The mother is driving, tapping her rings on the steering wheel, while her little boy is keeping the beat with his fingers on the dashboard. They are making music.
It was that rhythmic camaraderie with his mother, a “wonderful singer,” that sparked the love of music in Tim Burnaman, drummer, pianist, singer and songwriter that we know today as Unity’s Assistant Music Director.
As a toddler, the youngest of six children, Tim would bang pots and pans in his Louisiana home, always fascinated by the rhythm. First, he practiced on a neighbor’s piano, and when his family eventually got their own, he started lessons at 12. Three brothers played guitar, and another wrote folk music. Every family gathering was a sing-a-long.
Tim first came to Florida in 1987 to work with a combo, playing drums at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, a two-month engagement, after which he started working with musical theater. In 1990, he moved to San Diego to play with a band at the iconic beachfront Hotel del Coronado, a three-year engagement. After his second move to Florida, he worked for several years as a piano accompanist at the University of South Florida and the Pinellas County Center for the Arts, providing music for ballet and modern dance classes.
A music major at Louisiana State University, where he performed with the wind ensemble, orchestra, percussion ensemble and jazz band, Tim left school, following the call to travel and work with bands. A later degree from Ashford University and a major in social sciences with a minor in music prepared him for what he does today, teaching autistic students at the Paul B. Stephens Exceptional Student Education Center in Clearwater.
Tim first came to Unity, which he immediately found very open, welcoming and loving, in 1993. While playing in SAX and Sounds, he met Sue Riley who occasionally sang with that group. As Music Ministry Director at Unity, she needed a substitute, and Tim has fulfilled that role ever since. He has also been a weekly piano accompanist at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Palm Harbor for the past 10 years.
A Dunedin resident, Tim loves to ride his bike on the Pinellas Trail. He and his wife, Debra, are the parents of two daughters, Haley, 19 a sophomore at the University of Florida, and Olivia, 14, a vocalist and violinist who has played in a string program.
Tim’s varied career in music is reflected in his love for teaching piano and songwriting. He has written music published on Heartwind Music and the Unity Worldwide Online Music Library and enjoys composing instrumental music for relaxation and meditation. His favorite, he says, of the songs he has written is “Receiving Love,” with upbeat lyrics, appropriate for a congregational gathering. A CD, featuring all original songs, is his next big project. It is called “Piano Nature.”