READERS PICK: DECEMBER 2010

Twangville readers recognized Scott Miller’s “Christmas Gift” as their favorite holiday album of 2010 which also makes it our Readers’ pick for the month of December. When Miller was asked about it he plainly said “Why a Christmas record? Because I like Christmas, that’s why.” That seems like a good enough reason for me. With seven tracks it’s not a full-length but what it doesn’t have in quantity it makes up for in quality. A standout track for me is a cover of Neil Young’s “Star of Bethlehem” a version that could only make the legend proud. “Christmas in Prison”, also a cover (J. Prine), brings to mind the Pogues with it’s powerful but restrained delivery. Original track “Yes, Virginia” paints a picture of Christmas time at the Miller ranch which must be a trip if this song is any indication. Thanks for the gift, Scott. May your new year be full of peace and blessings. — Tom Osborne [★★★★/4.143]

Song Notes by Scott Miller

“The Kingdom Has Come/Journey of the Magi” (S. Miller, T.S. Eliot) – I knew I wanted R.B. Morris, fellow Knoxville artist, to read something, maybe the verses from Luke that everybody uses, but he pulled this T.S. Eliot poem from a copy of Hard Knox Reviews. I had written the song years ago for a WNCW Christmas CD not thinking then of the Eliot poem or that they could work together. (Now in reality, I just wanted to see my name next to that modernist poet who gave me such fits in school.)

“Yes, Virginia” (S. Miller) – I think this song explains why I wanted to make a Christmas record. Of course I love the baby Jesus, but this is the time of year when all of my family got together and if you grew up on a cattle farm in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, you would understand how special those times were.

“Christmas in Prison” (J. Prine) – Ain’t no secret I love the John Prine! I heard they did a tribute record to him, but nobody asked me. I would have done this song, Christmas or not.

“Joyful, Joyful” (p.d. arr. By S. Miller) – This is “Dueling Banjos” meets Ludwig van Beethoven. I have a video idea for this song that probably wouldn’t come across in print, but I hope to have it ready by the time this is released. John Taylor is the banjo player and was in a bluegrass band I formed way before the V-Roys. I think he’s awesome.

“Old Toy Trains” (R. Miller) – Todd Steed, who produced and recorded this EP at his Apeville Studio in Knoxville, had to convince me it was okay to do this song. This song is G R E A T and Roger’s version is G R E A T, but I got a chance to actually sing on this instead of yell, so I like it.

“Star of Bethlehem” (N. Young) – I do a show around the second week of December in Johnson City, TN every year and I always play this. The best part…to secure the rights to this song I had to write a check to NEIL YOUNG! It will be framed (if it doesn’t bounce).

“Holy, Holy, Holy” (p.d. arr. By S. Miller) – A hymn so nice, they named it thrice!

You can purchase Scott Miller’s “Christmas Gift” at his online store.

Tis the season for holiday music and its time to giveaway another great recent release. This time around it comes to us via Cincinnati based Over the Rhine with their new Christmas album Snow Angels. To be honest, I wasn’t aware of OtR until I heard their earlier ’07 release The Trumpet Child (another solid release). Shame on me considering they’ve been making music since 1991 and have composed over 15 albums. But in my book, its never too late to discover great music.

The band consists primarily of married couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist. One listen to Bergquist’s enchanting vocals and you’ll understand how Detweiler fell for her. Smoky, sultry, torchy… however you want to describe the sound anything remotely close to those three seems to fit. Listening to either The Trumpet Child or their Christmas record Snow Angels you’ll hear how they effortlessly move from folk to jazz to blues and even hit a pop rock groove on occasion. Lyrics from the first track “All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue” set the tone for the rest, “Saxophone on the radio / Recorded 40 years ago / All I ever get for Christmas is blue”. The second track, “Darlin”, is an endearing tune full of forgiveness and hope. In other words, all that crap you dealt with this year just forget it for a moment grab your love, enjoy the magic of Christmas and start anew next year. “Goodbye Charles” is an ode to Peanut’s creator, Charles Shultz and very obviously Vince Guaraldi inspired. A favorite track on the album is the sultry, bluesy “North Pole Man”: “Cold hands cold feet / Darn snow darn sleet / It takes good friction / To make good heat.” That one followed by the rockin’ “Here It Is” is the knock out punch on one of the best Christmas albums available this season.

Purchase “Snow Angels” at the Over the Rhine Store, Miles of Music, Amazon and iTunes.

