New England Music Scrapbook
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Kathy Burkly -- by the time her old group, Girls' Night Out, broke up -- had "grown into a powerhouse percussionist, capable of nailing down the stray ends in a song with as much assurance as she shows letting loose with a daredevil solo." So wrote Sally Cragin in the September 25, 1987, issue of the Boston Phoenix.
Burkly was a member of Chuck McDermott's popular band, Wheatstraw, back in the late 1970s when Boston had a vibrant country-rock community. She performed on "S.R.O.: Recorded Live at Jonathan Swift's" (LP, Back Door, 1977), a splendid album that did much to document that era. McDermott says, "It was not Kathy's vision to merely keep time. She saw her instrument as an integral part of the arrangement of the song. She wanted to hit the accents, set up transitions, and drive the dynamics of the song. She made the drums an exciting, vital part of what we did."
Burkly is well known, too, for backing local country music star, John Lincoln Wright.
On the GNO record, "Girls' Night Out" (EP, GNO, 1986), "Love Under Pressure" is a stand-out track. Burkly drove that number with some powerful percussion. In one lovely passage, the instruments drop out and the voices sing over Burkly's simple but strong beat. Then the other players answer the call of the drums and Girls' Night Out finishes with a tight, rocking, feverish performance.
Kathy Burkly joined Myanna's new jazz/R&B group in 1990. Then in 1993, she played in the band that backed Sandy Martin at the Charles Playhouse in the hit show, "A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline." It was a novel experience to have her drums stay in the same place for so long. And Burkly took advantage of the opportunity this provided for more regular practice sessions. "Quite a shock!" she said. "Practicing is very different from playing--it really builds your vocabulary." And she has made it an important part of her routine ever since.
A few years ago, Burkly relocated to Nashville. That city has a small jazz community, but it includes some excellent musicians; and Burkly has been doing a number of gigs with them. She is working on a compact disc with Beth Sass and John Mahoney. Veteran Bostonians may remember Sass from the time she lived in the area years ago. Burkly says, "She is very much in the Janis Ian, Carole King, Jewel sort of vein -- some really interesting songs that 'have a beat' but are lyrically deep." Recently she had fun, too, playing on a demo in a session for T.G. Shepherd.
Burkly was the percussive center of the excellent band that recently backed Maine singer-songwriter David Mallett on his newest compact disc, "Ambition" (CD, Flying Fish, 1999), which successfully explores that popular form of music where country meets folk. The rhythms are occasionally complex, with the guitar and drums, or sometimes the bass and drums, seemingly playing off one another. The fine Mallett album -- with its tasty, spare production and standout songs, such as "You Can't Go Home Again" and the title track, "Ambition" -- will help to keep Kathy Burkly's drum-beats in the ears and in the hearts of her many New England fans. -- Alan Lewis
Contact:DrumGals@aol.com
This article was published in the 7/27/2000 issue of the old Boston Rock and Roll Museum Newsletter.
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