Category: Country

Stubbys House of Christmas

HERRICK - ONE LITTLE BOY

12/26/2010

Don't know much about this band, but I dig their rockin' country sound. I don't know how long Herrick has been around, but I do know the 2009 single "Cry Memphis" generated some serious buzz. An earlier release I came across sounded a lot more rural, but their current sound has definite strains of rock and blues. That little extra edge ought to get them to the big time in short order. "One Little Boy", on the other hand, is a slow country ballad, overtly religious, but very radio friendly. Go to any of Herrick's pages to download it, before they pull it down, including Reverbnation and their home site.

VARIOUS - WXPN & THE KEY'S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS 2010

12/23/2010

1. Mrs. Mistletoe - Adam Taylor
2. Wake Up December - Talain Rayne (featuring Tirzah Lemmens)
3. Born Of A Season - Birdie Busch
4. Bright Lights Of Christmas - The Tell Alls
5. Reindeer Game - Ben Arnold
6. Christmas Cheer - The Roddies
7. Home - Joshua Park
8. Silent Tonight - Madi Diaz
9. Song For Solstice - Hoots And Hellmouth
10. Christmas Through My Window - Hiding From Andy
11. Xmas Buddha - Andrew Lipke
12. I Got You For Christmas - Joe D'Amico
Bonus: Bells - Atomic Square

THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Told you we'd revisit this one when they wrapped it up. And that's because, in the avalanche of free Christmas downloads, I tend to forget to go back to finish the collections and I thought you might have that same issue. By my count, XPN and The Key have got their full 12 days in, and then some. Download them all and make yourself a nice little "XPN 12 Days of Christmas 2010" CD-R. There's a bit of everything here from some of Philly's finest--country, folk, rock, indie, pop, alt everything. I'd tell you all about it, but they do a much better job of it. Head over to the summary page and work your way down. The download buttons are right below the play buttons. And, as I recall, there's one more tune in the mix that's stream only, so we didn't include it in our playlist above.

VARIOUS - A CIGAR BOX CHRISTMAS 2010

12/14/2010

1. Santa Man by Ice Bob, Samster and Rosie
2. Red Snow by Music Gov
3. Santa’s Got the Blues by the Doomtown Jug Sluggers
4. Candy Cane by Caspar Babypants
5. A Christmas Morning by Doctor Steve
6. Linus and Lucy by The Easy Rollers
7. Christmas Card by Olds Sleeper
8. A Christmas CBG by Soulcatcher and his DooFa Diddley
9. Run Run Rudolph by the Shane Speals
10. Rydin’ Thru The Snow by StumbleCol
11. A Santa Request by NoiseMaker
12. Carol of the Bells by Dan Greene
13. Foxy Carol by Skeesix
14. Not so Merry by Anthony Forder
15. Opting Out by LaurieLeeC
16. The Reason for the Season by Kalmario
17. Winter Wonderland by Marshall Stapleton
18. Blue Christmas by Ben Kepler
19. CBG by Juan Sebastian Verta CIGAR BOX NATION WEBSITE
20. Holly and the Ivy by Knotlenny DOWNLOAD CIGAR BOX CHRISTMAS
21. O Holy Night by Sweetlife
22. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by BenBob
23. VivaVodka by Burnus
24. Canjo Christmas by Bemuzic
25. Lookin’ Out at the Weather by Uncle John Bolton
26. Santa Claus Blues by The One Man Blues Collective
27. We Three Kings by Henry H Lowman III
28. Carol of the Bells by Les Titford
29. Cigar Box Guitar Star by John Wendell
30. Merry Christmas by Teddy Berwald
31. Old Man on the Roof by Music Gov
32. Santa Has the Blues by Hobostubs
33. White Christmas by Uncle Crow
34. O Tannenbaum by Henry H. Lowman III
35. Stranger in the Manger by Albert Guilliot
36. Snow Falling!!! by Patrick Breton
37. Silent Night by Yellowbelly Flatt
38. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Doctor Steve and Family
39. Every Song at Christmas by beStillroy
40. Santa The Ripper by John “Reddog” McNair

