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& XMAS XTRAVAGANZA 2002 PREVIEW A SoundPress.net Feature Article by Richard J. Lynch Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and performing artist Glen Burtnik took time out of his busy schedule – he's in the process of recording two CDs (a solo project and one with Styx); and, he's planning his 12th annual Xmas Xtravaganza benefit concert – to talk with Kweevak.com founder Rich Lynch about songwriting, jamming with the Boss, and his return to Broadway.
Glen Burtnik's 12th Annual Xmas Xtravaganza
 In 2002, Glen Burtnik's Xmas Xtravaganza moves to the B.B. King Blues Club in New York City. KT: Hi Glen. Thanks for taking the time out to talk with Kweevak.com. How's it going? GB: It's going great, man. KT: Tonight are your calling us from the studio? GB: Where am I? I'm home actually. I was in the studio all day and now I'm home. KT: How far are along are you on the new CD? GB: Well, I'm actually recording two CDs at once. I'm doing my solo record, which I'd like to say about one-third but probably only one-quarter of the way through. I'm also working on the new Styx record so it's nice to be busy. KT: What's the recording process with the new Styx CD – are you in the studio with the full-band locally or is it a case of laying your parts down to pre-existing tracks and sending the music back and forth? GB: We've been cutting almost every track together. Each of us tends to stand watching over each other's shoulder as we add our parts. It is a group effort. KT: Your new solo CD – will this be an independent release? GB: Well, to tell you the truth, right now I have plans to release it in Europe only. So, I don't really know if I'll release it in the States or not. Hopefully, eventually, I'm sure I will. I'm just not paying attention to that right now [laughs]. KT: Your fans will still probably be able to pick that up through your website, though, right? GB: Yeah, one way or another, my music is findable. KT: On the subject of your music – your web site has a lot of information about you and loads of cool features including a featured MP3 download of the month. A current offering, 'Drag Me Down', was written with Steve Brown, formerly of Trixter, and now of 40 ft. Ringo (who we'll also be interviewing soon for Kweevak.com). I just heard it and it's a great tune. What was it like working with Steve? GB: It was great. He's a really talented guy. It didn't take long. We just sat down and spit out a song in one or two days and it came out. Every so often we keep in touch. He's busy doing his thing and I'm busy doing mine but that was a fun moment. He's a cool guy, very talented. KT: You've written with a lot of great songwriters and performers including Styx bandmates Tommy Shaw, James Young and Dennis DeYoung; Marshall Crenshaw; Patty Smyth; Lita Ford; Kasim Sulton; Danny Korthcmar; John Waite; Neal Schon; and now Steve Brown – to name a few. How do you approach songwriting when working with new partners – is there noticeable difference with each new co-writer – or do you bring a style and routine to the process? GB: There really is a difference of how I react to each songwriter. I know what my strengths are and I know what my weaknesses are but really a lot of times I just try to help someone else with their vision. If I'm writing a song for myself or my own project, or there's a song that's a pet of mine, that I feel particularly passionate about, I will insist that we try to fulfill my vision for it. But, most of the time collaboration for me, is often helping somebody else fulfill their vision, you know? Simply because, when left on my own I could write the song by myself but when sitting down with another artist, there's a certain type of song that they want to write, and I just enjoy trying to help them get it to where they want it to be. The other thing is, it's really a learning experience to do that. I always end up walking away from a songwriting collaboration having learned something new or some little trick, or at least something that some other songwriter does their way. KT: What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are in a songwriting collaboration scenario? GB: Well, I can't simply put it. I like to fuse ideas and I have a really good sense of melody... you know, I can come up with a melody over anything. So, I'm kind of more on the musical side than the lyrical side, however there's a lot times where I'll sit down with a type of artist that just needs lyrics, they've got all the music. So, then I just become the lyricist. Part of my thing that has worked for me, and at has least kept me occupied in show business, is flexibility and adaptability. KT: You've penned two-number #1 hits – 1992's, 'Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough' with Patty Smyth and recorded by Patty and Don Henley which reached number one on the pop charts; and, in 1998 Randy Travis took your song 'Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man' to number one on the country charts. Can you tell during the writing process that a particular song will do exceedingly well – as these two did? GB: Nope... for the life of me, I can't. I know when I'm proud of a song. So many times I've been really proud of songs that I couldn't get arrested with or just wouldn't fly, so, I really don't trust myself, I'd be a really bad guy to bet on that way. Honestly, I have no clue. I know what I like, I know what I feel good about writing... as a songwriter sometimes you get hung up, you know, "Wow, that was a really great rhyme-scheme I nailed in that song." Well, you know the listener doesn't care about rhyme-schemes so sometimes I get hung up in my own minutia and I'm not really seeing the big picture. But, again, it's kind of like the music I listen to. I like all types of different music and there's some records that I absolutely adore but when I play them for other people they just look at me cross-eyed. So, I understand that music and musical tastes is a very personal thing, so, I'm the last guy that knows my own hits. I'm relatively good with picking what singles on the radio are going to be big hits. But, again there are a lots of artists who I love, and a lot of albums that I love, that nobody's ever heard of. KT: On the subject of songwriting – early in your career you performed in Beatlemania, playing Paul McCartney to Marshall Crenshaw's John Lennon. What were your favorite Beatles songs to play and what do you think are some of the best Beatles songs, in terms of songwriting? GB: Fave to play: Hey Jude, I'm Down (one's where I get to scream)... Fave Beatles songs: Getting Better, Cry Baby Cry, She's Leaving Home, For No One, Within You Without You. KT: Can you give us a top-10 list of your most inspirational