A Ridgefield tween picked up songwriting to cope with the pandemic. He now has a music video out on VEVO

RIDGEFIELD — When his hockey season was canceled in the early stages of the pandemic, Macklin Burke changed his tune to stave off quarantine boredom. The then 11-year-old Ridgebury Elementary School student began tinkering with a $50 keyboard that was laying around the house, and picked up chords and melodies as time went on. Today, Burke’s music video for his original song, “I Don’t Know How to Write a Lovesong,” is available on the premier music video channel VEVO. The now 12-year-old Scotts Ridge Middle School student said he was inspired to follow in his father’s footsteps — Jimmy Landry, Burke’s father, who was a musician when he was younger. When writing the music and lyrics for “Lovesong,” Burke said the challenge of finding the right words to say ultimately became the hook. “I’m at the age now where I can start writing love songs, but I didn’t know what to write as lyrics,” he said. “Then I thought (that’d) be a good hook, so I started to play a couple chords, found a cool melody (and built) off of that for the verses.” After recording the song in Landry’s home studio, Burke received positive feedback from a few music industry executives who encouraged him to make a music video. The family filmed in different locations they visited during summer break. “Sherry, my wife, played the song on her cell phone, I’d be recording the video and Mack would (sing) in different places,” Landry said. “We didn’t have any big expectations, but it was a fun family project to do, especially through these crazy COVID days.” “Lovesong” was filmed in Portland, Maine, Chicago, Ill., on a lake in Wisconsin and at Lover’s Leap State Park in New Milford. Though the music video has only been out for a few weeks, “Everyone we’ve shown it to said they loved the story line,” Burke said. As the video gained momentum on VEVO, Burke was invited to sing the National Anthem during a recent Danury Hat Tricks game at the Danbury Ice Arena. Burke plays for the Western Junior Colonials but has long wanted to start “a real hockey game” with a song, he said. While Burke is unsure of what his next song will be about, he said he’s definitely going to write more. He acknowledged that music helped him “stay positive” during the pandemic, and encouraged others to find something to help them “keep going,” too. “With music, anytime you can make something out of nothing and put a smile on someone’s face it’s a cool thing,” Landry said. “It’s a piece of art that’s always gonna be around … and as time goes on he’ll be able to look back (and remember we) did something fun together.” To watch the music video for “I Don’t Know How to Write a Lovesong,” go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I2UziZsAdg.

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