Album Notes

“Outstanding!!! Short Stories is a terrific CD - wonderful songs, great vocals, etc. And FINALLY, refreshing musicianship. Well done, Trevor.”
David Bradstreet, multi-Juno award winner


Short Stories, Trevor Burt’s newest release, features classically structured songs like “A Bruillian Hymn” and juxtaposes them with more folkie tunes like “Full Circle”. Two selections on Short Stories take the fusion of folk and classical music elements, quite literally, to new heights. “Sounds of the Ocean” features a folk melody underscored by full choir and reinforced with an operatic vocalize. “Raise the Banner” similarly employs a full choral exhortation and a trumpet fanfare to support what is essentially a folk melody.


Whether playing folk clubs like Egertons in Toronto during the mid-seventies or performing a classical guitar recital at Meredith College in Raleigh, North Carolina over a decade later, Trevor has presented music that bridges the gulf between the seemingly disparate styles of folk and classical music. “I have always tried to incorporate both idioms into my repertoire. I’d play Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” between songs by John Prine and Bruce Cockburn back in the day,” Trevor explains. “More recently,” he resumes, “I’ve been performing my own Variations on Gordon Lightfoot’s “Pussy Willows, Cattails” in solo classical guitar recitals.” Short Stories is an embodiment this approach.

In his youth Trevor Burt became enchanted by the simple beauty of folk music, while at the same time falling in love with the sound of the classical guitar and the symmetry of its repertoire. Since then he has diligently pursued the search for a voice bold enough to knit both musical styles into a single voice.. Trevor Burt holds an ARCT from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and a Bachelor of Music in Performance degree from the University of Toronto where he earned the Ken Young Scholarship. He is also the recipient of numerous accolades, most notably the Award for Excellence from the Japanese Guitar Association in 1988.