Canada’s master of classic country SEAN BURNS releases Better Off In Time & Other Songs For The Dance Floor
Following the singles “Glory For Me” and “Tables & Chairs,” Canada’s classic country music torchbearer Sean Burns today releases Better Off In Time & Other Songs For The Dance Floor via Department Store Records in vinyl, CD and digital formats. His album release tour is currently underway in western Canada (see dates below).
After paying tribute to Canada’s forgotten country music heroes on the 2023 covers album Lost Country—which Country Music People called “required listening”—Better Off In Time & Other Songs For The Dance Floor features 10 new original songs, recorded at Winnipeg’s No Fun Club with co-producers Skinny Dyck and Scott Franchuk.
For the sessions, Burns was joined by guitarist Chris Dunn, drummer Joanna Miller and pedal steel guitarist Dan Russell, along with several guests including legendary piano player Floyd Domino (Asleep At The Wheel, Merle Haggard) who sent in his tracks from his home in Austin, Texas.
For Burns, who also plays bass in Corb Lund’s Hurtin’ Albertans, making Better Off In Time… was in many ways a matter of taking care of unfinished business that was disrupted by the pandemic. Over half the songs were written in 2018 and 2019, while others came together over the past few years whenever Burns was inspired to write while on tour. In the end, the pieces fell into place once Burns had the right group of musicians and some time to record.
“I took the songs that were already mostly written and tuned them up,” he explains. “There were some lyrical and arrangement changes made, but it all came together pretty naturally. We hashed the songs out as a band, which culminated with a pair of gigs we’d booked that really served as live rehearsal. We always try to capture a live feel when we record, but this album probably has more overdubs than other records I’ve made.”
Overall, fans of Sean’s work will be thrilled to hear him and the band continue to revitalize the sound of classic honky tonk, with song titles such as “When The Heartaches Call,” “I Do My Crying Alone” and “Lord, I Hate To See Myself This Way” speaking volumes. Sean poured all he had into stunning vocal performances, as on “Glory For Me,” while at the same time staying true to a traditional Texas dancehall sound.
He says,
“I fell deeper and deeper down the well of Texas dancehall country music made by artists like Johnny Bush and Amber Digby, as well as the earlier era of Ray Price and Johnny Bush. I was spinning a lot of that music on my radio program and was immersed in the style those bands play down there. I could have gone to Texas to make this album, but I had assembled a good band at home so I thought we could put our own spin on that sound.”
Such detail is common practice for Sean Burns, whose encyclopedic knowledge of country music has been established through his long-running radio show Boots & Saddle, and early thematic solo albums.
But as with all of Sean Burns’ work, it’s not necessary to be familiar with the theme he’s presenting. The songs stand on their own as not only a reminder of what country once was, but what it is and always will be, three chords and the truth.