Sister Act: Burns Trio Heats Up Sanctuary Finale

The Presbyterian Church's Sanctuary Concert Series closed its season with a sister act Saturday night.

The Burns Sisters of Annie, Marie and Jeannie are the seventh, eighth and ninth out of 12 siblings who grew up in an Irish Catholic family in Ithaca, N.Y. They are singer-songwriters known for contemporary folk, pop, Americana and blues styles. They have been performing together since the 1980s.

The Burns perform original songs and covers, using vocal harmonies and acoustic strings. They were on tour with Arlo Guthrie and have been influenced by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Woodie Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton. 

At the Sanctuary concert, they combined their own vocals, guitar and mandolin, while Kevin Maul accompanied them on the dobro/slide guitar and Tony Markellas played the bass. 

They opened with a jazzy blues gospel song called, “For My Lord," followed by “Days of Italy,” about a friend who passed away. “Wild Flower Honey,” was a bluegrass-based, upbeat number about a kiss, written and sung by Jeannie, with an intense solo by Maul on the dobro. 

The acoustic string-plucking made the music bright, bold and melodious, delivering a mix throughout the night of rock-and-roll, Motown, Irish folk tunes, country and dueling banjos. 

The Burns sisters told jokes and got laughs about themselves and their songs. 

"You realize we were seven, eight, nine out of 12 children. We were raised Irish Catholic," Annie said. "My father used to say, '12 times isn't that many.'"

"We wrote a song together after feeling sorry for ourselves," Marie said. "Then we felt great." 

"Two Irish guys walk out of a bar." Jeannie said. Then she paused. "It could happen," she added. 

They sang about love—losing love, being kissed and love for a daughter. They sang about God, dreams, trains and traveling. 

“Love is a rose, but you’d better not pick it. It only grows when it’s on the vine,” resonated as a cappella. "Prisoner of the Promised Land," was a cowboy-inspired tune about being far from home. You could almost feel the campfire and voices echoing in the canyon. 

"Mystery Train 2," was rock-and-roll, originally done by Elvis Presley. "John O'Dreams," was taken from a Tchaikovsky melody. It is considered an Irish song. 

Maul sang an early Motown version of "Devil with the Blue Dress," recorded by Shorty Long in 1964. He introduced the sisters as "Burnsettes." They danced and sang background vocals. 

After an enthusiastic standing ovation, the group returned for an encore before the curtain came down on the Sanctuary concert season. 

Before the Burns Sisters took the stage, audience members were treated to an ice cream social and CD sale to mark the season's close.

According to Scott Sheldon, Sanctuary Concert chairman, next season will include David Bromberg, Dar Williams, Tom Rush and Tom Paxton.