The Key » Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night http://thekey.xpn.org Discover Philly's Best Local Music Mon, 20 May 2013 20:42:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Copyright WXPN, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania My Morning Download: “Part of Apart” by Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/03/15/my-morning-download-part-of-apart-by-birdie-busch-and-the-greatest-night/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/03/15/my-morning-download-part-of-apart-by-birdie-busch-and-the-greatest-night/#comments Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:00:16 +0000 Bruce Warren http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=72601 bird-banddiner One of our favorite local singer-songwriters Birdie Busch is featured this week as part of World Cafe host David Dye’s World Cafe: Next series on the Cafe and NPR Music. Here’s what Kate Bracaglia, contributor to The Key and Underwater Explosions blogger writes:

Philadelphia’s whimsical, verse-weaving siren, has always had a way with storytelling. Her lyrics are quirky, candid and infused with a sense of sentimentality. Busch’s latest release, Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night, is her fourth album showcasing her folk-pop fusion. She recorded it live alongside bandmates Ross Bellenoit, Thomas Bendel, Carl Cheeseman, Todd Erk and W. Craig Hendrix. The record is a tale of celebration and struggle — delving into issues like finding time for your passions, staying focused and true to yourself.

Download “Part of Apart” from Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night below via World Cafe and NPR Music.
Listen to the full World Cafe: Next podcast with Birdie Busch here.
You can subscribe to David Dye’s weekly World Cafe: Next podcasts here.

Purchase the album here.

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/03/15/my-morning-download-part-of-apart-by-birdie-busch-and-the-greatest-night/feed/ 0 Watch a new, homemade music video for Birdie Busch’s “These Banks” http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/29/watch-a-new-homemade-music-video-for-birdie-buschs-these-banks/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/29/watch-a-new-homemade-music-video-for-birdie-buschs-these-banks/#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2013 16:04:02 +0000 John Vettese http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=67190 Having wound down from a productive several months – fundraising, recording, getting ready to release their new self-titled album – Birdie Busch and The Greatest Night released a video last night as a thank you to the fans who contributed to their PledgeMusic campaign last fall. In the campaign, Busch and the band brought in enough money to fund the recording of their new album and donate to West Philly’s Music and Mentorship nonprofit. In the video, we see a crafty and colorful look at handmade, homemade trinkets done up diorama style by Angela Miles of Carpe Diem Contstruction co. with a crew of hands that included Busch, most of her band and Rob Berliner of Hoots and Hellmouth. Posting to Facebook late last night, Busch wrote “we made this in my kitchen on an iphone fueled by friendship, lentil soup, and a trashpicked bbq grill turned puppet theatre.” Watch “These Banks” below.

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/29/watch-a-new-homemade-music-video-for-birdie-buschs-these-banks/feed/ 2 Unlocked: Get to know The Greatest Night in this montage of tour footage http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/18/unlocked-get-to-know-the-greatest-night-in-this-montage-of-tour-footage/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/18/unlocked-get-to-know-the-greatest-night-in-this-montage-of-tour-footage/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 21:20:02 +0000 John Vettese http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=66133 All week, we’ve been exploring Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night on Unlocked, The Key’s regular series on new and significant releases from Philadelphia-area artists. Like we said at the beginning of the week, this is an album that’s less about Birdie the solo artist and more about – like the title says – Birdie and The Grestest Night, her band. (That’s bassist Todd Erk, guitarists Ross Bellenoit and Carl Cheeseman, keyboard player Craig Hendrix and drummer Thomas Bendel.)

In this montage of candid tour video, shot when the ban toured with Dr. Dog last year, we really get a peek at the personas among this group of friends – guitarist Ross Bellenoit, who joined them on this tour, mugs for the camera. Erk teases Busch with party masks. Busch drives the van. They whole gang settles in to share a couch and inflatable matress. It’s set to “Penny Arcade,” a fantastic track from her 2009 offering Pattern of Saturn. Watch it below, and catch Busch and band tonight at Johnny Brenda‘s for the 2013 Philly Opry. (Busch also plays an instrumental set with Greatest Night guitarist Carl Cheeseman at The Key’s Tuesday Tune-Out at PhilaMOCA on January 22.)

]]> http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/18/unlocked-get-to-know-the-greatest-night-in-this-montage-of-tour-footage/feed/ 0 Unlocked: Read The Key’s review of Birdie Busch and The Greatest Night http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/15/unlocked-read-the-keys-review-of-birdie-busch-and-the-greatest-night/ http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/15/unlocked-read-the-keys-review-of-birdie-busch-and-the-greatest-night/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:30:40 +0000 Mike Vasilikos http://thekey.xpn.org/?p=65632 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for Philadelphia and the musicians who craft the soundtrack for the city. One early indicator is the new album from Philly singer-songwriter Birdie Busch and her band The Greatest Night. Birdie’s fourth full-length album further embraces her charming storytelling, but amidst a sonic backdrop that is all at once more confident and dynamic.

Recorded partly in Philadelphia and partly in Brooklyn, Birdie Busch and The Greatest Night greets us the first week in January. One can only guess after spending some time opening shows for fellow Philly indie-rockers Dr. Dog, the excitement of playing with a band rubbed off on Birdie. In fact, she enlisted Nathan Sabatino to record the new album. Nathan was the engineer for Dr. Dog’s Be The Void release last year. Most of Birdie’s new album was recorded live with the band and the result is batch of songs that breathe in a lot of open space, creating a dramatic musical canvas for her to craft her stories upon. It’s easy to get as consumed in the sonic space of songs like “Far from the Tree” and “Part of Apart” as it is Birdie’s clever songwriting. There are sweet, charming moments like “This Must Be” and quirky, vibrant songs like “Body Body” that keep making hit the repeat button.

Birdie Busch and The Greatest Night shows great maturity for the Philly songstress. The album was funded in part by her fans through a PledgeMusic campaign. It’s fair to say that those folks helped fuel perhaps Birdie’s most engaging album to date and one that should open the door to whole new world of fandom.

Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night is the featured album in this week’s edition of Unlocked; download the spotlighted single “Be the Arrow” in yesterday’s post, and check back later in the week for interviews, video and more.

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