Preview
THE BURNETTES
Friday, May 27
The Castle Pub
Rock ’n’ roll history is littered with messy breakups and stunning albums that are created as a result. It’s not as common to have a happy couple make beautiful music together in both the literal and figurative sense. The Burnettes, however, have a pretty good handle on it.
Chris and Cora Burnette met in Calgary and started dating in early 2000. They started jamming together not long after that. After the long, cold Alberta winters took their toll on Chris (who grew up in the warmer climes of North Carolina), the pair relocated to Vancouver two years ago. Together they have released two albums of songs written with the easy comfort of an old married couple, which makes sense since they are (except for the old part).
"We just started playing on the front porch, basically, and songs just sort of erupted," says Cora. (Music) is a really big part of us…. The fact that we both dig music and that we can both do it together harmoniously is a big bonus."
A bonus, indeed. Most band members (or married couples) will tell you that those relationships can be fraught with tension. Marital stress combined with rock ’n’ roll friction probably accounts for those messy breakups we were talking about earlier. But, right from the start, The Burnettes have had a balance in place that keeps them from going the way of Fleetwood Mac (relationship-wise, not music-wise).
Chris is the old-school punk part of the equation while Cora is the rootsy twang. Chris waits for serendipity while Cora is more focused on the practical. Their website goes so far as to compare them to a 50-50 poly-cotton blend (Chris being the polyester). And while they both contribute songs to their albums, Chris is about the music, leaving Cora to get down to business.
"He’s all about writing and recording and he wants to get everything down," says Cora. "He’s got heaps of songs and albums that he has recorded on his own that he never did anything with in the typical sense – meaning release – but it’s cathartic for him. It’s important for him to get things down and have things as a record. I really respect it, but at the same time there’s the balance. Someone’s gotta promote the band. So I’m the shmuck who is on the phone… trying to get the word out."
That word would be the fevered promotion of We’d Better Be Dreaming, the band’s latest effort. A charming collection of laid-back twangy pop, Cora and Chris split vocal duties over shimmering guitars and sparse percussive accents. An understated gem, it has the lazy flavour you would expect from a band that had its humble beginnings playing on the porch.
It’s clear that the two love jamming together, but now that the record has been out for a few months, The Burnettes find themselves having to put creating new music on the back burner while they break in their new drummer, Kreg "Mung" Brow, and take to the road. Piling into a van to cross Canada (whether as a couple or as a band) isn’t always a picnic, but The Burnettes have recently returned from playing showcases in Toronto at North By Northwest, and Cora assures that getting to the shows isn’t usually a problem.
"Chris and I travel really well together," she says. "Touring is fun when things go right…. When it gets hairiest is when we are not producing, when we are not being creative, when we are not jamming. That has probably been the challenge of late. We are playing a lot of shows and we made this album and we recruited a new drummer and we have been jamming with him and getting him up to speed on the songs – tightening up the live show. That leaves little time for creativity and the front-porch jamming that we really like – the roots of us."
If The Burnettes thought that they had little time to jam together now, then things could get a little hairier come this August. In true happy-couple fashion, Chris and Cora are expecting a baby. However, given the fact that they have been able to find the balance so far, it doesn’t seem as though The Burnettes have anything to worry about. The practical Cora already has a plan.
"We are hoping for a drummer," she says. "We put DRI on and the kid goes crazy. I’ve got high hopes."
Back to the Castle
Byline Jason Lewis
When The Burnettes come back to Calgary they will be playing the recently re-opened Castle Pub. Originally slated to play the Night Gallery, some last-minute changes have forced a relocation of their show. This is the kind of thing that would typically freak out a touring band, but in the case of The Burnettes, it’s a twist of fate that fits their story perfectly. You see, that is where the tale of The Burnettes begins.
Cora Burnette relocated from Montreal to Calgary in the latter part of the last millennium and was waiting tables at the Castle when she met Chris Burnette. A transplanted Edmontonian who had lived for years in North Carolina he was a patron at the Castle who was smitten with his server. In a move that Cora likens to stalking, Chris mentioned his feelings to then proprietor (and member of Field Day) John Hebert. In true junior high fashion, Hebert mentioned it to Cora and after she gave up her no-dating-patrons rule Chris and Cora became an item. But the Castle connection doesn’t end there. A year later, after an intimate ceremony in Hawaii, The Burnettes were officially married by Hebert at the very pub that brought them together. |
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