Holly Hyatt used to sing for her dad, Jon Burden, but now he sings for her.

As a musician, Jon started bringing little Holly onstage in restaurants and coffee shops when she was around six years old.

“We lived in this really cool funky cabin on the top of a mountain for a while,” she said. “He would always just be strumming his guitar, and I would sing along and make up these little songs. He would do different chord changes, and I would kind of follow along and he was like ‘oh she’s got a bit of an ear for melody and music’ so that’s when I first started singing with him.”

As she grew, so did her interest in music and performing for a crowd. When she was a teen, she snuck into venues to perform at his bar gigs.

When she was old enough to get into the bars legitimately, the two became a duo. They’ve since released three full albums and performed twice at Pynelogs Art Gallery and Cultural Centre.

“(Music) strengthened our relationship because we’ve always had that special bond,” she said. “We’ve always been really good friends too.”

Now that Holly is leading a five-piece band and starring in her own show after releasing her own album – Wild Heart – in the spring, Jon still travels with her playing guitar and singing background vocals.

“This is my first solo album, but he’s still kind of in the band,” she said. “We’re playing a mix of soul, blues, a little bit of classic R&B. There’s a few kind of classic singer-songwriter moments thrown in there as well.”

Now a parent herself, Holly is noticing her children’s musical abilities as her father did with her.

“They both have a really good sense of rhythm too. I toured when I was pregnant with both of them and played bass, and I think it helped them keep the beat,” she said.

When she was “just coming out of the baby years” with her kids, who are now aged five and eight, she decided to follow her life-long wish of releasing an album of her own.

“Starting to record this album kind of saved me a little bit and brought me back into my musical self,” she said. “I was really focusing on it having a positive message for people and just being really uplifting when people heard it. Like I want to put something out into the world that just has really good vibes.”

Holly will be returning to Pynelogs with her band on Thursday, October 17th as part of the Love It Live concert series. Tickets are $25 and are available online at www.columbiavalleyarts.com/event/holly-hyatt-live/

“I really love the space. I love how intimate it is, and I love the historical aspect of it too, but I really enjoy shows where I can see everybody and they’re close and I can chat to them,” she said. “Every show I’ve done there has just been amazing.”

She anticipates her upcoming show will be just as great.

“It’s kind of like fun blues. There’s stuff that you could dance to and stuff that you could just listen to,” she said.

“It’s just a really fun kind of uplifting show.”