**NOTE: Contest is now closed. You can still participate but will no longer be eligible for the giveaway.**
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).
About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.