Georgia musicians turn to new way of life, in a school bus

ATHENS, Ga. — What started out as a ‘pipe dream’ two years ago for local musician Sam Burchfield became a reality earlier this month when he and wife Erin Burchfield (aka musician Pip the Pansy) set out on a journey in their new home.

That’s right. In their new home.

The couple spent last summer’s stay-at-home downtime completely transforming a short school bus and renovating it into their current home. When their lease was up on the house they were renting south of Atlanta, the University of Georgia graduates, who still consider Athens a bit of a hometown, went all in on their new way of life.

On March 5 they loaded up their dogs, Cheeseburger and Moby, and set off on an adventure that has no timeline, and on a bus that has only the basic necessities.

“We’ll do this until this feels like it’s time to stop,” said Pip. “Right now, it’s kind of unknown.”

The dream began a couple years ago when Sam bought the bus for $1,200 from a Paterson, N.J., government auction site.

While touring the Northeast, the Burchfields picked up the bus from the junkyard and drove it some 900 miles back to Georgia, where it sat in their driveway for a couple of years while Sam tinkered with it from time to time.

When the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to touring last year, the musician couple took advantage of their newfound spare time.

They continued writing music, but the mundane tasks of working as independent contractor musicians sort of forced them to have the bus ready by the end of their lease.

“Just like anyone else, like if it’s an office job or anything else, you can overwork yourself and you can lose the intent and clarity of your job or purpose,” said Pip. “At first it was nice; we had a lot of time to stay at home and write and be creative. But I think about the eight-month mark we were like ‘Holy crap, we are so not used to being home this often.’ Basically, we just have to get out. Definitely the pandemic made the bus sound more desirable.”

The Burchfields dropped off Sam’s truck at his parents’ house in upstate South Carolina, explored North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains, cruised over to Nashville and plan to see friends in Texas, Kansas and Colorado.

Overnight stays along their route include the driveways of friends and family or state parks where they enjoy being alone with nature.

Solar panels provide enough energy to power a stove and take care of other basic needs. Their bed lies in the back of the bus and a roof deck was a last-minute addition to provide a look up at the stars.

“March is a little bit of a test run and we’re still adding things as we go and fixing things and seeing what we like and don’t like,” said Sam. “I think we just needed to get out, get away, and with everything closed down it kind of makes you wonder why you’re in a city. With all the nature around you, driving up into the mountains or west or wherever, you just ask why you’re paying rent to be in this place where we can’t do anything?”

Sam did much of the carpentry, building cabinets, bed frames and even a passenger seat near the back of the bus that serves as a desk.

The next step is installing a bathroom.

“Both my grandfathers were carpenters, and it’s something I want to get better at, but I definitely came into this with zero real skills of anything,” Sam said. “There’s been some friends who have come in and helped every now and then. And all the beautiful stuff is definitely Pip. Anything that looks nice is definitely a Pip project.”

For now there’s no deadline. They own their new home; they don’t have to pay rent or a mortgage and they’re exploring their lives with minimal responsibilities. Pip the Pansy, whose electronica flute pop style works her crowds into a frenzy, plays her first concert in more than a year on April 1, a socially-distanced show at Atlanta’s Park Tavern that she admits she’s “excited, but kind of a bit nervous” about.

Sam, who played a socially-distanced show in October at the Classic Center along with Athensbased folksters Cicada Rhythm, will play Park Tavern on May 6 with his band The Scoundrels.

That’s currently the only listings on the Burchfields’ itinerary.

“I don’t know that there’s any plans,” Pip said. “At the moment I think we just needed a little bit of an adventure. As artists, we just needed some sort of stimulation. We need something to paint with and I think we just sort of ran out of paint at home.”

They’ll use the adventure as inspiration. Pip the Pansy plans a new album in the fall while Sam is working on what he calls an “outlaw gothic concept” album that he, too, plans for the fall. He will release a single in the next couple of months and both plan to add more concerts as the world gets back to normal.

Bus life will continue until some life-altering event changes their journey. For now, they’re freewheeling through the country with limited burdens.

“Nothing’s truly permanent, but I think we are accepting that our present reality is living in the bus,” Sam said. “We’re going to take it as long as we feel like it’s the right thing, and it feels right for us and our little fur baby family.”