I’ve long been a fan of Paul Burch and his W.P.A. Ball Club, but he’s also been one of those acts, for me, who released discs with a few keeper tracks and a lot of ones that were fine and all but no big deal if you tossed ‘em back. The latter category was filled, typically, with his most generic numbers, cuts that sounded of a Works Progress Adminsistration-vintage all right, but that pailed next to the numbers where Burch better incorporated his love for the swing-a-billy of that by-gone era but that also sounded like they just took for granted things such as Bob Dylan and, uh, electricity.

But I’m really jazzed about his new album, East to West. I think it’s the best of his career. The disc is filled with guest stars–Mark Knopfler, Richard Bennett, Tim O’Brien, Kelly Hogan, even bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley on a version of “Little Glass of Wine”–and was recorded, mostly in one take performances, in London and Nashville.

Much more to the point, every track swings here like a mo-fo–yet also breezily, as I’ve come to expect from Burch and his band–and the songs here are all over the board, too, and mostly 21st century up to date, even while remaining strongly rootsy.

“Montreal,” for instance, the opening track, starts like a Buddy Holly record, then turns to a melody and lyric that have a contemporary, world-weary vibe that puts me in mind of Ryan Adams at his best. All through, Burch demonstrates a charmingly light touch as a singer and lyricist, whether he’s being fanciful (”Last Dream of Will Keene”) or remembering his old man (”Daddy Rhythm Guitar”).

My favorites tracks are “I Will Wait for You,” which may swing harder than anything he’s laid down previously (saying something, that), and his recounting of the time that he visited the home of the late “John Peel.” Both are included below, but I highly recommend the entirely of this endearingly lo-fi disc. It’s one of the better albums I’ve heard all year.

Also below are two of Burch’s finest early tracks, “Sage Advice” and “13 Days” from Pan-Amercan Flash, his debut on the no-longer in business label Checkered Past.

“I Will Wait for You” and “John Peel” from East to West (Bloodshot, 2006)

“13 Days” and “Sage Advice” from the out-of-print Pan-American Flash (Checkered Past, 1998)

***** 

A peak at Paul Burch’s website reveals that he’ll be playing the annual Broiler Festival in Crane, Missouri on August 26th. Crane is nestled in hills of southwestern Missouri, deeper into the Ozarks than Branson and Silver Dollar City but not quite to Arkansas, and was once the headquarters of Dale Wiley’s Slewfoot Records label. The Broiler Fest, a remnant of Stone County’s now-defunct chicken processing industry, is a great time–a small town festival that draws big crowds from all the bigger burgs nearabouts: Cape Fair and Aurora, West Plains (from where hail Porter Wagoner and Jan Howard)  and even Springfield (home to John Aschcroft and, much better, Aunt Martha’s Pancakes). This year’s music line-up includes the Domino Kings, Brian Capps, and Burch’s Bloodshot Records labelmate, Rex Hobart & the Misery Boys.

To give you a bit of Broiler Festival flavor, I’ve added a piece on the 2001 Broiler Fest to our up-to-now neglected page for food and travel, The High Life. That year’s headliner was none other than Hank Thompson. Check it out.

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