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.

• Part of Apartby Birdie Busch and the Greatest NightDownload

Purchase the album here.

Photo by Lisa Schaffer | skylerbug.com

Atmospheric and dreamy, this previously-unreleased instrumental from local singer-songwriter Birdie Busch is a great little add-on to what is already one of the year’s best albums.  Birdie suggests adding it to a favorite “drive in the desert” playlist, but for those of us on the east coast it could do just as well on any early morning driving-back-from-the-greatest-night mix.  Stream and download “This Must Be (reprise)” below and listen to Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night here.  Tickets and information for the Musicians On Call Benefit Concert with Shemekia Copeland and Joseph Arthur at World Cafe Live on March 14th can be found here.

Curated by none other than The Key, this week’s Tuesday Tune-Out at Philamoca welcomes Birdie Busch with Carl Cheeseman.  This particular Tuesday evening, Birdie Busch and Carl Cheeseman will perform a solo instrumental set, followed by a screening of a documentary about hobos.  A $5 donation is suggested for this all-ages event and tickets are available at the door.  Event information can be found here. Below, watch Busch and Cheeseman performing a song called “Vamp Ire Meadows.”

Surgeon has captured our attention and our blog feed as of late.  The four-piece metal band recently released a song from their upcoming album Chemical Reign, which we heard back in 2011 when they played a Key Studio Session.  These days, the band is preparing to release their new LP, but first they’ll be playing a show tonight at Kung Fu Necktie.  Tickets for their 21+ show with Swarm of Arrows and Bardus are only available at the door. Below, watch their 2011 performance at The Legendary Dobbs.

Robert Earl Keen’s Texas twang begs to be paired with a good beer and played on a porch in the southern sunshine.  WXPN can’t bring you a sunny afternoon in Texas, but we are bringing Robert Earl Keen to the Abbey Bar at Appalachian Brewing Company.  The songwriter has toured the country too many times to count, and his live show is as solid as it gets.  Tickets for his 21+ performance in Harrisburg are available here. Below, watch him perform at Austin City Limits Festival in 2006.

Iris DeMent brings gravity to country and folk.  Her childhood in a large Pentecostal family exposed to her gospel music early on, and since her first album Infamous Angel, released at the age of 25, DeMent has been dealing in heavy topics, from death and frailty to faith and religion.  The Grammy-nominated artist was recently featured on NPR, and WXPN is excited to host her at World Café Live in Wilmington.  Tickets and information are available here. Below, watch a performance of “Our Town” from Iris DeMent and Emmylou Harris.

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.)

There’s something so warm and so likeable about Birdie Busch,

So when she croons—voice breaking like the sun’s rays through the trees—to “settle in for the greatest night in history,” as she does on new tune “Sitgreaves Pass”—one can’t help but wonder exactly what she’s referring to.

“It’s part this extremist idea of what anyone’s greatest night would be individually,” she remarks ponderously, over coffee at G-Ho’s Ultimo. “But then there’s also this idea of getting through a tough time.”

Celebration and struggle are two themes present on Birdie Busch and the Greatest Night, Busch’s fourth record, out now—which also delves into issues like finding time for your passions, staying focused, and staying true to yourself.

But on “Sitgreaves Pass,” Busch is mostly focused on describing a personal “great night”…spent with a friend in the unassuming town of Bisbee, Arizona.

“There was this little trailer park that this couple was restoring…and all of the trailers were set up in a horseshoe,” she remembers, describing the scene for me excitedly. “So it’s kind of like a motel, in the middle of this old copper-mining town. And when you walk into each trailer, there’s a transistor radio playing music from the year the trailer was made, and magazines from that year. It’s kind of like walking into a time machine.”

She continues. “[My friend and I] were in this trailer that was maybe 10 feet long…and there was this little nook at the end, beyond the bed. And so we just sort of sat up all night, and wrote, and listened to old music. And there was a full moon outside… It was one of the most beautiful nights of my life.”

Birdie has always had a way with storytelling. A Jersey native who relocated to the city post-college, she released her first record in early 2006, then quickly established herself as a mainstay on the scene. These days, she boasts 4 full-length records (including Night), plus a handful of singles and collaborations—and an interminable love for making music.

Fans love her for her sweet, whimsical concoctions, which are one part folk, one part pop. Yet oddly enough, Busch reveals she wasn’t really a fan of either growing up. “It sounds funny coming from me,” she admits. “But up until high school, the main music I was listening to was hip-hop. I feel things really rhythmically.” She smiles. “Lyrics have always been of huge importance to me—but I think one of the most powerful things is singing in a way that you really establish your own cadence and rhythm.”

