Belleville East graduate hosts Web music show

Chris Menn didn’t want to wait for someone in Nashville to “discover” him and give him his dream job as a music show host.

So the former Belleville resident created his own show on the Internet and began inviting local singers, songwriters and musicians to perform and give interviews.

“We’ve had 20,000 views in the past year and a half, which I think is pretty good,” said Chris, 28, who goes by the stage name Chris Burkmenn, a combination of his middle and last names.

He had been living in Nashville about four years when he premiered “The Chris Burkmenn Experience” at www.thecbex.com in 2013.

Since that time, he and a small production staff have taped about 30 episodes at music venues and other locations in the Nashville area, volunteering much of their time.

One of Chris’s biggest fans is Suzzane “Mama Sue” Skinner, 55, an audience casting director, image consultant and entertainment marketing specialist who has taken him under her wing.

“(Chris has) done quite an impressive job with no marketing dollars, just word of mouth,” she said. “He’s found sponsors and used his own money.”

Chris is the son of Stacy Burk Schaller, of Belleville, and Mike and Emily Menn, of Fairview Heights.

As a boy, he loved music and the MTV show “Total Request Live,” where hosts took viewer requests for music videos.

“Other boys wanted to be baseball players and things like that, and Chris just wanted to be an interviewer,” said stepmom Emily Menn, 46, a first-grade teacher at Illini Elementary School.

Chris graduated from Belleville East in 2005. After going through computer training at Hickey College in St. Louis, he became a clerk at A.G. Edwards, a job he found “mundane.”

A.G. Edwards was acquired by Wells Fargo Advisors, which sent him to Nashville to be a bank teller. He later worked as publications assistant for a non-denominational Christian ministry.

Today, Chris waits tables at Logan’s Roadhouse and works freelance for Skinner, filling audience seats for productions such as the Country Music Association award show and CMT Hot 20 Countdown.

“I’m impressed with his work ethic,” Skinner said. “He’s one of the few in the ‘family’ of young people that I hire on a regular basis. They have to work hard to work for me.”

“The Chris Burkmenn Experience” features artists in country, pop, rock and other genres. Some, like singer-songwriter Carly Pearce, have appeared more than once.

The show revolves around the Nashville music scene, but Chris still encourages Belleville residents to check it out.

“Right now, it’s a web series,” he said. “But we are planning on creating a network. We want to have shows besides ‘The Chris Burkmenn Experience.’”

Mike and Emily Menn have noticed a dramatic increase in the quality of camera work and other production aspects of the show in the past year and a half.

They also think Chris is a great interviewer, mainly because he’s personable and easy to talk to in real life.

“Chris definitely has a vision,” Emily said. “He knows what direction he’s going, and he’s been blessed with people willing to help him.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 5:19 AM with the headline "Belleville East graduate hosts Web music show."