With a milestone birthday fresh in his mind and society telling him to grow up, Sean Burns packed up his guitar, his band and his bags for a week and a half on the road.
“I turned 30 last week and I had to leave town just to try and forget about it,” he said with a laugh.
A life on the run isn’t new to the Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter. He’s been touring since he was 17 years old.
But this short tour is a little different, it’s the first time Burns is joined by a full band.
“I’ve done a lot of trio stuff and solo stuff, and this is the first time with a four-piece.”
Burns said having a band along for the ride is great because their contributions provide a fantastic compliment to the songs on his latest record.
Cold Beans and Broken Eggs, the country artists’ third album to date, was released earlier this year.
Although hesitant to call it “mature,” Burns said the sound is definitely more developed than his last two albums.
“As I’ve gotten older it’s become less autobiographical because that gets old really fast,” he said of his latest offering, which includes tunes about parental issues, alcoholism, cab drivers, whiskey drinking and truckers.
“[My songs] are about being on the road—not the whiny being on the road—and about real people,” he said, noting that “Cab Driver” is about a driver he met in Saskatoon. “And I painstakingly thought of a title for the song—‘Cab Driver,’” he said with a laugh.
After 13 years in the business, Burns said there’s no fallback plan: making music is his passion and he’s ready to play as many shows as he can—even if it means resisting societal pressures to grow up.
“I’m not qualified to do anything else, really. I could drive a truck or be a farmer, but I don’t think those are on the agenda.
“I’m all in.”
Nicole Veerman
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