North Carolina natives The Burnett Sisters are debuting with the Pinecastle Records single “Sorrow Grief and Pain”, but they are no novices. Anissa, Sophia, and Anneli Burnett are well-versed in the chosen style of their music, and their impressive reach as singers and musicians will serve them well in the coming years. Harmony vocalist, banjo player, and guitarist Geary Allen penned the song’s weighty lyrics, but there’s an ultimately redemptive quality surrounding the performance undercutting the dark themes layered throughout the piece. It’s a lively encapsulation of several traditional musical elements; folk, swing, and bluegrass are present
throughout The Burnett Sisters’ music.
URL: https://www.burnettsistersband.com/
Keen-eared listeners will hear it from the first. There’s an almost cinematic flavor in the way The Burnett Sisters opt for opening as Allen’s deft yet straightforward acoustic guitar playing delivers an attention-grabbing preamble. We’re off to the races when the full arrangement begins. “Sorrow Grief and Pain” sets a torrid pace without glossing over the composition’s rich details. Those aforementioned cinematic virtues remain audible in The Burnett Sisters’ music. However, the ladies and their musical collaborators are never heavy-handed, and “Sorrow Grief and Pain” glows with the undeniable warmth of the human spirit.
The instrumental prowess powering this performance holds up under repeated listens. Enlisting Allen’s playing and songwriting talents provides the Burnett Sisters with an ideal vehicle. It is easy to suppose he tailored the writing to fit the trio’s individual and collective talents; if not, it is a glorious accident. Dan Boner’s fiddle is a note-perfect addition to the performance that helps enhance its poetic trappings.
They never bite off more than they can chew. “Sorrow Grief and Pain” has the right duration, never overstaying its welcome with listeners, and Boner’s assistance with the single’s engineering and production helps steer it deeper into brighter waters. The unabashed energy of the performance will carry many listeners away in a rush. However, the Burnett Sisters Band never neglects to touch upon the genre’s eternal verities, such as rich vocal harmonies and fully realized instrumentation, with nuance and unquestionable fidelity.
I anticipate that this single will be the first of many releases from this family-focused act. The tradition of such outfits is long. The Burnett Sisters are uniquely talented, without a doubt, and “Sorrow Grief and Pain” proves they are sensitive devotees of folk and bluegrass astute enough to choose first-class material and talented enough to realize its potential.
They will undoubtedly look back to this song as what started a new chapter in their musical journey. Cast aside its weighty emotion, and you have an ultimately life-affirming example of music’s continued power. It’s triumphant because it moves them to sing. It embraces victory because it dares to exist at all.
We need more bands like The Burnett Sisters Band. Sophia, Anissa, and Anneli are gifted purveyors of a timeless musical form and possess the skills to make it live for listeners today. “Sorrow Grief and Pain” shows that, and we can expect many more singles as good, if not better.
Garth Thomas