There isn't a lot of information out there about Wilburn Burchette, but that seems somehow appropriate under the circumstances. We know that he was born in 1939, that he has a beard, and that his music is made on a higher plane, a shifting trance like state of consciousness in which he is in union with what he describes as the 'Godhead'.
His albums are super rare, and tread the fine line between New Age and the Occult, between unique visionary art and scary outsider madness. They also have fantastic titles like 'Occult Concert', 'Guitar Grimoire', 'Psychic Meditation Music' and 'Mindstorm'. He's a genius, basically, but he hasn't made an album since 1977. No-one is quite sure why, except Wilburn, but no-one knows where he is. Where are you, Wilburn?
Here are a couple of tracks from his amazing 1973 record 'Wilburn Burchette Opens The Seven Gates Of Transcendental Consciousness'. He does, too.
Amongst other things, the sleevenotes state that 'now you can experience transcendental consciousness without spending ten years in a Tibetan monastery', which, you have to admit, is a pretty sweet deal.
We're going to have to come back to Wilburn. We're obsessed with him.
I just met Wilburn today. His music that is. Amazing. Some sort of Basho/Jandek love child. But so much more.
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