Busch’s easy-going, conversational lilt is without a doubt one characteristic that sets her apart—and which has inspired praise from everyone from Village Voice (who compared her to Syd Barrett) to Vh1. But for Busch, success is multi-faceted, and she credits her continuing creativity partially to her band: Ross Bellenoit, Thomas Bendel, Carl Cheeseman, Todd Erk, and Craig Hendrix.

The six piece has played together for years, and Busch says they’re really more of a family. As such, their chemistry is undeniable…particularly on Greatest Night, which was recorded live.

“We actually scheduled the recording date for right before we knew whether or not we were going to make our goal,” says Busch, who successfully funded the record through Pledge Music, a crowd-funding Web site, which allows musicians to donate a portion of the proceeds to charity. (Busch chose Music and Mentorship, a program based out of the Intercultural Family Services near her home in West Philly). “Trying to line up a large band of people is possibly one of the most difficult things I’ve ever had to do.” She continues. “It’s like…you want to work with these people because they’re all amazingly talented. But with the really good musicians, they always have like 3 different projects they’re working on at the same time.” She grins.

Luckily, the record was funded in time, and Busch is beyond proud of the result. “When something is recorded live, you can feel it,” she says. “It resonates in this really, really warm way.”

–

Busch will celebrate Greatest Night with a release party January 18 at Johnny Brenda’s; the show also doubles as the venue’s annual Philly Opry, an event created by Busch and former JB’s booker Brandy Hartley to pay tribute to the idea of the “Grand Old Opry”—“you know, Gram Parsons and sparkly suits.” Busch explains that Hartley was inspired by a similar weekly event in Chicago—but wasn’t sure whether could Philly support a weekly event.

“Philly’s not really a town where very regular things happen,” she says sheepishly, sipping her coffee. “In New York you can host an event every week, and always draw in people. But here I think we’re a little more sleepy, and dormant. So we decided, let’s just do one, and see what it’s like. And it went really well, so we decided to do one each year. Now, people ask about it.”

Preparing for the Opry is no easy task—in addition to readying her own set, Busch is in charge of decorating the venue: a task which in the past has included constructing giant backdrops from cardboard and chicken wire and this year will require crafting large wooden arrows, such as those found on the Greatest Night cover. “We like it to be special,” she explains with a smile. “Everyone in the Philly scene has been to Johnny Brenda’s so many times before, we want this event to stick out in their minds.”

With so many tasks at hand, it’s a wonder Busch manages to stay calm—but she credits her low-key demeanor to the city’s easy-going vibe and comparatively low cost of living. “It’s easy to survive here,” she tells me candidly. “I’ve had the past 10 years to really be able to record. I think if I had lived somewhere else, like LA or San Francisco, the amount of time I would have had to work would have left enough time to make maybe half those records.” She laughs, then pauses, and continues, more seriously.

“I think the biggest challenge is trying to stay afloat as a human. It’s never been easy to make a living in art or music, and now I think it’s harder than ever. It’s trying to balance making a living with dedicating the time and flexibility you want.”

“I’ve been grateful enough to maintain jobs that are really understanding,” she continues, noting kind bosses at the Random Tea Room in Northern Liberties, and the World Café Live, where she works while not writing or performing. “But it has its up and downs. It can become really stressful when, for example, you’re trying to block out huge chunks of time to go on tour or something.”

Busch cites last spring when she played 4 dates with Dr. Dog—“we got the call probably 2 weeks ahead of time, asking ‘do you want to do these dates?’” she remembers. “And it was like, ‘Yes, of course we want to do these dates.’ But then putting your whole life on hold for 4 days is a huge life decision.”

These days though, music is her number one priority. “I’m so obsessed with the idea of making sure I do do it that when I get those calls, I don’t even think twice. There’s always a way to make it work.”

Birdie Busch hosts the Philly Opry with Joy Kills Sorrow and Jason Loughlin at Johnny Brenda’s on Friday, January 18. Tickets for the 21+ show are $12, more information is available here. 

Birdie Busch‘s latest LP, Birdie Busch and The Greatest Night, gets profiled in Unlocked [link]

World Cafe‘s Sense of Place series explores the musical heritage of Memphis [link]

Philly synth-poppers Vacationer announce a monthly music showcase at Underground Arts [link]

Gracie releases a free download and EP details [link]

Emo four-piece Everyone Everywhere records a Key Studio Session [link]

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James announces a solo appearance at Johnny Brenda’s [link]

Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic gives Bleeding Rainbow a shoutout via Twitter [link]

Catnaps premier a playful new music video for “Cherry Lips” [link]

Shorty Boy-Boy also premiers a video for the ultra-catchy “Closer” [link]

Download a song from Kurt Vile‘s reissued Hunchback EP [link]

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds release a lyric video for “Jubilee Street” [link]

Brooklyn singer-songwriter Jason Myles Gross appears in a Folkadelphia session [link]