Fort Worth Weekly
Bar napkin autographed by Rusty Burns after playing with him in 1995. Photo by Jeff Prince.
One of Fort Worth’s most pivotal, pioneering rock guitarists has gone to that great jam in the sky. After a long battle with lung cancer,
Rusty Burns died on
Feb. 19. He was 63.
Burns, who played left-handed with his strings upside down, developed a sound all his own. He sprinkled fast and gritty runs amid soulful and melodic foundations, making him the perfect sideman for everyone, from in-yo-face rockers such as
Point Blank to Texas Music singer-songwriters such as
Brad Hines. Burns played riffs on his well-worn