Tre Burt

Based in Sacramento, Tré Burt is a folk singer and songwriter whose descriptive, well-traveled narratives fall into the tradition of American troubadours like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, and John Prine. Prine, in fact, was so struck by his music that he signed Burt to his own Oh Boy imprint and gave the younger singer’s debut a national release in early 2020. Burt followed it up a year later with his sophomore set, You, Yeah You. Shifting his approach, the singer’s third album, 2023′s Traffic Fiction, was inspired by classic soul and rock.
A penchant for rambling and a succession of blue-collar jobs (maintenance technician, UPS worker, servicer of airplanes at SFO) paved the road to Burt’s career as a folk singer. Matching a loose and earthy playing style with poetic, observational lyrics, Burt’s Dylan-esque sensibilities were apparent, though he ultimately brought his own set of unique life experiences to the nine songs that make up his debut album, Caught It from the Rye. Initially self-released, the record caught the attention of John Prine’s Oh Boy Records, which reissued it in January 2020. A critical success, Burt was scheduled to support it with an international tour when the COVID-19 pandemic ground everything to a halt. Over the ensuing months, he observed the unfolding events across the globe, responding to the racial tension and police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor with the poignant stand-alone single “Under the Devil’s Knee.” He also headed into the studio to record his next album, You, Yeah You, which was released by Oh Boy in August 2021. Burt continued to tour and offered up the intense standalone single “Know Your Demons” in 2022. He also began working on a new album that marked a sonic shift away from his folky roots. Singles like “Santiago” and “Kids in tha Yard” saw Burt relying more on rock and classic soul to tell his stories. The full-length Traffic Fiction arrived in October of 2023. ~ Timothy Monger