Paul Burch   -  Biography

Washington, D.C., native Paul Burch grew up in Virginia, Indiana and Mississippi in a family of writers, painters and racehorse trainers. Soon after moving to Nashville in the early '90s, he began performing downtown in the vacant honky-tonks once home to Music City's heady nightlife. Forming the WPA Ballclub, he took up a yearlong residency at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge next to the Ryman Auditorium and formerly the "green room" to the Grand Ole Opry. The band's marathon shows quickly attracted a following. Fans included legendary producer Owen Bradley (who recorded Burch's first Nashville sessions), Chet Atkins and British rock diva Marianne Faithfull. Burch recalls, "Marianne and I sang for hours one night at Tootsie's, mostly the John Lennon and Hank Williams songs she sings at home." Burch's debut, Pan-American Flash, was voted the No. 5 country CD of the '90s 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 in 2001 -- a companion to Tony Earley's novel Jim the Boy, Burch has performed at the Kennedy Center for Tennessee State Day, appeared on the soundtrack to Walt Disney's The Rookie and contributed to CDs by Beverly Knight, Ira Louvin, Ryan Adams, Bobby Bare., Vic Chesnutt and Lambchop. He released the album Fool for Love on Bloodshot Records in 2003. He also served as a music consultant to the PBS documentary The Appalachians, which broadcast worldwide in 2004. Burch's East to West (2006), was recorded live in London and featured Grammy winners Mark Knopfler and Tim O'Brien as well as a duet and video with Ralph Stanley on the Stanley Brothers classic, "Little Glass of Wine." His music was also featured in the David Cronenberg thriller, History of Violence.