Song Spotlight: Chase Burnett's Penny I Promise (a night at The Fable)

Chase Burnett was the opening performer for Ryan Pollie's first 2026 showcase at The Fable. He's Texan born and currently living in Los Angeles. He wanted to spend a month in Oakland, but will have to stick it out in Los Angeles for awhile as someone stole his catalytic converter. Though I do believe his current home base is Los Angeles, it would seem he spends significant time away from the city, as his Instagram page indicated that he spent a month or more in Austin, Texas. Time to time, when doing these write-ups and the corresponding research, I do notice the travel that various musicians do in life (beyond just touring), and I do say it gives me that travel itch. 

Chase Burnett at The Fable

Anyways, my research did come up with the fact that Burnett has two artistic avenues: portrait photography and music. You can see his photography website here. Based on his Bandcamp page, he's been releasing music since 2011.

Maybe I was imagining it, but I feel like a couple of his songs mentioned railway tracks. Does he have a fascination with trains? He wore safety reflective tape on his jeans that one might find worn by those working on a railroad or on an airport runway. 

Comment of the night: Anybody have any questions . . . [pause] . . . nobody ever asks.

Chase Burnett at The Fable

With his Gretsch guitar, his singer-songwriter tunes hit the sweet spot between folk and bluegrass that focused on storytelling. A recently demo called "Lay Off" has a soft blues feel with the lyrics, "I ran out of money again. I've tapped out all of my family and my friends." What better down and out lyrics are those.

His most recent Bandcamp release (he only has two songs up on Spotify) is "Penny I Promise." It is a 2 minute 54 second gem with a daydreaming horse ride along side a stream opening. It has to be the song spotlight, because . . . pennies are disappearing from circulation. 

Chase Burnett at The Fable

The song mentions railroads and Texas. 

Sometimes I think
Sitting on trains across the water.

His set was played before an attentive audience where the only sounds came from the bartender pouring drinks. I do suppose he would have loved an interruption via a question shouted out during his guitar tuning for the Tom Petty cover.

Partial Setlist: Long Nights, I Feel I Could Kill, Bottom of the Hill, Change the Locks (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover), Lay Off, Penny I Promise, Apocalypse, Colorado.