Whooeeee! That's a lotta music. Cigar Box Nation is the home of this little holiday treat. Cigar Box Nation is a community of Cigar Box Guitar (and banjo) enthusiasts who meet and greet to share notes and to share (musical) notes. And the community of folks who love building their own guitars (and banjos--technically, I think, called canjos) out of old cigar boxes almost as much (or maybe more) as they love making music on them is a lot bigger than you might think. And you might think such devices would, of course, be acoustic and that the musicians would all be playing some very rudimentary, rural, lo-fi music. HA! HA, I say! The cigar box guitar is only limited by the abilities of its builder and the musician who plays it (usually one and the same). The music on this collection of tracks submitted by the members of the Cigar Box Nation covers almost every genre imaginable--blues, folk, grunge, hard rock, new age, punk, bluegrass, metal, pop, indie pop, old-timey, I think I even heard some shoegaze in there, and there's a lot less lo-fi than you'd think. And the lo-fi that is here is extremely effective. There's far too much here for me to cover comprehensively. But the first two songs, alone, will disabuse you of any misconceptions you may hold about the cigar box guitar. I predict that "Santa Man" by Ice Bob, Samster & Rosie is destined to be among the most frequently used cuts on next year's selection of Xmas mixtapes across the country. "Red Snow" is just incredible. And, really, throughout, the musicianship and creativity of these folks is nothing short of spectacular. I really look forward to spending some time with this one--likely after the holidays--but my favorite so far has to be the Country Blues version of "Linus And Lucy" by The Easy Rollers. I love that. I really do. "Candy Cane" (by Casper Babypants) was a pretty good pop number, too. And I'd also recommend "Opting Out" by LaurieLeeC. There's a little more lo-fi on the back half but, again, everything is great, here. With 40 tracks, you're bound to find something you like on "A Cigar Box Christmas 2010". This, by the way, is the second year of "A Cigar Box Christmas". Last year's collection can still be downloaded free as well, though that one features a "measley" 23 tracks. Get both Cigar Box Nation Christmas collections here. Then, if you're as fascinated as I am, start reading about the music and the people and the cigar boxes they love to build and play. You might even want to join them.

VARIOUS - PASTE MAGAZINE HOLIDAY SAMPLER

12/9/2010

1. Super Desserts - Children Go
2. The Civil Wars - Tracks In The Snow
3. The Boy Least Likely To - Christmas Isn't Christmas
4. Summer Camp - Christmas Wrapping
5. Fauxbois - Will You Be Mine?
6. Deer Tick - Christmas All Summer Long
7. Two More Weeks - Father Christmas
8. Sleepy Rebels - California Christmas
9. Sarah Siskind - Stocking
10. Sara Jackson-Holman - Angels We Have Heard On High
11. The Yule Logs - Christmas Lights
12. Eux Autres - Teenage Christmas
13. The Tall Pines - Christmas Morning Comin' Down
PASTE MAGAZINE HOLIDAY SAMPLER

We owe this tip to our friends at The Sounds of Christmas, who not only gave us a delightful compilation this year, but also have one of the finest Internet Christmas music radio stations on the World Wide Webblies. If you're a big enough Christmas music fan to be cruising these pages, you owe it to yourself to check SOC out.

I know nothing about Paste Magazine, but here they've collected up some of what everybody seems to agree are the best Christmas tracks being offered freely by the artists this year, plus maybe one or two that Paste seems to have the exclusive on (like the Yule Logs track). They even point the way to a freebie we hadn't yet found--Civil War's "Tracks In The Snow" digital single, featuring "O Come O Come Emmanuel" on the flipside (You can get that one just below). This is a Holiday Sampler everyone should enjoy, especially as its free.

