Molly Burch's Holiday Party w/ special guests
Longtime proponent of metallic tinsel and big vocal moments, Molly Burch’s Christmastime musicality dates back to the University of North Carolina. There, the local singer developed a knack for perfectly placed vibrato to match her hair-flipping flourishes while studying jazz vocal performance. Her meticulous approach and honeyed tone take on seasonal essentials like “Auld Lang Syne” alongside new pop cuts on The Molly Burch Christmas Album.
“Holiday music is a really classic thing for a vocalist to do, and something I’ve always wanted to,” explains the artist, who was inspired by an Ella Fitzgerald cover for LP opener “The Secret of Christmas.”
Her undergrad years also developed an annual Asheville celebration as the Lonely Christmas Band. Her boyfriend and guitarist Dailey Toliver was then just a friend, who Burch clarifies “was at the parties, and I think he had a crush on me.” One of two original songs on the album, the romantic “New Year Love,” requests, “I spent Christmas alone this year, and I want that to be the last time.”
Burch also added comedians Kate Berlant and John Early to an energetic edition of Wham’s “Last Christmas.” The two rising stars, longtime friends of the Los Angeles-raised Burch through her casting director sister, joined the singer onstage at her NYC and L.A. shows. The specialty show run ends in Austin with local guest artist Jesse Woods, featured on album duet “The Coldest Night of the Year.” Toliver and bandmates kick off the party with instrumental seasonal favorites.
“Holiday Dreaming” offers Burch’s second self-penned track with buoyant, upbeat rock instrumentation and a funny, Yuletide-heavy behind-the-scenes video. Even after a year of red-and-green-themed work, the Austin frontwoman isn’t sick of it.
“I wanted [the original songs] to really sound like me, with just a hint of a holiday vibe,” says Burch. “Maybe for my next Christmas album I’ll be more ambitious and write a Mariah Carey song.”
– Rachel Rascoe
