Hit songwriter Bruce Burch, the Gainesville native whose series of concerts benefited many North Georgia charities, has died at his home in Nashville. He was 69.
Burch has been suffering from leukemia for several years.
Burch wrote hit songs for many country music artists, including T. Graham Brown, who mourned Burch's death on Twitter.
"The world just lost one of the best," Brown wrote on Twitter. "Bruce Burch was one of the sweetest, most talented people I’ve ever known. He was a pillar of the Nashville songwriting community and one of my best friends."
One of Graham's favorite songs he co-wrote with Burch is "Water Into Wine."
"'Wine Into Water' is the best song that I’ve ever been a part of as a songwriter," Brown wrote. "Bruce, Ted Hewitt and I wrote it together. Bruce fought leukemia for years with strength and grace."
But it was his love of his hometown and his desire to make it a better place is what many people here will remember him for.
Working with the John Jarrard Foundation, Burch helped start an annual songwriters' concert in Gainesville. The concerts raised money for local nonprofits including the Georgia Mountain Food Bank and Good News Clinics. For many years, the concerts were known as "Bruce Burch and Friends." Burch had attended school and was friends with Jarrard, who died in 2001.
Burch helped start the music business program in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, and he later started a similar program at Kennesaw State University. He also occasionally taught classes on the entertainment business at Brenau University.
After moving to Nashville, Burch operated his own music publishing houses. He was also manager to several artists.
He wrote a memoir in 1996 called "Songs that Changed Our Lives." In the book, he shared stories about some of his songs and some of the big-name artists who recorded them, such as Faith Hill, George Jones, Barbara Mandrell and Wayne Newton.
Burch was born in Gainesville and graduated from Gainesville High School.
