The Palace At 4am (Part I)
Burch has done time in a number of bands, occasionally crossing paths with Bennett along the way. Freed of outside constrictions, the pair holed themselves up to make THE PALACE AT 4 AM, playing an unsettlingly wide array of instruments and co-writing all the songs together. If history is just, it will put THE PALACE  ... Full Description and the contemporaneous Wilco album in the same relative context as the first Wilco and Son Volt recordings after the breakup of Uncle Tupelo. Bennett and Burch's effort does indeed sound like the Wilco record that might have been. There's less of Jeff Tweedy's willful eccentricity and shambling Big Star fixation and more focus on writing and musicianship, but the mix of alt-country, power-pop, and psychedelia influences should make fans of BEING THERE feel right at home.Personnel: Jay Bennett (guitar, tiple, banjo, electric sitar, piano, Clavinet, organ, pump organ, Wurlitzer organ, Mellotron, omnichord, synthesizer, xylophone, drums, percussion); Edward Burch (vocals, guitar, tiple, piano, pump organ, synthesizer, percussion); Max Johnston (banjo); Melissa Bach (cello); Nate Walcott (trumpet, flugelhorn); James Singleton (upright bass); Brad Elvis, John Richardson , Ken Coomer, Alex Moore, Brendan Gamble (drums).Audio Mixers: Edward Burch; Jon Pines; Jay Bennett; Ken Sluiter; Mike Hagler.