Tyler Burkum

Musical career

Tyler Burkum began his professional career in 1997 as the lead guitarist for the band Audio Adrenaline. He was seventeen years old at the time and was working as a dishwasher at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He auditioned for Audio Adrenaline after a friend recommended him to the band. Burkum had never heard of Audio A before, but he scrambled to prepare for the audition and soon after joined the band on their summer tour. With his new sound added to the band, they released the extremely successful Some Kind of Zombie. Two years later, they released Underdog, which became one of their biggest hits. Burkum took on more and more roles within the band, including singing and songwriting. In addition to Audio Adrenaline, Burkum also found time to write, record, and tour with other artists and bands.

The band won Best Rock Gospel Album for Worldwide at the 46th Grammy Awards and Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album for Until My Heart Caves In at the 48th Grammy Awards. They also won Best Rock Recorded Song at the 2000 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards for "Get Down," written by Mark Stuart, Bob Herdman, Will McGinniss, Ben Cissell, and Burkum.

Since 2006, Burkum has been playing guitar for Mat Kearney (Universal Republic) as well as the band Wild Sweet Orange (Canvasback), and opening for artists such as John Mayer, Keane, Lenny Kravitz, and Sheryl Crow while playing with Mat Kearney.

Burkum has also been active in solo work. In late 2006, he released a self-titled demo album and a full-length record on May 27, 2008. His song "End of the Road" was featured on the 2008 season 5 finale of One Tree Hill.

In the fall of 2010, Burkum played a few shows with a new band called Leagues, formed with Thad Cockrell on lead vocals, Jeremy Lutito on drums, and Mike Simons on bass. The band went into the studio in late 2010 / early 2011 with Vance Powell engineering to track a few songs, some of which would be released on a future EP. Burkum and Lutito had both toured as part of Mat Kearney's backing band, while Simons and Cockrell had been playing together for a few years. Mike Simons left the band in December 2011 to spend more time at home. On June 28, 2011, Leagues released a three-song EP and later scheduled a few select dates for August 2011 in support of the EP. Following that, it was announced that Leagues would be the opening act on Mat Kearney's fall U.S. tour.

In 2012 Burkum performed and toured with Missy Higgins, and from 2013 to 2015 he performed with Nashville band Leagues.

Burkum was on Mat Kearney's Just Kids Tour in 2015.

Personal life

Burkum currently resides with his wife and their three sons in New Brighton, Minnesota.

Albums