Thanks to Over the Rhine, Great Speckled Dog Records and the fine folks at Music Allies, I’m pleased to offer my promo copy of Over the Rhine’s Snow Angels as a giveway from Twangville. Simply leave a comment below and name your favorite Over the Rhine song or any favorite holiday album (see Mike’s favorites) and we’ll randomly select a winner from the comment entries. Contest ends Friday, 12/07/07 at midnight EST.*

http://www.overtherhine.com/
http://www.myspace.com/overtherhine

*By participating in this contest you agree to allow Twangville to post your name and city on our web site. We will never use your info for any other reason than getting the giveaway to you (of course).

You could say that Mindy Smith was born to sing Christmas songs. The adopted daughter of a pastor and his wife who raised her in Long Island, NY. No doubt her Christian upbringing played into her interest to cut a Christmas record so early in her career. Prior to release this year’s My Holiday (released 10/09/2007), Smith had only released two previous records, the knockout debut album One Moment More featuring “Come to Jesus” and the solid follow up album Long Island Shores whose “I’m Not the Only One Asking” made one of my Best of ’06 playlists.

Now with the help of such artists as Alison Krauss (harmony vocals on “Away In A Manger”), Mindy Smith brings us her first holiday record consisting of five Christmas classics and six original tunes written or co-written by Smith herself to add to the countless number of songs that have been written for the holiday. So far, this is the Christmas album that excites me most in 2007. Listening to songs like “My Holiday”, “Santa Will Find You” and “I Know the Reason”, her vocals are simply breathtaking. The press release accompanying the album compares her to artists like Gillian Welch, The Sundays, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss and Lucinda Williams. I’d say that most of those comparisons are true from listening to her previous albums, but on My Holiday the folk pop comparisons are probably more accurate. There’s very little country here though there’s a few songs where she a dead ringer for Kathleen Edwards whose really more of a folk rocker anyway. The classic cuts “Away In a Manger”, “Silver Bells” and “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” are reason enough to buy this record, but you also have to love the original tunes like “Follow The Shepherd Dog” and “Come Around” the latter of which could easily sit next to some of the best alternative songs of the year.

Here’s a track from the record available for download:
Mindy Smith, “Santa Will Find You” (MP3)*

Purchase “My Holiday” at Miles of Music, Amazon and iTunes

Thanks to Mindy Smith, Vanguard Records and the fine folks at On Target Media, I’m pleased to offer a promo copy of Mindy Smith’s “My Holiday” as a giveway from Twangville. Simply leave a comment below and name your favorite Mindy Smith song or any favorite holiday album (see Mike’s favorites) and we’ll randomly select a winner from the comment entries. Contest ends Wednesday, 12/05/07 at midnight EST.**

http://www.mindysmith.net/
http://www.myspace.com/mindysmith

*MP3 posted with permission from On Target Media.

*By participating in this contest you agree to allow Twangville to post your name and city on our web site. We will never use your info for any other reason than getting the giveaway to you (of course).

Disc 04: Bing’s Zing

1. White Christmas
2. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
4. Faith of Our Fathers
5. I’ll Be Home for Christmas
6. Christmas in Killarney
7. Medley: Deck the Halls
8. Medley: Away in a Manger
9. Medley: I Saw Three Ships
10. Medley: Good King Wencelas
11. Medley: We Three Kings
12. Medley: Angels We Have Heard On High
13. The Christmas Song
14. Sleigh Ride
15. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
16. Twelve Days of Christmas
17. Silver Bells
18. Do You Hear What I Hear?
19. Winter Wonderland
20. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
21. Medley: What Child Is This?
22. Medley: The Holly and the Ivy
23. Little Drummer Boy
24. O Holy Night
25. The Littlest Angel
26. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
27. Medley: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
28. Medley: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
29. Frosty the Snowman
30. I Wish You a Merry Christmas

Disc 03: Instrumental

1. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, David Qualey
2. Engravings II, Ira Stein / Russell Walder
3. Silent Night, Chet Baker
4. Carol of the Bells, David Benoit
5. White Christmas, Lee Ritenour
6. The Christmas Song, Marvin Stamm
7. O Come All Ye Faithful, Vincent Herring
8. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Ramsey Lewis
9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Dexter Gordon Quartet
10. Winter Wonderland, Wynton Marsalis
11. Christmastime is Here, George Winston
12. O Come O Come Emmanuel, Wil Ackerman
13. Angels We Have Heard On High, Steps Ahead
14. The First Noel, Chet Baker

Download Run Rudolph Run now for free.

