Calvin Burnette is passionate about promoting Guyana through music

WHEN it comes to the creative arts, Guyanese music has always been a force to be reckoned with, particularly as it relates to the preservation of Guyanese culture.

Within the local music industry, the name Calvin Burnette is certainly familiar. The artiste is popularly considered one of Guyana’s leading vocalists, and he continues to contribute to the preservation of Guyanese music and culture through his work.

Burnette, who was born and raised in New Amsterdam, Berbice, told the Pepperpot Magazine during an interview that Guyana is a blessed country with a tremendous amount of talent and talented people.
However, he believes that policies and decision-makers need to do more when it comes to music and entertainment in Guyana.

“I think we need to be sensitised about what copyrights is[sic] all about, because copyright is bigger than just recording a song and ensuring that nobody can steal your song and such like,” he explained. “Copyright takes so, so much:cars, tyres, CDs, DVDs…As a result, while it is good for me, I have to be considerate of the average man who is trying to make a dollar by selling music from a pushcart to make a living. Therefore, whilst I might be eating, I have to consider the fact that I am putting someone else out of bread.”

He believes that we as a populace need to be fully sensitised as to what copyright entails, how to ensure that the person who creates the art is well compensated and that the smaller man feeds off of what we produce as music or forms of entertainment.

Burnette believes that the issue lies with more local content being offered as a music diet, rather than foreign music content.

If Burnette had his way regarding Guyanese showing their talent, he would have preferred to see a replica of performances that the country had, when the Guyanese delegation went to perform in Dubai for that country’s national expo back in 2020.

Love your Own
This is the message that Calvin wants the world to know. He also encourages support of our own as Guyanese.

“It starts first though with embracing what we put out like my grandmother would say, ‘whatever you cook you have to eat and a lot of times, we tend to be a bit foreign minded when it comes to certain things,” he explained. “I mean, listen to our radio stations. Listen to most of the music that is played on our televisions. How much of it is local content? What is needed for us is the networking and proper marketing and, again, support.”

The Berbice-born artiste noted that when he is performing on stage, he loses all connectivity with negative emotions, because he would have gotten deeply in sync with his craft, even if he would have come out of a bad relationship.

“For me, the stage is my everything, so when I touch that stage everything disappears, all the problems disappear; all the fears disappear. For that hour or however long I am on stage, for that time is just me, myself and I.

Sometimes I am performing and I don’t even see the crowd, because I am so caught up in what I am doing or how I am performing, but in dealing with certain things, you cannot allow it to get the best of you,” Calvin noted during his interview with the Pepperpot Magazine.

The singer shared with the Pepperpot Magazine that he is the second child of four siblings. He grew singing in the Philadelphia Adventist Church, in humble beginnings with parents who did their best to ensure their children got the best out of life.

He recalled that it was at church that everything started for him.
“From singing in choirs to Pathfinders Club, Master Guide Club and just finding yourself vocally, this is where it stems from,” Calvin revealed to the Pepperpot Magazine.

According to Calvin, he didn’t want to be a singer, but a doctor, because he wanted to help people.
However, he got into singing through his association with friends at school, and, it is clear to see that that path has worked well for him.