Pan-American Flash

AMG Review of Pan-American Flash

Tom Schulte
All Music Guide

Burch croons honky-tonk ballads with a Jimmy Buffet inflection. The result is easy to appreciate, individual and very authentic. Guitars that stay in the background, tasteful ornamentation from Paul Niehaus' lap steel guitar and a consistent locomotive-slow chug from the drum and upright bass rhythm section make for a traditional, warm sound. This is not commercial sounding FM country, but good ol' country done by young, living players. Among them are guest Deanna Varagona adding Patsy Cline-like harmony vocals and renowned Kentucky fiddle man Jason Carter dressing up many of the tracks. Do not be mistaken, though. Every arrangement is subdued into a decidedly non-ostentatious but clever background. What is left is a frame for Burch's distinctive diction. Easily an everyman's country record.