Paul Burch Meridian Rising NSB
At Lonesome Highway, we have long appreciated the ongoing creative endeavours of Paul Burch as a singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Now, with the same sense of creativity, he has published his debut novel, Meridian Rising, a book that, like his 2016 album of the same name, is focused on the life and times of the man dubbed the “Godfather of Country Music” - Mr Jimmie Rodgers. However, it takes a particular talent to inhabit the soul of that musician in a way that only a person with deep knowledge and appreciation of the subject could.
The content is delivered in a way that engages the reader with its varied contextual approach, both in its appearance and attitude. Some chapters are transcripts of interviews with people who knew him, while others are his own thoughts and memories. The typography of these sections is visually distinct and therefore more effective at distinguishing their source and nature. I was previously aware of Rodgers through some of his best-known songs, such as Blue Yodel (T For Texas) and Peach Pickin’ Time In Georgia. I had read about him in numerous histories of the genre, but I didn’t know him the way I do after reading this book.
Which is, of course, as imagined by Burch, as this is not a biography but rather something that takes on a life of its own in the way it is written. Rodgers' own thoughts are sometimes conceived as somewhat surrealistic, but no doubt in tune with his lifestyle. I also learned about characters such as H.C. Speir, whom I had not heard of prior to this. He was a white businessman who recorded numerous bluesmen and early ’hillbilly’ singers. His publisher and sometime producer also makes a number of appearances through the book. You also learn of his path crossing with fellow performers like Louis Armstrong and Howlin’ Wolf.
It is a book to immerse yourself in for its own sense of imagination and craft; it creates a figure who seems to be alive again today, and in the end, it is a celebration of the talents of two men from very different eras who are nonetheless creatively linked in a way that enhanced the reputation of both. A highly recommended read.
Stephen Rapid