Sue Burkhart and Ed Vadas: The Players
Ameri-MF-cana - Sue Burkhart - Ed Vadas
Equally comfortable in Florida Key's Clubs and Tiki Bars as they are performing in a mountain top country bar in western PA... they warm to any music loving audience. A Sunday afternoon performance as part of Wesleyan College's acoustic concert series, an evening porformance at the famed De Cordova Art Museum, a show in a NYC's "grenwich village" showroom, or a small coffeehouse, restaurant, bar or house concert in your living room... makes no difference. These two just want to play great roots music and have some fun!
Northampton, MA transplants, Sue Burkhart and Ed Vadas love playing their own tunes and great and odd songs from the roots of American music. The Ledbelly tune "Poor Howard", Dylan's "I'll be your baby tonight!", Duke Ellington's "Do Nothing Til You Hear From Me" to Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving you again!", Tom Wait's "Jersy Girl", and the old Stringband favorite "Who Broke the Lock on the Henhouse Door" have been embraced by people who love the duos eclectic approach.
The repertoire also includes other styles... a couple of jazz scat tunes a la Lambert, Hendrix and Ross, some great blues tunes, a number of original tunes penned by Sue or Ed, a smattering of bluegrass, and traditional folk, all punctuated with the blues music they love!
That deep love of roots music drove them to learn the varied styles and be able to play and sing them with feeling the tunes deserve. They easily traverse these many genres remaining "authentic"in their approach, giving up musical perfection for feel and honesty on every turn, a sort of perfection of itself. Sue's command of the jazz and classical guitar and her doubling on the mandolin and Ed's mastery of the old blues and finger-picking guitar styles and his harmonica skills, allows the duo to explode on stage as well as on this CD with grand musical excitement.
Both musicians sing somewhere on most every song, often employing a sort of "blues" or "red neck" harmony. Still, on other tunes they get "downright pretty"! And that is the half of it!
The other side of "Ameri-MF-cana" is the way the personalities collide on stage... both Sue and Ed have no problem saying anything that pops into their mind.... they have been known to find something funny and just laugh uncontrolably for what seems minutes before they can continue. They don't really want to advertise that they are funny, but given the opportunity, it gets "fair to partly funny" sometime in most every unplanned outing.
If you are lucky, you will catch Papa Lou on washtub bass and spoons at a live gig near you!
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Ed Vadas - The "M" in Ameri-MF-cana
Born in Worcester, Massachusetts on September 26, 1944, Ed Vadas had just begun his life when the music of the day was thrust upon him by his three teenage sisters. His brother was in the service and left his, fairly hip for the time, record collection of prime 78’s behind for Ed to cut his teeth on, and play. Years later Ed realized he was listening and spinning swing, county and folk tunes from the 30s and 40s. From age two till five, he would act as DJ for his three sisters for hours while they cut a rug in the living room. When, in later years, folks would ask Ed how he came to have this extraordinary feel for blues music, he referred back to his brother’s record collection subliminally pounding those grooves and feels into his sub-conscious as a possible answer.
Although he always loved music, especially the “B” sides of hit records and roots music of all kinds, Ed never played an instrument until his senior year in high school. Never thinking he could be good enough, It was the folk song revival of the early, pre British invasion, 60’s that really propelled Ed into wanting to play an instrument. He used to go down to the public library after school and listen to the Library of Congress recordings of American Folk and Blues. Ed would bring songs to friends who played various instruments and attempt vocal renditions of the roots music he recalled.
Sometime in 1962, Ed saw Fritz Richmond play washtub bass with the Charles River Valley Boys at the Hatch Memorial Shell in Boston. The next day he bought the pieces and assembled one for himself, six months later he discovered the 5 String Banjo, and six months after that, the guitar. Bob Dylan erupted on the scene and Ed bought a harmonica and rack.
In 1963, Ed began a four-year stint in the Air Force. After basic and technical training, he found plenty of time to hone his musical skills. He first performed at an open hoot at the Cellar in Levittown NJ. If you played three songs, you got your admission back and a coffee. Ed performed to no applause. One guy said “Don’t worry…at least you have guts!” Ed continued to perform and achieved measures of success with each try.
1966 was an interesting year for many reasons as Ed was sent to Viet Nam for a year. Too many things occurred that year to relate here, but musically Ed hit a milestone. He entered and won a Talent Contest and was transferred to the Army to perform over a hundred shows for mostly forward area troops whose location prevented USO shows to safely perform. It was an unbelievable experience for one who was never in a band or a war.
