Checking In: Molly Burch

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These days it’s hard enough to sell a CD of any kind, much less one than can be marketed only one or two months out of the year. So why on earth did Austin’s Molly Burch decide to make her third album a collection of Christmas songs?

She laughs. “Obviously it felt super bold to me, it was exciting, unconventional. It’s common for indie artist to release a Christmas songs or two. I’m still a new artist and have only put out two albums. But I thought, ‘Why not commit?’.”

That she did. Burch made the decision to start on the project last Christmas. and it wasn’t based on childhood memories of Frank or Bing. “Both my parents are in the movie business, I’m even half Jewish. I don’t have that many memories of Christmas albums. But I’ve always wanted to make one, just because I identify first and foremost as a vocalist, and it’s a really classic thing to do.”

Determined to find a unique mix, Burch spent many months listening to Christmas music –  in the springtime.”It took me maybe two to three months to finalize the songs. I wanted to have a good mix of classic songs and deeper cuts, and songs that aren’t considered Christmas songs. We even did (Mams and Papas’ ) ‘Snowqueen of Texas’.”

Burch even wrote two original songs for the project, then spent time recording in studios in both Austin and Los Angeles. “Ultimately it was a great project for me. Recording a covers album, there’s so much freedom in that. It completely consumed our year, but it was so much fun. We decided to do just three shows to promote it, the first was in New York, the second in LA, and ending with our hometown Christmas show.”

Unconcerned with the fast-expiring shelf date, Burch, who’s first-ever public performance was at what she calls a “fancy Christmas party”, clearly put a lot into this project. “It seems so relatable to me,” she exclaims. “And it’s already selling great!”