Paul Burch

Paul Burch has swam nude with Linda Ronstadt; sung harmony with Elton John; serenaded Marianne Faithfull to sleep; dozed off at a Gram Parsons show at 4 years old; been praised by Chet Atkins; been taught recording techniques by Owen Bradley; beaten Ryan Adams at pool (sober and drunk); recorded three records with his band; the WPA Ballclub; recorded a companion album to Tony Earley's best selling novel "Jim the Boy"; been featured in the Sunday New York Times; performed at the Kennedy Center for Tennessee State Day; drank wine till dawn with legendary DJ John Peel; picked guitar with James Dickey; scored a PBS documentary on Appalachia; eaten waffles with Jimmy Martin; listened to records with Eddy Arnold; composed an album with painter/Mekon/Waco Brother Jon Langford; made the cover of Billboard a year after arriving in Nashville … Paul Burch has done all these things and more, but has waited until now to release his first record for Bloodshot. We think it's his best.  If country music has a future in a world where rock ‘n' roll matters, then country music will sound like Paul Burch's FOOL FOR LOVE. 

FOOL FOR LOVE was written and recorded in Nashville, where Paul has lived for the last ten years.  During that time he’s become entrenched in the musical community, getting involved in Nashville’s contemporary rock scene as well as befriending and recording with a host of the town’s legendary musicians including Owen Bradley, Bobby Bare, Vassar Clements, members of Hank Snow and Hank Williams's bands, A-team bassist Bob Moore, Bill Monroe, and others. 

Burch is currently a consultant to the film "The Appalachians," which will be broadcast on PBS in early 2004.  The film is the first comprehensive look at the history, music, life and land of Appalachia. Burch also wrote an essay for the companion book published by Random House, and will be contributing to the film's soundtrack. 

Paul Burch was born in Washington D.C. in 1966.  While his father served in Vietnam, Burch grew up on a farm (formerly owned by Arthur Godfrey) in northern Virginia with his mother (a painter), in what he calls "a kind of hippie cooperative."  The farm's ties to the D.C. arts community included the owners of the Cellar Door nightclub, which resulted in frequent visits by musicians (Les McCaan, Linda Ronstadt, John Fahey) and complimentary passes to shows.  Paul's love for music came early and he took to drums and harmonica at the age of 8.

 When Paul's father returned to the States to study creative writing, Burch followed him first to South Carolina (via an invitation by poet James Dickey) before settling in Oxford, Mississippi and eventually West Lafayette, Indiana.  After college at Purdue, Burch began to write songs and teach himself guitar, making his first records for the now defunct Atomic Clock label.  

After performing around NYC and Boston, Paul moved to Nashville in the early '90s and began performing downtown in the vacant honkytonks once home to Music City's heady nightlife.  Forming the WPA Ballclub, Paul took up a year-long residency at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge -- located next to the Ryman Auditorium and formerly the "green room" to the Grand Ol' Opry's legendary stars. The Ballclub's marathon shows quickly attracted a following. 

Burch's debut "solo" release, PAN AMERICAN FLASH was voted the #5 country CD of the 90's by Amazon.com and was called by Billboard's Chet Flippo "extraordinary ... establishing Burch as a leader in marrying country's roots tradition with a modern sensibility."

Since LAST OF MY KIND (the companion piece to Tony Earley's novel "Jim the Boy" and his last release before FOOL FOR LOVE) in 2001, Burch has appeared on the soundtrack to Walt Disney's "The Rookie," and contributed to CDs by Bobby Bare Jr., the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Josh Rouse, Vic Chesnutt, Richard Bennett, Jenny Toomey and others.  Burch and Jon Langford are currently collaborating on a Waco Brothers/Paul Burch record to be released in 2004.