Soon after returning home in 67, Ed and some old friends formed the “Billingsgate Blues Band”, with Ed as bass and vocals. He then gained more experience by playing a succession of solo folk gigs, then the “Off White Blues Band”, “Big City Blues Band”, "Electic Blues Band", and the "Ambrosia Blues All- Stars" as front man and harp player. More solo stuff and then the “Music and Madness Trio”, a sort of hip Jug band with humor. Then back to more solo stuff, followed by the “12 bar Symphony” Blues, Roots, humor and a bouquet of tunes penned by Ed. Followed by more solo and some stand-up and skit comedy.
Interspersed throughout the intersection of the 70’s and 80’s, he obtained bit parts in a few movies; “The Money Pit”, “Svengali”, “Nothing Lasts Forever” and “Gilda Live”.
In the early 80’s,with Ed writing many of the songs, arranging others, while performing all the duties of bandleader and manager, the “Fabulous Heavyweights” emerged as his most successful band and continues to this day.
The recording studio has become a milieu of comfort for the big guy. Recording seven albums of his materials. As a record producer, he has also done well, producing his last four albums, co-producing the other three, and producing three CDs for the band “Tagyerit”, one of which was selected as one of the top ten albums by Guitar Player Magazine the year it was released. He has also produced three other CDs, two by the legendary blues keyboardist Steven Miller. Ed has also been called in to produce odd tracks on various other CDs.
Late in 2006, Ed and his wife Jane met Sue Burkhart at one of her solo gigs. They hit it off and soon Sue was taking a few lessons from Ed on singing and some of his rootsy and bluesy guitar techniques. Sue was already a master at classical and jazz forms. From the start, it seemed Sue and Ed were a strong musical match, sharing many of the same performance ethics and philosophies. When Ed's wife Jane suggested they put a duo together and perform for the public, the lessons immediately turned to rehersals. And now we have "Ameri-MF-cana".
Approaching 63 years, Ed is still ready to travel and perform. but, with Sue they hope to bring their expertise to colleges and institutions where they can do shows, lectures, forums, and workshops.
Sue Burkhart - The "F" in Ameri-MF-cana
Born and raised in the rolling hills of Lancaster County farm country, Pennsylvanian, Sue Burkhart was drawn to and began studying and playing the guitar at an age when most kids are still drooling.
Four years later, while attending public school, the music teacher/orchestra leader attempted to recruit Sue to join the orchestra. Sue asked the man what he thought was the most difficult instrument to learn to play. He responded that he thought the oboe was the most difficult. By age fourteen Ms Burkhart was playing oboe in various orchestras throughout the state.
When it came time for college, Sue stayed local and received a B. A. degree in English and History from Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA in 1984. While in college, she began to study bluegrass mandolin and guitar from a local country and bluegrass band leader.
For grad school, Sue decided to throw herself headlong into guitar, opting to study classical guitar styles in Conneticut, where, in 1987, she received a Masters of Music/Performance from the reknown Hartt School of Music/University of Hartford. She studied classical guitar from noted masters: Oscar Ghiglia, David Leisner, David Tannenbaum, and Alan Spriestersbach.
Her jazz knowledge was acrued from various junkies who hung around the campus. (who knows where she got her sense of humor)
Since 1987, much of her time has been filled with passing her knowledge onto others, as she remains on the teaching staff at Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT and the Community Music School of Springfield, Springfield, MA. Sue also has had a private studio which opened in 1995. Noteably she taught at the National Guitar Summer Insititute, New Milford, CT in 1998.
Always leaving time in her schedule to perform, Sue has appeared with artists Preston Reed, Ani DiFranco, Adrian Legg, Howard Levy and Trio Globo. She has been a guest artist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra, and the New World Consort, and she has featured artist featured artist on several radio appearances througghout New England.
With six locally produced albums and a myriad of solo jazz and classical gigs under her belt, Sue is still finding time to progress in other areas.
Sue is ocasionally asked to be the sideperson for reputable singer-songwriter Brooks Williams when she is not being the guitar player for the east coast touted latin band Viva Quetzal or fronting her rockband Superkart, which is the outlet for Sue’s original music
Her latest project is developing a sort of “Americana” duo with good friend and cohort Ed Vadas, who has been playing roots and blues music on the chitlin circuit for over 30 years. Their personalities and musical styles mesh seemlessly in an eclectic repertoire that calls on the personal strengths of each performer. While the duo will perform the usual coffeehouse and bar gigs, Sue and Ed are hoping to bring this project to various festivals and colleges where they may conduct workshops, demonstrations and concerts.