Nominees for the 2025 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year, the Burnett Sisters Band — made up of Boone, North Carolina sibling natives Anissa, Sophia, and Anneli Burnett along with Minster, UK transplant Geary Allen — are gifted multi-instrumentalists whose decided enthusiasm makes their latest release another exceptional encounter.
As individuals, they made their mark on the festival circuit and at various fiddler conventions. The band took home the top prize at the MerleFest Band Competition, while Anissa herself won a blue ribbon for Old-Time Fiddle at the 2024 Old Galax Fiddlers Convention and Anneli garnered the first place trophy in the Folk Song category. When they’re off the road, they serve as instructors for the Watauga Junior Appalachian Musicians program and various educational programs based in East Tennessee.
Although Allen composed the majority of tracks on their effusive new album, the Burnetts demonstrate the fact that they’re equally adept at reinventing the occasional cover, as shown by a surprisingly sprightly take on the Hank Williams standard Lovesick Blues, and a traditional medley comprised of Julianne Johnson and Tie Your Dog, Sally Gal, the latter of which basks in a pure fiddle frenzy.
Still, it’s the original offerings that make the most emphatic impression. With occasional guests such as John Gardner on drums, Tony Dingus on pedal steel, Lee Bidgood providing mandola, and Roy Andrade, Dan Boner, and Mike Compton contributing occasional secondary banjo, fiddle, and mandolin respectively, the Burnetts flesh out their sound to an even greater degree while still ensuring a cohesive collaboration. The reassurance and resolve of Blaming You, the sweet serenity that echoes throughout The Youthful Soldier and Whispering Wind, and the down-home designs of Fool’s Gold, and the title track, testify to a certain serendipity that’s indicated in the album’s title.
So too, Song of the Mountain harkens back to a folk tradition first established in the British Isles, just as the song tellingly titled Sorrow, Grief and Pain adds an urgency that’s as captivating as it is compelling.
Ultimately then, Easy Come, Easy Go (Pinecastle Records) demonstrates the fact that the Burnett Sisters Band is a well-rounded combo that’s clearly capable of expressing both verve and variety. That gives Easy Come, Easy Go a decidedly easy appeal.
