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Every time he steps on stage, Dallas Burrow dedicates a portion of his set to telling a story about his dad. The New Braunfels native has music in his blood, and he likes to share some of that history. One of his favorite stories to tell is about a night in Nashville in the early 70s, when Burrow’s father, Mike Burrow, was hosting Richard Dobson, John Lomax III, and Townes Van Zandt at a pub he ran with his siblings on Elliston Place near the old Exit/In. After a late night shutting down the bar, the foursome hit an after party, where Van Zandt insisted they all become blood brothers to ensure they’d be forever cosmically linked. Everyone agreed, and perhaps through some mystical, intangible power that often propels so much music, Van Zandt’s style has been transfused into Burrow more than any other artist. After telling the story around that night in Nashville, Burrow can’t help but play at least one Townes song during his sets. As he began writing his stellar new LP, Blood Brothers, Burrow’s friend and producer, Jonathan Tyler, encouraged him to finally turn that touching tribute to his dad into a song. That stirring track became the guiding light and philosophy of his 2023 album of the same name, which is to pay homage to his musical roots, while honoring his familial duties as a husband and father.On the searching, emotive title track, heavy and bold guitar notes interact with a loosely strummed acoustic riff and a star-gazing pedal steel line that give the song an infectious melody. Burrow, in his deep, Cash-like baritone, sings, “Daddy had a scar you wouldn’t believe, like a story he kept up his sleeve/ Sixteen years it took to hear that tale.” While Burrow does a lovely and poetic job setting up the story, it’s the next line that flips the perspective from his father’s world to that of his own: “He said it never would have happened if it weren’t for the booze.” Burrow, on “Blood Brothers,” examines his father’s history, but the true power in the song lies in the effortless translation of his dad’s tale in his own voice. As a four year sober songwriter, Burrow brings a clarity to the song that wasn’t available to him before he got clean. “In the past few years, after spending a lot of my twenties traveling around, being a nomad, I got married and had a son, and my son is now six years old. I got sober. I’m just a different person,” he explains.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
306 Washington St/320 n 4th st , Burlington, IA, United States, Iowa 52601
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