Birdie Busch | Photo by Josh Pelta-Heller for WXPN | hellerhound.com
Birdie Busch reflects on The Ways We Try ten years after its debut
A lot can change in a decade – friends move away, beloved haunts close, and we change as we move through the world. So it’s cool when there’s something tangible that captured those friends, places, and versions of self that can be revisited ten years down the line, bringing up warm memories and acting as a touchstone for our personal and creative growth.
For Birdie Busch that “something” is The Ways We Try, her debut record that was released in September of 2006. The local musician, who has since grown into an irreplaceable fixture in the Philadelphia neighborhoods she’s called home over the years, realized the milestone just in time to reflect on the record on her website.
It was the project that made me completely transfixed by the process of recording. I remember us playing things and then coming into the control room and feeling that literal warmth from the analog gear hearth. For some, recording is tedious and anxiety inducing. For me, it’s where the world allows me to finally just be. In some ways, these past ten years have felt like a by all means necessary attempt at getting myself back to that hearth over and over again. So much tetris-ing of time and schedules and funds to make it all happen and work but it felt natural in that I couldn’t muster that much passion for anything else. Even still I have so much protective endless love for this process.
Over the last decade Busch has released four other full-lengths, always surprising and entertaining with her storytelling and versatility. The music has developed and evolved significantly over the years, but the focus on camaraderie and community that Busch writes about in regard to The Ways We Try are still at the core of each of her projects.
Read her full reflection here and revisit The Ways We Try below.