Paul Burch has been living, writing, and recording in Nashville,Tennessee
for over a decade now and in that time he has been nothing short of consistently brilliant. During that span he has recorded six solo records that showcase a sound that falls somewhere between that of Buddy Holly�s birth of rock n roll and the wounded country beauty of Gram Parsons. For his latest release, Burch split time recording at Nashville�s legendary RCA Studio B and Mark Knopfler�s British Grove Studios in London and he is joined on the record by an all-star cast of guest artists that includes Tim O�Brien, multi-instrumentalist Fats Kaplin, and vocalist Kelly Hogan, as well as Knopfler on guitar and a duet with bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley.
The whole of East to West is one highlight after another. From the album’s opener �Montreal
� with its clickety-clack driving rhythm to the down home stomp of �I Will Wait for You� which gets much of its groove from the always entertaining Tim O�Brien on bouzouki, Paul and his mates keep coming up aces track after track. The mood darkens on the tune �Before the Bells� and with the aid of Mark Knopfler�s Latin-tinged guitar work the song has a feel that sounds like it was recorded from a Saturday night bandstand in some lost Mexican country bar. Toward the end of East to West we find Burch jumping into roaring rockabilly on �I�m Takin� It Home� which then gives way to the back porch on the next cut as Burch is joined by the legendary Dr. Ralph Stanley for the bluegrass number �Little Glass of Wine�. (Burch is quoted as saying that
Stanley
remarked it was like �singing with Carter again�). The album also includes a tribute to the late British rock radio legend John Peel that is so damn catchy, when I first heard it I couldn�t help playing it over and over again and it still finds its way into my CD player on a daily basis.
All told, Paul Burch has put together an album that finds a way to straddle a variety of genres from rock to country to bluegrass and he pulls it off with some of his finest songwriting to date. In the end Paul Burch�s East to West deserves to be included on more than a few �best of lists� for the year 2006�I know it will definitely find its way onto mine.
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