Do you prefer your Christmas with “sawdust on the floor and blood in its mouth?” (New Music Express) If so, don’t bother writing to Santa. Sure, he’s a swell guy, but when it comes to “guitars so wild they must have been miked, mixed, and produced in the fiery depths of Hell” (Rolling Stone), St. Nick’s axe-handlin’ chops ain’t what they used to be. But don’t fret, this year everybody’s favorite psychobilly clergyman Reverend Horton Heat has his own bag of treats for all the goodly little kats and kittens! “We Three Kings” has the holiday licks and tricks you’ve come to expect from the jolly ol’ Rev. as he blazes through 12 classics and an original (“Santa on the Roof”). From “Frosty the Snowman” to “Winter Wonderland,” Father Christmas is getting an IV of slapback and gin! So, raise a glass of nog and try to act nice, the Rev’s making his list! Digipak.

Source: Redeye Distribution

Reverend Horton Heat
We Three Kings
release date 10/04/2005
(Yep Roc)

Disc 02: Secular

1. This Christmas, Harry Connick / Branford Marsalis
2. My Favorite Things, OMC
3. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Michael Franks
4. Baby, It’s Cold Outside, Dianne Reeves / Lou Rawls
5. Christmastime is Here Again, Diana Krall
6. All I Want for Christmas, Ray Charles
7. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve, Ella Fitzgerald
8. Sleigh Ride, Harry Connick
9. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Shawn Colvin
10. I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Dianne Shurr
11. Jingle Bells, Richard Tee
12. White Christmas, Tony Bennett
13. The Christmas Song, Carmen McRae
14. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Diana Krall
15. Winter Wonderland, Ella Fitzgerald
16. The Night Before Christmas, Judy Collins

Christmas Songs
Diana Krall, Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
release date 11/01/2005
(Verve)

On her first full-length Christmas album, pianist/vocalist Diana Krall delivers a smoky, sophisticated, and slightly melancholy album perfectly suited to accompany egg nog cocktails and romantic afterglow holiday affairs. Although there isn’t anything unexpected on Christmas Songs — Irving Berlin’s “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” is as close to obscure as it gets — Krall coos life into such standards as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve,” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” It also doesn’t hurt that she gains top-notch support from the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, whose urbane arrangements help bring to mind similar works by such iconic vocalists as Nat King Cole, June Christy, and Frank Sinatra. But it’s not all deep sighs and bedroom eyes; on the contrary, Krall keeps things swinging with such uptempo numbers as the joyous “Jingle Bells,” “Winter Wonderland,” and the Blossom Dearie-inflected “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.” If you like your holiday albums cool and classy, Christmas Songs is a stocking stuffer that’s sure to please. ~ Matt Collar, All Music Guide

Source: ARTISTdirect.com

As a way of saying thanks to Mike and share the love this Christmas, I will post each of these playlists over the next few weeks. I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.

Disc 01: Religious

1. I Saw Three Kings, Marriane Faithful
2. What Child is This?, Dar Williams
3. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, T-Bone Burnett
4. The Holly and the Ivy, The Roches
5. In the Bleak Midwinter, Pierce Pettis
6. Silent Night, Shawn Colvin
7. Down in Yon Forest, Joan Baez
8. I Saw Three Ships, Bruce Cockburn
9. Lullay Lully, Barbara Higbie
10. Christmas Bells, John Gorka
11. Light of the Stable, Emmylou Harris
12. O Holy Night, Harry Connick
13. O Come All Ye Faithful, Art Garfunkel
14. I Saw Three Ships, Judy Collins
15. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Bruce Cockburn
16. Coventry Carol, Suzanne Vega
17. Joy to the World, Anne Murray
18. The Little Drummer Boy, Bing Crosby w/David Bowie

Marah
A Christmas Kind of Town
release date 10/18/2005
(Yep Roc)

Download New York is a Christmas Kind of Town now for free.

Marah made a Christmas album for a number of reasons: (1) Because it is the most wonderful time of the year. Irving Berlin was a Siberian Jew and he wrote “White Christmas”, arguably the best Yuletide ditty of them all. (2) To make a Yuletide record we had to record it in the middle of the blistering NYC summer heat. That gave us the excuse to decorate our apartment studio with string lights and plastic snowmen and celebrate Christmas in July too! (3) Really good holiday songs allow decent “liberal” folks to celebrate certain “conservative” values like family, friends, eating dinner together, roasting chestnuts and home fires burning without employing tactics like tightening borders, tax cuts for the elite, veiled racism, and Old Testament brainwashing! (4) A great Noel number is your best shot at being played on the radio! To hear your own Christmas recording in the car on the drive to Grandma’s snowy farm would be the absolute bomb! (5) Christmas music makes most people really happy. That’s the whole point of music in the first place. So, get A Christmas Kind of Town and get in the spirit!

Source: Redeye Distribution