Edward Burch

Edward Burch (born June 9, 1968 in Centreville, Illinois) is an American musician and journalist. As a guitarist, he is a founding member of alternative country band The Kennett Brothers and, as a suitcase player, of the quasi-skiffle combo The Viper and His Famous Orchestra. He has been a longtime collaborator of former Titanic Love Affair and Wilco multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett. He is also a regular contributor to such advocacy journalism outlets as Clamor and Pamphlet, as well as Harp and No Depression magazines.

Burch grew up near St. Louis as part of a West Central Illinois musical cohort that included nearby Belleville, Illinois's Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar (of Uncle Tupelo and later, respectively, Wilco and Son Volt). As an undergraduate and graduate student at the flagship campus of the University of Illinois, Burch entered a burgeoning Champaign-Urbana scene that included bands such as Poster Children, Menthol, Hum, and Braid. Burch performed with a number of groups during this time, including Bitter Homes and Gardens, The Kennett Brothers, The Corn Likkers, and The Viper and His Famous Orchestra. It was also during this time (as early as 1994) that he began his writing and home studio recording collaborations with Jay Bennett that would eventually see light as 2002's The Palace at 4 a.m. (Part 1).

Burch briefly relocated to Chicago in the early aughts, where he had a standing Monday-night gig at The Hideout, a center of the Chicago alt-country scene. At The Hideout, he could be heard performing with the likes of multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach, violinist Andrew Bird, and The Handsome Family. In 2000, Burch compiled, produced, and played on a collection of Champaign/Chicago Christmas-themed recordings entitled Santa Is Real, its Burch-designed cover a yuletide parody of the Louvin Brothers' country gospel classic, Satan Is Real. In addition to tracks by the Kennetts, the Viper, and Burch (including his haunting version of the Johnny Marks tune "There's Always Tomorrow" from the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer television special), the collection featured recordings by Wilco alumns Bennett, Bach, and John Stirratt.

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