Posted 2014-12-13 6:17 PM (#503765) Subject: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago
My dear friend and partner in Guitarfire took his life this morning (12/13/14). He lost a long fight with depression. It is hard to fathom that the music's over!
Posted 2014-12-14 12:48 AM (#503775 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago
Thanks to everyone for the compassion. I feel most for his kids (four: 19, 24, 24, 28): still young and vulnerable! Our last gig was the wedding of his daughter not even two months ago...
Posted 2014-12-14 7:58 AM (#503779 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: October 2005 Posts: 5331
Location: Cicero, NY
Absolutely tragic news, Greg. I am so sorry and my sympathies go out to his family and to you as well. Please don't believe the music is over. The music you and Jeff made was beautiful, touched many and will live on.
Posted 2014-12-15 8:19 AM (#503799 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: December 2005 Posts: 247
Location: Seacoast NH
That's just awful to hear, my sincere condolences. Its an insidious disease that has impacted my life as well. I hope you have someone you can talk to -- it definitely helps.
Posted 2014-12-15 10:24 AM (#503801 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: March 2005 Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho
This is a depressing time of year for many people, especially for those who already suffer from depression. It's sad that Jeff couldn't make it through. My heart goes out to his family.
Posted 2014-12-15 10:58 PM (#503825 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: October 2014 Posts: 7
Greg, though I didn't know you or Jeff before this thread, I'm in tears now, after seeing and hearing the two of you via the clip OMA kindly posted. I lost my duo partner (who was also my wife) to cancer in 1986, so I think I have some sense of how you must be feeling. Two of the Ovations now in my custody (Balladeer and Legend 12) were hers.
I hope you can find some comfort in treasuring the too-brief time you shared, and in knowing you made magic together.
Posted 2014-12-16 7:20 AM (#503827 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: January 2006 Posts: 2120
Location: Chicago
Thanks again for your heartfelt responses. I met Jeff on March 6, 2006 right here on the OFC and then in person . . . Here he is in another video playing a favorite tune:
Posted 2014-12-16 3:23 PM (#503838 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: October 2014 Posts: 147
Location: Wayne, NJ
Condolences to Jeff's family and his musical partner. Being new to the board, I didn't know Jeff. Being a fan of guitar playing, I hope his loved ones can take solace that his music is an inspiration. It is truly a joy to listen to.
Posted 2014-12-19 9:19 AM (#503922 - in reply to #503765) Subject: RE: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: November 2011 Posts: 741
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Every year when the anniversary of Elvis' death is announced I know how long it has been since my father's death. He killed himself two months before Elvis died and was the same age as him. I know firsthand the impact a suicide has on the remaining family and I wish this man's family well in a time of profound grief. I understand his plight. Statistics say that as the oldest son of a man who killed himself I have a 7 times greater chance of doing the same. I've been to the edge of that fence more than once. The relentless questioning of yourself you do when a family member commits suicide is overwhelming. "What did I miss the last time I saw him? What could I have said? Why didn't I see it coming?". There are no answers to those questions. Look at the nationwide shock when Robin Williams killed himself. It is usually entirely out of the blue with no advance indication. Depression makes, among other things, a great deceiver out of its sufferer. You become very adept at masking your symptoms and hiding your intent from those around you. You convince yourself nothing they have to say can help you anyway and yet you leave behind people who are bewildered that you never asked for any help from them. After all you knew how much they loved you. If you know a depressed person do everything in your power to get them talking to you. Ask them outright if they are considering harming themself. I had a cousin within this past year who made comments that caused me suspicion he was contemplating killing himself. I said nothing. Fortunately after he hung himself he was found quickly enough that the police were able to cut him down and he has shown none of the anticipated brain damage. I can't escape the feeling I missed a chance to stop him. Never take any suspicious comment from a depressed person lightly, no matter how innocuous it might seem. You just might be the one that gets them far enough down the road to see that their life has more meaning than they thought.
Posted 2014-12-19 1:39 PM (#503928 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: June 2011 Posts: 12
Location: New Jersey
Deepest condolences. My brother, who was also my musical partner, died about this time last year. We played together from the time our folks bought us our first guitars in our early teens - almost 50 years. The sense of loss, on every level, is profound. Hang onto the music, in the music they live on. God bless. Bob
Posted 2014-12-25 7:50 PM (#504125 - in reply to #503765) Subject: Re: RIP Jeff Burns
Joined: April 2008 Posts: 1851
Location: Newington, CT
Greg: I'm so very sorry to hear this! Your collaborations with Jeff and with others -- especially with Jerry Goodman -- are all interactions at a truly profound level. Every time I listen to you and Jeff play, or to you, Jeff and Jerry, I hear something new and wonderful. You and Jeff made that happen because you were so in tune with each other on all those different levels. What a terrible loss for you, for Jeff's family and for the guitar-playing world! When Jeff, Jerry and you were developing your GuitarFire CD, I used to look forward to Jeff's friendly notes and asides on FB, full of humble, good-natured cheer! I so wish now that the good cheer had taken over in the rest of his life!
In the context of this sad announcement is also the realization that Jeff was a vital participant in some really brilliant musical moments. I still listen raptly to "Black Adamas," "Gathering Storm," "Friendly Fire" and "Burning Questions," -- they're playing now -- and realize what a great collaborator, guitar player and musician Jeff was. You guys forged a very real, very wonderful Dobrov-Burns sound -- at once exotic and melodic, pulsingly rhythmic but lilting, complex yet still accessible. It's painful to think that there won't be more songs in the future with that sound.
Greg: for you he was a good friend and great musical partner; for me he was a cheerful correspondent whose notes always made me smile. I'll never forget him either. His loss at such a young age seems like just such a waste of potential for great music and great good fun. My hope is that those who loved him, and those of us in the guitar-playing world who admired him, can keep all that was good and positive about Jeff first and foremost in our minds and memories.
RIP Jeff Burns
