewed by: Carlito on 2010-10-05 www.musicemissions.com

The Matt Burke band debuts with its aptly titled Pretty Close To Very Good – a bold title indeed, with just enough humility to fall back on in case your first impression is that Very Close to Pretty Good would be better suited. But this is a band making bluesy pop-rock reminiscent of The Spin Doctors, Blues Traveler, Hooty and the Blowfish, and at times Sugar Ray.

The one thing that immediately sets TMBB apart from the aforementioned -and highly commercial – acts is the organic quality. There’s a charming rawness to it all that takes away any feelings of annoyance that some of the other bands may conjure up at the mention of their names. There are elements of singer-songwriter, blues, pop and rock on virtually every track here, creating a consistent sound you can rely on for the duration of the album.

It isn’t hard to imagine hearing any number of these songs on major radio. For starters, they’re catchy as hell. Take the opening track for example, “The Weekend War”. It has this nice Caribbean vibe, complete with steel drums and a chorus that will not leave your brain without a fight. This is fun summer music at its best. Then there’s “Superstar” with Spanish guitar playing you would expect to hear on a Carlos Santana tune.

“Moonshine Porcelain” is a very nice surprise out of the collection, as well as my personal favorite. It opens up with a bluesy dark guitar riff backed up by a deep jungle drum rhythm. The song immediately following this, “Fading Faces” is the edgiest track for sure. Bluesy and smooth, and yet somehow able to make even the purest of hearts sing along when the hook comes in: “Mitch Hunt where’d the f*ck you go? Mitch Hunt where the f*ck you been? Mitch Hunt where’d the f*ck you go? I think about you time again and I’d just like to know.”

All in all, this is a solid album. Every surprise is seemingly a nice one. Musicianship is stellar; the lyrics have an “every man” quality to them; unexpected instruments are sprinkled throughout, creating layers of texture to this fun and soulful venture; Matt Burke’s vocal range is wide enough to keep the listener interested, and the catchy hooks seal the deal. Indeed, the album is good. Is it very good? Pretty close.

THE MATT BURKE BAND RELEASES DEBUT ALBUM, AND IT’S “PRETTY CLOSE TO VERY GOOD”

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—The soundtrack for summer 2010 arrived on Friday, August 13, when The Matt Burke Band released its debut album, “Pretty Close to Very Good.” The Soulcoustic Beach Rock duo Matt Burke and Brue Baker are The Matt Burke Band. The two started collaborating in college, performing at parties and local clubs. Now, nearly a decade later, their musical union has culminated into a melodic masterpiece. The distinct sounds of southern rock, reggae and blues are methodically woven throughout the 10-track album. Matt’s gritty, soulful vocals combined with Brue’s rhythmic guitar riffs make every moment a delicious indulgence for the ears.

“They have successfully captured the energy that comes through in their live performances in this very well produced studio album,” commented music blogger Jason Thigpen who received an advanced copy of the album. “Matt displays uncanny voice control and uses it as an instrument to give the songs more personality and Brue demonstrates an exceptional ear for adding just the right amount of finger work at just the right moment to tie the songs together.”

The album’s first single, The Weekend War, immediately transports listeners to a sea-side party where they are treated to the sound of steel drums and classic beach rock guitar. In no time, listeners will find themselves singing along with the infectious chorus.

Each song on Pretty Close to Very Good is distinct in sound and rhythm, yet through Matt and Brue’s musical artistry flows seamlessly into the next. The album is indeed the soundtrack for summer, or any season for that matter, and will leave listeners longing for more.

Thigpen concludes, “Pretty Close to Very Good will take you on a journey from start to finish through the heart and soul of all that is the Matt Burke Band.”

Pretty Close to Very Good is available for purchase on The Matt Burke Band website, www.MattBurkeBand.com, and www.CDBaby.com. Fans can also download the album on iTunes, Amazon.com, Rhapsody, Last.fm, CDBaby and Digstation.com.

First of all, I cannot encourage you enough to sign up for our mailing list. Since I will be the one sending out the newsletter and any other pertinent information, I can assure you with 100% certainty that I will never give your personal information to any other party, nor will I ever spam you. Promise. Pinky swear even. So, go ahead and fill that fancy little form out. As a bonus, I’m offering anyone that subscribes a free download of our first single off the new album, The Weekend War. Once you’ve entered your info, you’ll get a confirmation email with a download link. Next thing you know, you’ll be rocking that track on your iphone/ipod/knockoff mp3 player. Just don’t try to play it through a walkman, ‘cause I don’t think it’s compatible.

Speaking of our album, lemme tell ya’ a little bit about that. About a year and a half ago, Brue and I realized we wanted to put out a full album of original material. The problem was, all the original material I had written up to that point was sort of crying-in-the-bathtub kind of music. Not that it was bad… it was just different. Some of you are probably familiar with the earlier solo stuff I did, and while I remain proud of the stuff I’ve written in the past, I realized that my older stuff was no longer representative of who I am as a songwriter and that we’d need to write some new, more upbeat material if we wanted to release a full CD. Hence, the Matt Burke Band was officially formed with the intention of writing and recording a full length album of feel-good awesomness. I can honestly tell you that we’ve achieved our mission.

The album is incredible.

So here’s the skinny on how the album release is going to go down. It is currently being replicated at the manufacturers and they anticipate the project will be completed around August 4th. Then, it will take about 5 business days to ship. That’s why we’re aiming at a August 13th release date. Plus, it’s Friday the 13th, and that’s a pretty sweet date to release an album. Hard copies of the CD will be available at live shows and through this website and CDBaby.com. I originally wanted to offer the hard copy of the CD through Amazon.com, but then I found out that they keep 55% of the CD price and we’d only get to keep 45%, and that just does not sound right to me. So yeah, not going that route.

IF you order the CD through this website, we will be processing your order ourselves through PayPal (which will allow you to pay with a credit card) and will be hand-addressing padded envelopes and most definitely throwing in a sticker or two ‘cause we’re awesome. CDBaby orders will be professionally packaged and distributed by them, and because of that, they might be a tad more expensive. We’ll see just how it pans out in a week or two when I establish official pricing.

Digital downloads of the album will be available through Amazon.com, iTunes, Rhapsody, Last.fm, CDBaby, and Digstation.com (I’ll be sure to provide concrete links for all of this once the album is uploaded and available). I have been informed that there could be a quite substantial lag in between the time I receive the CDs back from the manufacturer and the time digital downloads are available through iTunes. It could take a couple of weeks. Don’t freak out, though. I have been ASSURED that the album will be available for download through Digstation.com on August 13th. No worries there.

So that’s about it for now. Thanks so much for stopping by, make sure and sign up for the mailing list and get your free song download, and check back here often. I plan to try my damndest to keep this site updated with fresh, tasty info, so keep your eyes peeled.

Much love,

Matt Burke and The Matt Burke Band