Back in the summer of 2020, we shared the news that Colin Ray and Kathleen Burnett were engaged to be married, which they did the following year. The two bluegrass lovebirds met while studying in the bluegrass program at ETSU, and eventually Colin joined his bride as part of The Burnett Sisters Band, with Kathleen’s three sisters.
When the Rays moved back to Colin’s hometown of Lincolnton, NC so he could take a job teaching high school Spanish, both left the Burnett Sisters, who have continued on with just three siblings and Geary Allen on guitar. For a while Colin and Kathleen have been largely absent from the performance side of bluegrass music, but that is about to change.
Starting next year, they will be introducing a new group, aptly named Colin & Kathleen, specializing in the vocal duets they have been singing together. They plan to record some tracks this fall to use in promoting the group, followed by the release of a full-length project in 2025.
For the time being, the two have been doing some duet shows in the Lincolnton area before turning the focus to a band effort next year. They shared this recent video of them singing the Gillian Welch song By The Mark, made famous in bluegrass by Dailey & Vincent.
Colin tells us that while he is teaching school – the same school he attended as a child – Kathleen is staying busy with her own pet care business, offering dog sitting and walking services in Lincolnton.
“She absolutely loves dogs. We decided we don’t want a dog at the house, so she gets her fix talking care of other people’s dogs for them.”
He also mentioned how much fun he is having teaching where he went to school.
“There’s only the one school here, kindergarten through grade 12. It’s neat teaching alongside some of the teachers I had when I was going to school. My first grade teacher is still here.”
We’ll be sure to share music from the newly-organized Colin & Kathleen Band once it is released. They have a web site established, but haven’t populated it yet.
Stay tuned…
