The Phantom Sensation

By Steve Watkins
Special to DFW.com
Posted 6:00pm on Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2015
Back in January we told you about John and Sallie Rody’s new radio venture, The Pirate.

The FCC approved the Internet radio station to broadcast their hyper-local music programming over the air. This is community-funded radio, so the last few months have been a challenge, with the Rodys trying to scrape up enough donations to put up the transmitter.

Saturday that dream came true, and The Pirate was on the air. Funkytown celebrated with a party at the Live Oak Music Hall.

When I got to the Live Oak, the hall was full of music fans and Pirate supporters. John Rody was milling about, and Tony Diaz was up on stage announcing the next band, the Phantom Sensation featuring guitarist/singer Brandon “Broke String” Burnett, singer/banjo player/theremin player Jessica M. Burnett, bassist Zach “Danger” Zanetich, and drummer Aaron “Papa Bear” Burke.

In case you missed the above – yeah. Banjo and theremin. The Phantom Sensation is a blend of punk and bluegrass, and just to make it a little more confusing they threw in a theremin.

“We’re folk rock, Americana,” said Zanetich.

Brandon Burnett added that the blend of punk and bluegrass is a metamorphosis that came naturally to the band.

“It kinda has a lot to do with what we used to be inspired by,” said Jessica Burnett. “All this music is a culmination of years of playing punk music, then super-acoustic music, and then this. We found a few other people to join us.”

The band may have an Americana feel to it on the surface, but the bass and drums are more intense and driven.

Vocals are beyond strong, from both of the Burnetts — powerful and emotive, and actually on pitch (a rare thing in many Americana bands), as was Jessica’s theremin. A lot of people get one of these things and just make noise — with no regard for any musical quality — but the lady was pitch perfect with this thing.

After the set that left everyone in the room wanting at least another song or 10, I followed the band backstage to talk. Veteran music photographer Richard Nicholson stole my camera and shot video of the interview.

The songs they do are dark, and occasionally political. Another Body for the Fire was written by the band as a collaborative effort — literally while sitting around the campfire.

“There’s a lot of sad songs,” said Brandon Burnett. “I like to call them hell songs. Despair, addiction. Haunted. I think my favorite right now is Another Body for the Fire. That actually was inspired by T he Night of the Living Dead.

“Another body for the fire is kind of like a willingness to stay blind. Kind of like the idea, at the end of Night of the Living Dead, them killing the black man even though they knew he wasn’t a zombie — just kind of using that as an excuse,” he said.

You can catch the Phantom Sensation at Fall ArtsGoggle at 4 p.m. Oct. 10 in front of Avoca Coffee, 1311 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth.

The Pirate can be heard at FM 97.5, if you still have a radio, or streamed from the website, if you don’t.

Local musicians now have a way to get their voices out there. - DFW.com