musical influences? GB: Well, ten is a lot... I can tell you for sure that Jimi Hendrix is way up there, as are the Beatles. I guess the Beatles would be second to Hendrix. Then comes Bob Dylan. Then I'd say that Todd Rundgren would actually be four. Five would be George Gershwin... I'm gonna leave it at five. KT: Your annual Xmas Xtravaganza benefit concert is moving to Times Square this year coming to the B.B. King Blues Club on December 7th for two big shows. Can you tell our readers a bit about how you got started with this? GB: Well, I think it was about thirteen years ago, or so, I had a show planned for my regular solo band at the Stone Pony and it was in December. I decided to turn the night into a Christmas show so I snuck maybe a dozen Christmas songs into the set, so it kind of took off from there. A couple of years later I said, "I gotta do that again," I missed not doing it each year. So, I turned it into an annual thing and once I announced that it was a Christmas show I said, "You know what, its just got to be a charity thing." I didn't feel right about making a profit off of doing a holiday show. So, we started to raise money for local food banks. I did it a couple of years at the Stone Pony, then I moved it to Club Bene, and then I moved to New York City to the Bottom Line where I was for seven years, and now, I've moved uptown, I keep going north. I have appeared on Broadway before, but I was a fake Beatle at the time, so now I'm like doing my thing, although it's Christmas, so I'm just kind of like turning into Perry Como or Bing Crosby, or something. KT: Since this is an annual event are there any plans to release another volume of Christmas tunes to follow-up 1994's "A Live Christmas Extravananza" CD? GB: Uhm, yeah, I keep threatening to do that. Part of the problem is that it's such a big undertaking each year, everything is working towards the show. Once the show is over, I'm pretty much fried, and the last thing I want to do is sit down and listen to Christmas songs, which would be necessary release a record. I would have to sit down and pick apart the performances and decide which ones were going to go on a record and all that. So, I continue to procrastinate, but, sooner or later it's inevitable... there will be one. KT: We have a lot of readers who are fans of the Jersey shore music scene and Bruce Springsteen. What are some of your best memories from your "Cats on a Smooth Surface" days and what can you tell us about jamming with the Boss? GB: Yeah, well, you know, it's one and the same. Cats was a great band, a lot of people passed through that group. When I was in the group, Bobby Bandiera was in it. Bobby went on to join Southside Johnny and the Jukes. Fran Smith was in it who went on to join the Hooters and it was a really strong group. But, we were primarily a bar cover band. So, it was a great introduction for me into the Jersey shore scene and particularly the Stone Pony, where, probably the biggest thrill, it goes without saying, was jamming with Bruce Springsteen. You know we were the house band, every Sunday night we would play the Stone Pony and Bruce Springsteen would often come down, he'd come and hang out, and then he'd get up on stage. So, there were a number of times when he would get up on stage... my favorite moment with him was, we were doing 'Twist and Shout' and he shouted over to me, he said "take it." It was definitely his moment, he's singing the song, and he lets me take a verse. I just felt honored. I will say this... I remember being really frustrated. We could tell when Bruce was had entered the bar because we would be on stage and suddenly the whole vibe in the room would change. People would rush the stage, suddenly, they would just rush the stage because they wanted to have the best seat in the house, for if and when, Springsteen would get up on stage and jam with us. They would stand there for and hour or so, waiting and waiting and waiting, eventually... these were people that weren't really interested in Cats on a Smooth Surface. So, it was pretty strange, it was like playing a funeral or something, until Springsteen got up. But, it was a great, great learning experience and he's a real gentleman. KT: Your current band, Styx, seems to have been revitalized recently, in part due to the "Arch Allies" co-headlining tours with R.E.O. Speedwagon. Do you see this alliance continuing into the future? GB: Well, you know, it sells a lot of tickets. So, uh, you know anything that makes business I would think we'd continue until it stops making business. I mean, we've done tours without them, with Bad Company, and, we're going out with John Waite and Kansas this coming year. We went out with Billy Squier, lots of different acts, but I do have to admit the shows that we do with R.E.O. seem to sell a lot of tickets, for whatever reason. I guess that they're two groups that are very much from the same era and the same type of people that might really dig the hits of Styx might be the same demographic as people that would dig R.E.O. KT: Earlier you confirmed the answer to my next question... reporting that a new Styx CD is in production. This will be the first studio album to include Dennis DeYoung's replacement, Lawrence Gowan. What should fans expect from the new CD? GB: Well, we're nearing completion on it. It's really a vitalized group. It's a lot more energetic than it possibly ever was. It's also a band that pretty much gets along pretty well. Some of the undercurrent and, in the past there was always some tension in Styx, that's for the most part eliminated now. So, I think it's a more cohesive unit and the songs are pretty good... a good bunch of lyrics. There's pretty good songwriting at this point so I'm happy with it. KT: Glen, Kweevak.com is, in part, a site to help indie musicians get exposure and promotion. You've seen the industry from many sides – as solo artist, a song-writer, and as a member of several bands. What advice do you have for someone trying to make it in the biz today? GB: Stay strong & work hard. Listen to all music – keep an open mind. Work on your craft – always try to find your weakness and improve it. Listen to your own music critically and void of emotion. Find the most influential and encouraging people to play your music for. Sign as few contracts as possible. KT: Thanks again, Glen. Good luck with all of your upcoming projects. GB: Thank you very much. Related Links: For more information on Glen Burtnik and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links (Photo: Christmas group shot by Barb Svachak) -- Glen Burtnik Official Site | Xmas Xtravaganza | Burtnikville | GlenBurtnik – Yahoo | Official Styx Site
 (Originally Published on November 17, 2002) |
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