VARIOUS - ALTERNATE ROOT 2nd ANNUAL HOLIDAY SAMPLER

12/8/2010

1. Duke Robillard - Duke's Christmas
2. Sara Petite - Souvenirs
3. Scott Miller - Yes, Virginia
4. Jeff Talmadge - In The Quiet Of Christmas
5. Nu Blu - Christmas In Dixie
6. The Wild Rumpus - Silent Night In The Bar
7. Ian Tyson - Silver Bell
8. Jack Tempchin - Christmas Calling
9. Ox - Xmas In The Jailhouse
10. Boca Chica - Not On Christmas Eve
11. Shane Cooley - Window Shopping For A Long Lost Love
12. The Bengsons - Bells
13. Adam Mackintosh and The Last Dancers - It's Christmas
14. Brittany Allyn - Santa Claus Boogie
15. Gretchen Peters - Northern Lights
16. Jaimi Shuey - Christmastime Blues
17. The Porch Song Anthology - Christmas Is Cold DOWNLOAD IT HERE
18. Lisa Redford - New Years Day (scroll to the bottom of the Alternate Root page)
19. KAL - Jukebox Christmas
20. Dick Philpot - Jesus Lights
21. Brian Ashley Jones - Let's Get Blazed For The Holidays
22. George's Breakfast - Paper Airplane
23. Rich McCulley - Looks Like Christmas
24. Sarah Stanley - Happy New Year
25. Les Kerr (with The Jordinaires) - Christmas On The Coast
26. Robert Marr - Under The Mistletoe
27. Pat Bacon - Ho Ho Ho (No Dough)
28. Laetoli Steps - Christmas Tree
29. Little Green - Bells Are Ringing Their Last Call
30. Garrett Wall - How Christmas Was Meant To Be
31. Harlem Parlour Music Club - We Three Kings
32. The Irreconcilables - See Ya Santa
33. Patterson Barrett - Santa Claus On The Loose
34. Mike McGuire - The Streets Are Quiet On Christmas
35. Blues Guy Schwartz - Christmas On The Hiway
36. The Dave Edwards Band - It's Christmastime

Well, for whatever reason, Alternate Root ended the voting early and basically packaged up all 36 tunes for your holiday listening pleasure. And, believe me, pleasure is the appropriate word. This might be the best stuff you hear all holiday season. And its free from Alternate Root. Just go to this page, scroll down to the bottom, and click on the download link. Or listen to the tracks in the player provided, if you prefer. You'll see a few of the freebies we've already featured and a ton more that we haven't. Alternate Root is all about the best in Roots music, Alt Folk, Alt Country, Alt Rock, Folk, Blues, Americana. It's all in there. Go to it!

SHANE COOLEY - WINDOW SHOPPING FOR A LONG LOST LOVER

12/7/2010

We owe this tip to "smacque", that brave soul who previews all the Rhapsody adds to find the hidden gems. Mentioned him in our Uncle Daddy preview. This Alt Country, Alt Folk, piece of Americana is free at Bandcamp. Shane Cooley hails from rural Virginia and he's worked hard for his chance. "Window Shopping For A Long Lost Lover" is worth your time. Tell 'em smacque sent you. And, as a bonus, we've even got the video above.

LANDON SMITH & THE REAL MATT JONES - CHRISTMAS ANTHEM

12/5/2010

I really don't want to spend too much time with the Amazon freebies--they've got a lot of them and pretty much everybody knows about them. But there are some that might be overlooked and they shouldn't be. This one's so good, I almost downloaded it twice. As it's free, it wouldn't have mattered I suppose, but I don't know why I haven't mentioned it here. It's originally an old hymn, but Landon Smith and The Real Matt Jones spice up their "Christmas Anthem" and give it a nice countrified spin. Ends up sounding a bit like Sister Hazel at their best. Anyway, it's free at Amazon, so check it out.

VARIOUS - A STUDIO HOUSE CHRISTMAS

11/24/2010

1. O Christmas Tree
2. We Three Kings
3. O Holy Night
4. Jingle Bells
5. O Come All Ye Faithful
6. Silent Night

STUDIO HOUSE WEB SITE
DOWNLOAD FREE THROUGH CD BABY

From what I gather, Studio House is sort of a real world School Of Rock. Indeed, Paul Green, one of the masterminds of Studio House, was the founder of the original real life School Of Rock that inspired the Jack Black film of the same name. When that business had grown to 53 branches, Green sold his Rock School and began again with Studio House. Studio House proceeds from the premise that labels no longer invest in artist development, which was once a central part of their function. To counter this, Studio House will take an upcoming or established artist and grant that artist unlimited and free studio time. The students are part of this process from beginning to end. They learn by doing and the artists do what artists are supposed to do...create.

"A Studio House Christmas", it seems, was a project by and about the students of Studio House. They were aided by Green, Claude Coleman Jr. (Ween, Amandala) and Elizabeth Ziff (Betty, The L Word), and joined by Kevin Calaba (Stars of Track and Field), who sings lead on "We Three Kings".

I, personally, dug the jazzier numbers--"O Christmas Tree" (which has the Vince Guaraldi feel) and "O Come All Ye Faithful"--but your tastes may lead you to other tracks (there's rock and country here). And I'm sure we can all enjoy that it's Free.