Lyzie Burt

PUT YOU IN THE GROUND: Lyzie Burt, of the green-tattooed eyebrows (Would I kid you? They're called "aqua-emerald" brows) recently hauled out a full 88-key electric piano and played a song that startled the gang at the Bella Vista open mike -- an original with the unforgettable final lines, "I'd put you in the ground... BUT my shovel's in the shop today!" People laughed, clapped and hooted. She said later, "I played it for my boyfriend at the time, and he cried. I thought, 'If I can make a dude cry, there must be something to this song'," says the 18-year-old, who wowed people at the Fringe. Burt has two albums to her credit already -- Out of Your Hair and Cigarettes and You. - Winnipeg Free Press

Like so many musicians before her, Lyzie Burt regrets quitting piano lessons. The 19-year-old singer/songwriter — born and raised in Selkirk — gave up the instrument in favour of guitar before she could achieve her Grade 6 certificate.

Still, Burt’s soon-to-be-released second album Cigarettes and You is all about the ivories.

"After I went through my phase of guitar and was just like ‘I can’t even play this thing’, I started listening to more music like Emily Haines and Cat Power," Burt says. "It was like, ‘They play piano. I play piano. I can do that. What the heck?’, so I just re-taught myself, hardly. It’s really simple piano. It’s nothing out of the box, it’s so easy, and that’s what I love about it — I don’t have to work too hard."

Burt’s piano playing style may be simple, but her lyrics, voice and vocal phrasings are definitely distinctive. For instance, Find You in Their Sleep has lines such as, "I’d put you in the ground, but my shovel’s in the shop today."

"I’ve been told it’s ‘melancholy with a twist’," Burt says. "I wanted one of my friends from Selkirk, Matty Hallick from Hope Atlantic, to give me his input and that’s what he told me. It makes sense because I don’t know to ‘genre-ize’ my music. Some say folk but it’s not really folk music. Some say pop, but weird. I think melancholy with a twist is a nice name for it."

Burt, who also sings in Selkirk shoegaze band The Blisters (signed to Montreal’s Woven Records), is the newest addition to local label I’m Trying Records, which previously distributed her 2009 debut Out of Your Hair through its web store. Along with CKUW and UMFM, I’m Trying presents the Cigarettes and You release party on Jan. 20 at The Lo Pub. Opening for Burt will be Claire Morrison of Fire & Smoke and indie rock duo Mise en Scene.

"The only problem I have with Mise en Scene is that they’re so good and they’re playing before me," Burt says with a laugh. "I’m scared everyone’s going to go ‘Well that was great, see you later.’ But that’s the way we’re doing it and whatever happens, we’ll learn from it."

Surely Burt will be able to hold her own. She’s honed her chops through weekly gigs at Mona Lisa Ristorante Italiano (earning a fan in 92 CITI FM DJ Howard Mandshein) and other shows about town. Still, the solo performer says she’ll be taking some pressure off herself on her next album, which she says will feature guest musicians and be more of a full-band recording.

"I’m in the process of recording another album," Burt says. "I’ll be playing piano as well as some guitar. Tim Iskierski, who does sound at The Cheer, will be recording it. He has some links to other musicians who will be coming in to do trumpet, bass, etc. There will be a lot more going on in the next one."

Check out Burt at www.facebook.com/LyzieBurtMusiqu and http://lyzieburt.bandcamp.com - Uptown Magazine

LYZIE BURT

At just 19, Selkirk’s Lyzie Burt is the newest in a long line of singer-songwriters to tackle the craft in Winnipeg’s music scene, as well as contributing vocals to incredible buzz-worthy bands such as Blisters, Zoppa and Little House.

So what sets her apart from the rest?

For starters, Cigarettes and You is her second album, and on it she has switched from guitar to the instrument she actually grew up playing - the piano.

Her jagged, staggered wordplay is peppered over sparse and simplistic piano arrangements throughout the disc - from opener Lay Me Down to the beauty and spite of Find You In Your Sleep.

The newest addition to the I’m Trying Records roster may sound ultra-serious at first, but her disc closes with a pair of tunes that will make the listener chuckle a little - the meditative Zombifying and the pensive Burritos.

A lot more Emily Haines or Nicole Byblow than Ben Folds or Elton John, she doesn’t quite rock out, but Cigarettes and You does rock. That, and the singer has come a long way since she was 16, when Burt released the moody Out of Your Hair.

It will be interesting to see if Burt becomes Winnipeg’s long-awaited female Tom Waits, and if in 20 years she will evolve into an experimental genius.

Check out Burt at the Lo Pub on Friday, Jan. 20, where she will unveil the new disc. Mise en Scene and Claire Morrison will also perform. Get your tickets for just $7 at the door, which opens at 9 p.m. (show at 10 p.m.).

- Nicholas Friesen - The Uniter