Get Into Paul Burch

Paul Burch is a musical Renaissance man — a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer-engineer, radio host and filmmaker — who’s been in Nashville for around a quarter-century and has become deeply woven into the fabric of Music City. With a revolving cast of phenomenal musicians called The WPA Ballclub, Burch makes music that draws on old-school country, string-band music, different strains of blues, R&B, early rock ’n’ roll, English folk music, hot jazz and more. The group always bends those sounds to their own purposes. Like many of the best songsmiths, Burch isn’t one for rarified language, even when discussing the complex lives of brilliant literary figures on his recent full-length Light Sensitive (which we crowned Best Literary Album in this year’s Best of Nashville issue) or reimagining the life of country legend Jimmie Rodgers on 2016’s Meridian Rising. But his words always tell you something profound about living in our world. Sometimes, he doesn’t even have to use words — see Origins of Departure, The WPA Ballclub’s new collection of instrumentals. While in-person performances remain a rare and tenuous thing during the pandemic, it’s a great time to take a dive into Burch’s catalog via your favorite local record store, his website or Bandcamp. Newly added to Burch’s Bandcamp profile are three great albums: 2009’s superb Still Your Man, 2000’s Blue Notes (with appearances from revered songwriter Tom House, members of Lambchop and more) and Words of Love, a 2011 collection of lovingly rendered Buddy Holly classics. STEPHEN TRAGESER