Searching for Heritage is a cassette tape that John Butler recorded and sold while he was busking on the streets of Fremantle in 1996. It is a collection of instrumental songs, some of which ("Ocean" and "Valley") were re-recorded on the debut self-titled album John Butler. During this time, Butler was usually playing on his own. Completely self funded, it sold three and a half thousand copies and enabled Butler to fund his first CD recording.