Stuart Michael Burns began playing during the Great Folk Revival in 1960. A native of New York, he traveled to New Orleans, then the Caribbean, followed by California where he met his musical mentor, the legendary Rolf Cahn.

In 1980, after hearing the music of Townes Van Zandt, he moved to Austin, Texas. He performed and helped to manage Chicago House, where he developed his signature earthy vocal and guitar styles. In 2007, Stuart moved to the Texas gulf coast town of Rockport, hosting a weekly jam session at the world-renowned Rialto Theatre, and performing throughout Texas.
Founder and lead vocalist of the Gulf Coast’s renowned band Four Minute Ride, Stuart Burns has performed and composed for more than fifty years. His latest CD, Island Off the Coast of Hell, is scheduled for release December 10th at the Rialto Theater in Aransas Pass, Texas. .

Stuart is a master of the narrative song, dramatic and humorous, including Erika, the tale of the shrimper’s wife, Alvin and Billie, a murder ballad set in the Texas Hill Country, and Darlene, about a beauty queen abducted by the King of the shrimp.
Stuart lives in Austin.