Chris Burks was born in 1977 and lived up and down the east coast before settling in Houston, Texas in 1991. He grew up an early fan of rock and pop music and began his music career banging out popular music on the family piano. By high school Chris had set his sights on the guitar and began teaching himself to play and sing. While attending Texas A&M University Chris founded his first project, 24-7, a three piece original rock act that played regular gigs on the Northgate strip. 

After earning his degree in Architecture, Chris left Texas in May of 2000 and spent his next 5 years in Florida pursuing his career as well as his music. His projects included the Tampa rock band Pure, and soon after, the Jacksonville based modern rock cover band, Dial 9. In addition to playing regular weekend spots, the band also played several high profile festival slots in its 3 year stretch with Chris on lead vocals and guitar. In additional to the Dial 9 gigs, Chris also spent his Monday nights in 2004 playing in an acoustic duo where he solidified his rhythm playing and back up vocals more extensively. Chris returned to Texas in 2005 and joined Just Cause in November of that year as the full time bassist and back up vocalist.