Local singer philosophical about making the big time

Unlike many 20-year-olds, Brooke Burrows knows what she wants to do with the rest of her life. In fact, she has known since she was a child.

"I've always sung, that's all I ever wanted to do," said the Jackson native, who now resides in Scott City.

Burrows is bringing her country music vocals to Tunes at Twilight tonight, the only Cape Girardeau show she has played since her days of performing at the SEMO District Fair.

Before she started playing before crowds at the fair, Burrows was entering talent competitions in Jackson, something Burrows said was all her idea and not done at the urging of her parents. She was 11 when she began.

When she was about 15, Burrows won a talent competition in St. Louis that sent her to a competition in Las Vegas, which she also won. "That's when I started doing bigger shows and got a band," she said.

Burrows said she has no intention of moving to Nashville, Tenn., and is kept busy with appearances and shows while living in Southeast Missouri.

On June 1, Burrows will open for well-known country artists Joe Diffie and Mark Chesnutt in St. Joseph, Mo., and then take some time off.

"I've not had a break in a couple of months," she said.

Burrows has also worked with the band .38 Special, who wrote several songs that Burrows recorded in 2002. Burrows teamed up with the Southern rock band after they heard her sing at the SEMO District Fair in 2002.

Although she has recorded a handful of songs, Burrows does not yet have a record deal.

"It's a very slow process," she said. It is a process Burrows said she will continue to put a lot of hard work into, but she is philosophical about big-time success.

"I'm waiting to see what comes my way and if it is meant to be, then it will happen," she said. "I've accomplished a lot more than I ever thought I would by this time."

kalfisi@semissourian.com

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