Listen: What Can A Man Do But Sing the Blues

“Here was the deep, common core of humanity singing of its suffering and stoicism,” read a Sydney Morning Herald article about Dr. Burt’s recent performance with the Music Maker Blues Revue. Although I have yet to see Dr. Burt grace the stage in person, I believe those sentiments, especially after listening to his song “What Can a Man Do But Sing the Blues?”

Dr. Burt’s grisly and scratchy voice pours over his original lyrics, communicating his seventy-something years of experiencing life. “The blues is my life, to tell you the truth,” he once told Music Maker. “It is what I have lived and what I have seen.” He references working at Ford Motor, a job that he held when he lived in Detroit, Michigan in the ‘60s. It is actually Dr. Burt’s automotive skills that led him to, by chance, repair Aldolphus Bell’s van a few years ago. Adolphus brought Dr. Burt’s talent to Music Maker’s attention and he soon became part of our family.

Our Artist Services Coordinator Aaron just recently returned from accompanying Dr. Burt and other Music Maker artists on a tour across Australia. Aaron told me of Dr. Burt, “To be in his presence is soothing, and his (singing) voice is the same way.”

— Margot

Photo by Zach Ingbertsen