He is ready for Blame My Roots.
“I have my plan.”
He knows the songs he will sing.
“I have about a half an hour, so I have seven songs ready to go,” explained local performer Luke Burkhardt. “If I am running out of time, I know which one of the seven I will throw out.”
He’s been on stage before, but even he admits today will be different.
“It’s going to be the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of,” Burkhardt said. “But I am ready.”
Burkhardt was invited to the main stage of the 2021 Blame My Roots Country Music Festival more than a month ago after his first album, “Postcard,” debuted near the Top 10 in an online country music poll. At 5:15 p.m., he will take the stage before Walker Montgomery, Adam Doleac, Jo Dee Messina, and Neal McCoy.
“As someone who attended Jamboree in the Hills for many years, I love what the Dutton family is doing with Blame My Roots,” he said. “I know they made some decisions about the coolers, but it’s the way the business is operated these days. Whether I get to play again or not, I would love to see Blame My Roots become the new summer tradition in Belmont County.”
27 Minutes
Among the seven songs on his setlist, a few are brand new.
“I’ve written some new stuff, and the first time I will perform them for other people will be (today),” he said on “Steve Novotney Lives” on Thursday. “So, we’ll see how that works out.”
When Burkhardt performs, he plays his original songs and not covers. It is not that he does not like the tunes produced by other country music artists, but instead because his songs are about where he lives and what he experiences.
“There have been times when I can write a song in 10 minutes, and other times when it takes a lot longer,” he explained. “One of the songs I will sing at Blame My Roots is a perfect example. A line of it came to me about a year ago, but I just finished it last week. That’s how it works for me.
“And I do it all in my head, too,” Burkhardt continued. “Very seldom do I write them down. They just stick in my mind.”
He will be alone today on the BMR main stage, but that’s OK with him.
“It’s how I play the vast majority of my shows,” Burkhardt said. “It’s what I’m used to. If I mess it up, there won’t be anyone else to blame. It’s all on me.”
