The body of "Come Celebrate" is sung by Gospel artist Richard Greer. Born in Ohio, Greer went through a lot before turning his life around. But turn it around he did. Now living in Oregon, Richard has, for the last 20 years, helped spread the strength and wisdom that found him through music (not exclusively, of course). There are lots of different kinds of Gospel music. On "Come Celebrate", Richard chose a smooth Soul sound, while his lyrics convey both love of family and love of God. Works for me. Click the down arrow above or head on over to Soundcloud.
Over at 200 Days of Christmas recently, Matt was talking about the wonderful voice of Jimmy Ricks. So whoever is kicking off "Come Celebrate" isn't as deep-voiced as Jimmy Ricks, but those deep voices do command attention, don't they?
The body of "Come Celebrate" is sung by Gospel artist Richard Greer. Born in Ohio, Greer went through a lot before turning his life around. But turn it around he did. Now living in Oregon, Richard has, for the last 20 years, helped spread the strength and wisdom that found him through music (not exclusively, of course). There are lots of different kinds of Gospel music. On "Come Celebrate", Richard chose a smooth Soul sound, while his lyrics convey both love of family and love of God. Works for me. Click the down arrow above or head on over to Soundcloud.
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Exactly a month ago, I posted this video on the front page because I was very impressed. "O Holy Night" is my favorite and Marc Martel does a beautiful version. Martel, who used to be in the group Downhere, released his Christmas EP on November 19. You can find the details in our earlier piece (really don't want to repeat myself). But, for a limited time, you can download this gorgeous rendition of "O Holy Night" FREE from the good folks at New Release Today (formerly New Release Tuesday). New Release Today has limited time free downloads of current CCM releases all year long. Being as we're in the Christmas season, probably a good idea to check over there every once in a while (in fact, I see they've just posted a cut from the new J.J. Heller Christmas album). The free download of Marc Martel's "O Holy Night" "expires" on December 10.
A Christian Folk Rock artist, Matt Jackson was based in Florida at last report (previously in Georgia). The digital-only Christmas EP "Love Came Down At Christmas" was something he released last year. His fanbase was very pleased with it, but a lot of folks didn't even know it was out there (yep, I missed it too). So, to get the music to others less familiar with his music, Matt has made "Love Came Down At Christmas" available from Noisetrade (tips welcome). The EP did have a sixth track, "The Christmas Story", which appears to be a spoken word piece. If you're a completist, you can grab the track at iTunes. As enjoyable as the rest of the set is, the star of the show has to be the rockin' opening track, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings". At least for me. You are, of course, free to find your own favorite.
Back in 2011 or 2012, Alan Lacy and a great gob of Christian Metal musicians in Texas conceived a merry Metal Christmas stage show. I'm a little vague on whether L211 was the name of the musical collective or of the musical itself, but it was billed as "The Loudest Christmas Story Ever Told". They put together an album, "Christmas Day". I take it there were some hard copy CDs. Downloads could be purchased via Bandcamp. And they delivered their stage show on December 22, 2013. And then it all just disappeared. L211's digital footprint today is virtually nil. You know how it goes. I'm not sure what Alan & Co. have been up to in the intervening years, but he's dusting off the old record and bringing it back under his own name (at least I'm presuming this is the old record). The hibernating Facebook page got a new post in September--just an image of the album cover--and some of the tunes are up on Bandcamp. It looks like its still a work in progress (I suspect there are more tracks to be posted), but there are currently 5 songs posted for "Christmas Day" -- "Deck The Halls", "March Of The Toy Soldier". "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", "Noel" and "Joy To The World". And 5 will get you 5 (although there is no price currently visible, click the "Buy Now" button and it's 5 bucks; fair enough). And then there's "Winter Wonderland", being offered as a free download on a separate page, presumably to stir your interest in the rest of the record. All of the tunes are instrumental. There was a time when putting together a Heavy Metal Christmas mix was a real challenge. Not so much anymore. And that's a good thing. Because now it just comes down to the quality of the music and we aren't forced to schlep in some bogus filler. Overall, "Christmas Day" features plenty of Head Bangin' goodness. On first listen, my favorites were "March of the Toy Soldier" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". But "Winter Wonderland" has got a super Thrash tempo and some sparkling guitar work and, hey, it's free!!! Can't beat that. Grab it here. |
The FREE ListHere we hope to direct you to some of the Christmas music on the web that can be yours absolutely free. We will not direct you to mp3 or sharity sites, here, but only to artist sites, label sites, and other authorized and unquestionably legal locations. Archives2010 FREE List Categories
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