![\"Singin\u2019](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/FG-jump-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBurt kept his chops up taking inspiration from a local opera singer who was entertaining neighbors in San Diego\u2019s Hillcrest neighborhood. He decided to do his own shows \u201cuntil the city runs me off or they tell me not to do it,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
He put on weekly concerts nearly every Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. from his home near the corner of 71st Street and Stanford Avenue up until the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt got miserably hot so I kinda quit. I didn\u2019t get out there when it\u2019s 100 degrees. It\u2019s too much,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it started getting nice out and by November, I had all my Christmas stuff ready to go so I started doing my own Christmas show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides singing for his neighbors, Burt also entertained them by playing Santa Claus over the holidays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI began reading \u2018The Night Before Christmas\u2019 for the little kids out there and acted it out. They had a good time. I took my grandson with me and he was my elf because he was on to me last year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Burt literally grew into the role of St. Nick because he decided to not cut his normally well-coifed hair after his wife shaved it off at the very beginning of the pandemic. He set a goal of growing out his hair and beard until he either gets both his vaccination shots or April Fools\u2019 Day, whichever comes first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell you what, I made a terrific Santa Claus. I looked the part. I cloned him, I really did,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Burt also put out a box for food donations to a homeless shelter during his shows and has collected enough donations to feed a family for a month.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I feel pretty good about that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Since he began his free concerts, Burt said he has gained a little following on Facebook and coupled with time away from regular gigs, the new notoriety has prompted him to begin working on new material and begin recording an album. But he points out, recognition is not the main motivation that drives him to perform his weekly concerts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s only one person, I don\u2019t care. One or none \u2014 I\u2019m still out there singing. I\u2019ve had some big crowds and I\u2019ve had some small crowds. Every week it changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What is important to Burt are the connections his shows are creating in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know who my neighbors are now. They come by and we talk. People used to walk up and down the street and they didn\u2019t know who each other were. When I\u2019m out there singing, they\u2019re stopping and listening, I\u2019m getting to know them and they\u2019re getting to know their other neighbors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The community building that his shows has brought to himself and his neighbors was especially important to him over the holidays when his wife was in the hospital recovering from heart complications.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was still out here singing because I couldn\u2019t go to the hospital. I was feeling pretty glum,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I got out here singing and people found out my wife was in the hospital and they\u2019d come by and they reassured me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burt started singing in high school when a teacher told him he had a natural baritone voice. He began studying with a vocal coach who encouraged him to sing Sinatra. Singing took a backseat when he started his family, but he still recorded \u201chere and there\u201d over the years solo or in gospel groups.<\/p>\n In the 1980s, Burt dove into the karaoke craze in St. Lois, where he gained a following singing the large catalog of Sinatra that karaoke made available to singers.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the thing: How do you become a Frank Sinatra singer? Think about it, if you don\u2019t have a big band, how are you going to do that from scratch? Well, karaoke made it possible for me to sing with a big band because it\u2019s all recorded,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n When the COVID crisis is past him, Burt said he looks forward to returning to entertaining beyond his front yard and also sharing his new album, which he views as another silver lining for him in an otherwise cloudy period of time.<\/p>\n For more information about Gary \u201cThe Frank Guy\u201d Burt, visit www.thefrankguy.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n