About
My parents started me on the violin when I was two and a half years old, I started fiddling in high school, and I picked up my mom’s ukulele when I was in college. I started writing songs in earnest as soon as I could bang out chords on the guitar.
From 2001-2011, I wrote songs, played the guitar and fiddle, and performed on stages across this country and a few others. I recorded one EP (IDAHO), and three full-length albums, THE IN-BETWEEN, THIEVES, and SILVER AND ASH. SILVER AND ASH was released by Rounder Records in September, 2010 and was featured in the New York Times and on NPR. I played my last show in April 2015.
Though I continue to write and occasionally record, I am happily retired from the business of music. My current projects involve exploring the relationships between my music and my sculptural practice.
Praise for Silver and Ash
“A softly devastating suite of songs that reveal themselves with the slow grace of an antique music box. There’s a story here, subtle but persistent, about the people who came before us, and the miracle of our births”
Clare Burson: Songs Of A Haunted Past by Jeff Lundin, NPR
“Clare Burson first crossed our radar with her swooning cover of the Arcade Fire’s “We Used to Wait.” We fell instantly in love with the Brooklyn songwriter and now she’s back with a couple cover premieres. This woman is on a roll. Just last week the New York Times compared her recent cheese-inspired album Silver & Ash with Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising. High praise.” – Ray Padgett, MTV
“In “Silver and Ash,” 28 years of questioning, studying and mourning have been channeled into song, yielding an unusual cultural hybrid: an American album of popular music devoted to the theme of the Holocaust.” – Susan Dominus, The New York Times“
“[Burson’s] charms are irrefutable, and once encountered, they linger long after those last precious notes fade away.” – Lee Zimmerman, Blurt
“[Clare’s] music is fantastic. Her style is real folkie, but her background is decidedly indie. She somehow manages in [SILVER AND ASH] to put in equal parts emotion and hook. It’s quite astounding.” – Carson Daly, Last Call With Carson Daly
“Clare Burson plays simple, twangy ballads that subtly reinvent Americana, standing clear of sterile country cliches, and instilling in the genre a powerful dose of melancholy. So powerful that the song “Goodbye My Love” may prove to be a dangerous listening experience on a rainy day like this… Clare’s melodies are supported by her gentle alto, at times reminiscent of an early Joni
Mitchell with a slight lower register.” – The Deli Magazine
Listen
WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE was written in the early days of the Covid Pandemic. The title of Clare’s first solo gallery show, From Some Other Time, takes its name from this song, as do the works that comprise the show. The track was recorded in 2022 by Leo Sidran in Brooklyn, NY.
Electric bass, Wurlitzer, percussion - Leo Sidran
Vocals, acoustic guitar - Clare Burson
(c) 2022 Clare Burson
BELLS is a stand-alone track, written and recorded in May 2021, as the Covid pandemic began to recede in the United States. The track was recorded and mixed by Mark Spencer at the Tape Kitchen in Brooklyn, NY.
Electric guitar, lap steel, bass - Mark Spencer
Vocals, rhythm guitar, strings - Clare Burson
(c) 2021 Clare burson
