Today we’d like to introduce you to Stacy Burk.
Hi Stacy , we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Stacy Burk was born in Van Alstyne, TX, to Doyle and Dixie Burk. Stacy began singing and performing music at age 12 with the encouragement of his mother. Soon after, Dixie entered him into his first talent show. Stacy’s mother continued to enter him in various shows, several of which he performed with Leann Rimes.
While in high school, Burk played in a band called “Something Special” and performed at the National Future Farmers of America Convention in front of 24,000 people for two years in a row. Burk won several talent shows across Texas, with one placing him on the Today Show with Willard Scott.
Burk attended Sul Ross State University and received a bachelor’s degree in Equestrian Science. After college, Burk moved to Branson, MO where he played at Silver Dollar City and Mutton Hollow. He later moved to Nashville to pursue a record deal with Warner Bros. Records.
Shortly after, Burk’s mother was diagnosed with cancer. To support his mother while she was terminally ill, Burk moved back to Texas. After his mother died, Burk moved to Colorado, where he started a courier business called “Cowboy Carriers”. As he built his business, he also sang on a Chuck Wagon Show.
After running his courier business, Burk took on the position of Equestrian Director at the Southwest chapter of the Boys & Girls Ranch. While encouraging the boys and girls at the ranch to pursue their dreams, he realized he wasn’t pursuing his own. Not wanting to live with regrets, Burk relocated to Nashville to pursue the dream he gave up years ago.
Music career
On March 25, 2014, Burk released his first single, “Til Your Boots Are Dirty”. On September 16, 2014, Burk released his debut album, Keep Your Dreams Alive. The album was produced by Josh Leo (Martina McBride, Alabama, LeAnn Rimes). Stacy Burk collaborated with Los Angeles-based director Dave West to make the music video for “Til Your Boots Are Dirty”.
The video features Dancing with the Stars veteran Maksim Chmerkovskiy. It was shot at the JMJ Ranch in Thousand Oaks, CA, in November 2013 and released on January 28, 2014. “Til Your Boots Are Dirty” has over 200,000 views.
While pursuing music in Nashville, Stacy was paying the best photographers in the industry for images to promote his music. It was during this period he learned he had a special knack for photography. He spent time in Nashville learning from the same photographers who took pictures of the celebrities and then took his skills out West, where he has always wanted to live.
Stacy’s motto is “The West is the Best”. Nowhere else in the world is there more variety of gorgeous geographical terrain than in the Four Corners region of the United States. From alpine tundra, sprawling canyons, colorful red rocks, and everything in between… the Four Corners has it all.
It was very difficult to make it in the West for several years due to how many photographers there were. Stacy had to work several jobs and do the photography for free on the side. But with hard work and determination, his work started to spread through word of mouth. Burk gives God all the credit for his gifts and helping him get to where he is today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been very difficult to make it in Photography here in the West. Sedona is full of photographers, and my wife and I had to work several jobs in order to survive. We did our photography for free. But over the years, my wife Nitzia and I built a business to be very proud of.
God blessed us with more clients than we knew what to do with and my wife and I were living our dream. That is until we found out my wife developed breast cancer. She had the worst kind… triple negative. We tried everything to beat it. We found a doctor in California that gave us hope. She was not conventional, so the insurance would not cover it.
We ended up giving her our savings, that we were hoping to put a down payment on our first home together. This doctor abandoned us after the surgery. The doctor was supposed to give Nitzia a certain medicine we had paid for in order to keep the cancer away. The doctor kept our money and never gave us the medicine.
After Nitzia passed away, I pursued 6 attorneys to try to go after the doctor for malpractice. The attorneys all turned me down because I couldn’t prove she wouldn’t have died anyway. One Attorney explained to me that these alternative doctors know they have a loophole in the system where they can never get caught. So, they prey on desperate people because they make easy targets.
So, it was very hard to move on without my best friend. I didn’t want to talk to anyone that tried to console me because I knew they didn’t understand what I was going through. There was only one person who did know and that was my Dad. He lost my Mom at around the same age I lost Nitzia and to the same type of cancer. I was hurting so bad after losing Nitzia that I didn’t care to live anymore. I told my Dad what I was going through and what he said saved my life. Not only did it save my life, it gave me the inspiration I needed to live life the way it should be lived. He got on to me and said how dare I want to throw away all the love that’s been poured into me by these 2 amazing ladies… my mother and Nitzia. He reminded me of how blessed I was to know 2 of the most pure hearted and loving women. He said the best thing you can do is honor them by sharing the wonderful love they gave you with others. And when you finally get to heaven, then you can be proud you honored them both. For the first time, I saw things in a whole new light. He was exactly right! I’ve been sharing what I learned from my mother and Nitzia with my clients and people I run into in life. I carry their caring spirit with me and will continue to do so. I want my life to inspire others who have also gone through tremendous loss.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve very grateful to God for how He helped Nitzia and I accomplish together with our photography business in Sedona, Arizona. Besides the photography, I’m also continuing with my country music career. After producing a successful single last year in Nashville, which you can see my music video on YouTube titled, “Together We Ride”, I’m currently writing more songs and planning on going back to Nashville to produce more music very soon.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I spend a lot of time working on improving my skills and myself as a person. I don’t want to waste any time being distracted on wrong things. I keep a pure heart because I believe it’s important to live life to the fullest. I want to be the best for my clients, and I also want to be the person that God can use. To do that, I keep my body healthy and my mind healthy. My mother taught me the Bible verse when I was a boy, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” This verse has helped guide me so many times in my life. Thank you, Mom, for teaching me so many wonderful things!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stacyburkphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacyburkphotography/
- Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/stacyburkphotography/
- Twitter: https://x.com/StacyBurkMusic
- Youtube: youtube.com/c/STACYBURK
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/stacy-burk-photography-sedona-2?osq=stacy+burk+photography&override_cta=Request+quote+%26+availability
- soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cowboy4christ
Image Credits
All Images belong to Stacy Burk Photography
