"I know this time of year can be heavy on the heart
To make you wish the winter didn't bring with it the dark"
To make you wish the winter didn't bring with it the dark"
Saw this one in the Christmas Underground Twitter feed and they said they might not have time to do a full write-up. So, sure, I'll pick that up for you. 100 Mile House is a Canadian Alt Folk group featuring husband and wife Peter Stone and Denise MacKay and multi-instrumentalist Scott Zubot. The band takes their name from a small town in British Columbia.
Folk music can deliver a truth quicker and sharper than just about any other kind of music. It lures you in with its beauty and simplicity and then cuts straight through you like a knife. And the truth is Christmas comes at the darkest and coldest time of year. And the memories the season evokes are both the best and the worst of us. "Once Christmas Starts" is so sweet and beautiful as it brings that truth to the fore.
Folk music can deliver a truth quicker and sharper than just about any other kind of music. It lures you in with its beauty and simplicity and then cuts straight through you like a knife. And the truth is Christmas comes at the darkest and coldest time of year. And the memories the season evokes are both the best and the worst of us. "Once Christmas Starts" is so sweet and beautiful as it brings that truth to the fore.
"I know this time of year can be heavy on the heart
I will stand by you once Christmas starts"
I will stand by you once Christmas starts"
The 100 Mile House Christmas single comes complete with a virtual B-side. "Back To Me" is much more upbeat--in tempo--and sounds like a groove the Byrds could have recorded. The storyline of "Back To Me", whether as metaphor for something other than a person or not, is kind of a "Same Time Next Year" thing. A couple gets together every Christmas but, by the end of December, the love seemingly vanishes and, before January's end, so does the lady.
"Once Christmas Starts" is a name-your-price download on Bandcamp. So you can get it free. But any money raised will go to The Support Network and The Sexual Assault Center of Edmonton. So consider tossing a coin in the pot. I did.
"Once Christmas Starts" is a name-your-price download on Bandcamp. So you can get it free. But any money raised will go to The Support Network and The Sexual Assault Center of Edmonton. So consider tossing a coin in the pot. I did.
Good people that they are, 100 Mile House releases a Christmas single for charity almost every year. Last year's excellent "We'll Count All The Days" is an Americana song while the virtual flip, here, is the most fun of these four songs. "I Don't Trust Santa" is a rocked up Western "Rawhide"-flavored tale of a kid who finds the whole Santa thing a little suspicious.
"Now all of this kerfuffle wasn't sittin' right with me
You're telling me this fella's gonna fit down my chimney
Well I've seen pictures of him and the numbers don't add up
I don't trust Santa. Enough's enough"
You're telling me this fella's gonna fit down my chimney
Well I've seen pictures of him and the numbers don't add up
I don't trust Santa. Enough's enough"
Extra points for using the word "kerfuffle". And I'm not giving you any spoilers about the "surprise" ending.
You might as well grab the 2011 Christmas single from 100 Mile House, too--"New Year" / "Christmas Is Killing Me". And then we'll...thank God for miracles, Flaherty. Miracles and Canadian Alt Folk groups who love Christmas.
You might as well grab the 2011 Christmas single from 100 Mile House, too--"New Year" / "Christmas Is Killing Me". And then we'll...thank God for miracles, Flaherty. Miracles and Canadian Alt Folk groups who love Christmas.
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