What does a musician do after 40 years of teaching and playing piano, singing in rock bands and performing solo voice-and-piano shows in lounges and private homes? That was the question Patricia Burnett asked herself after she and her husband moved full-time to Pender Harbour two years ago.
“I thought, ‘I’ve got to do things with my voice and the piano. What would it take to be comfortable?’” Burnett recalled in an interview. “And it really just took a moment to realize – I grew up with Carole King, I sang all her songs back in the day. It fit me like a glove. Not that I haven’t worked hard to make it sound as good as it’s sounding now, it was just the right thing to do.”
So far, that’s worked out in performances at the School of Music concert hall in Madeira Park last year and at Artesia Coffee House in Sechelt Jan. 31. Another School of Music gig has been scheduled for Friday, April 10. It’s no surprise that Burnett, with her level of playing and a big voice reminiscent of Heart’s Ann Wilson, is now getting inquiries from off-Coast. “I’ve got a call for jobs in Vancouver, but I don’t know if I want to take that yet,” she said.
Burnett grew up in Burnaby in a family home with five pianos. She, her mother and two older sisters also studied piano and each had one of their own. Plus, there was one for students who came to the house for lessons. “My poor father was a butcher and he had three girls plus the wife playing the piano or teaching it,” Burnett said. “He finally built a little place out in the backyard and called it his ‘administration office.’ That’s where he could hide away from all the music coming from the different rooms in the house.”
Burnett was a serious student herself, studying with renowned Lower Mainland instructor Donna Fishwick. She went on to get a degree in piano at the University of Victoria under the tutelage of Dr. Robin Wood. Then came children of her own. “I taught music full time in my home. I had 30 to 40 students at a time, that was my day job,” she said. “Then I’d go on the weekend and sing with the groups I was with.”
Burnett still does private family and corporate shows playing a range of musical material, but wants to continue to pursue the Carole King show, too. “There are a lot of tribute bands, but not a lot of solo artists doing that. I want to keep it simple.”
Burnett has also started working again with David Thompson, a musician she played with decades ago. They’re writing together and have put out their first single, Remember, which is streaming online on several music sites, including YouTube. Another release is planned for April. Her hope is that big-name performers get interested. “I just want to get [the tunes] out for other musicians. I want to write for other people.”
