Jerry Burgan
Jerry Burgan has a story to tell. Actually he has quite a few along with an American treasury of songs and heroes including folk singers and astronauts. A founding member of the harmonic folk-rock band, We Five, who recorded Ian and Sylvia’s “You Were On My Mind,” in 1965 landing them at the top of the charts, today Jerry is still active keeping a updated version of We Five including his wife, Debbie, and son, Chris on lead guitar. Their show has become a kind of survey of the roots of Americana music going between the early folk pop hits of Belafonte, into Dylan, Tom Paxton and Steve Goodman songs. A few years ago, Jerry decided to put together a solo show surveying, not only his own story, but the story of American folk music. During the course of his show, Songs and STroies, the the help of Tholow Chan, he covers the beginnings of songs like “This Land Is Your Land,” building the story through the songs development along with it’s political stirrings and Woody Guthrie’s motivation in writing it as the common man’s answer to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America.” This just one example of the surveys that then yeild laughter, thought, insight and most of all, audience sing-along.
Jerry’s first solo album, Songs and Stories, released in June on Global Aritsts…, highlights the songs from this show and pay tribute to the songs and artists who have influenced him most.