The Burns Sisters

Annie and Marie Burns as a duo create uplifting, transcendent music filled with warmth and conviction. Stirring and reverent, their passionate, seductive harmonies and lyrics are bursting with spirit and soul.
The Burns Sisters are renowned for their pure harmony, beautiful lyrics and joyful energy and will celebrate in early 2015 with a new album “Looking Back, Our American Irish Souls”

Annie and Marie Burns were born in NY to a progressive political, musical, creative family in Binghamton. Two of twelve siblings, Annie and Marie have been singing together since early childhood.

Their mother, Teresa, was a church soloist and treasured local singer. Their father, John J Burns, was a progressive Kennedy school politician. Several of their siblings are in the musical, movie and TV industry, both as singers, actors and producers.

Still in and just out of high school the sisters pursued their individual musical callings.  Marie had moved to Florida and started her musical career in San Antonio Florida.  She fell in love with old time country and bluegrass music while living in the South. With a little convincing from Annie (who had been gigging around town when not in school) Marie returned from Florida and joined forces with her two sisters. They had heard Ithaca had a great music scene, so they moved to Ithaca and started working as “The Burns Sisters” writing and recording their own songs and launch albums through Columbia Records and Rounder records. Marie and Annie now release on their own label “Sisters Music”. The two have written and produced together and apart approximately 20 CDs.

The Burns Sisters have been through many different configurations over the years. They started as a trio. At one time, all five sisters sang together, but they returned to the original trio. Two years ago, Jeannie Burns left the band to follow her heart westward to the Austin music scene.
  Marie and Annie followed their hearts to Ireland where they played established music festivals in the West of Ireland. There, they started to look into their own family history, and to learn the true Irish history of the famine and the great migration. The Sisters were compelled and inspired to write and record their new project ‘Looking Back, Our American Irish Souls”. The album is gathering attention in Ireland, Wales, UK, Scotland, Canada and here in the USA.  It is a Celtic infused Americana project and will be on general release in January 2015


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The Burns Sisters have shared the stage with many great folk legends, including Arlo Guthie, Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Odetta, Jimmy Lafave, David Amram,  Radoslav Lorkovic, Chris Thile, Fred Eaglesmith,  Willie Nelson, Sarah Lee and Johnny Irions, Folk Uke, and  even the Boston Pops.  They have played venues from Carnegie Hall to the Grand Old Opry, and from hills of Northern Thailand to the hills of Clare Ireland. They have graced many a track with their beautiful backup harmonies, on projects too numerous to mention.  The sisters are mainstays at The Woody Guthrie Folk Fest in Okemah Oklahoma, and will be there this July, 2015, singing their hearts out with songs from their new CD.


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