We first featured Bonnie & The Barrows in 2016, when they gifted us the wonderful "Christmas Brand New". The Chicago Alt Country band didn't do anything seasonal last year, but they're back again with a pair of Christmas presents for 2018. "Brighten Up My Year" is the A-side and, with lines like "I may get better, but I'll never be well", you know it's another winner. But let's give a little love to the virtual flip, "A Boy and His Truck". "A Boy and His Truck" is a spoken word Christmas story, which we don't hear much of anymore, told over steel guitars and a loping prairie rhythm. Every year, in a small town, the boy would fire up his truck and deliver presents to the children of the town. But, one year, the boy and his truck didn't show. You can imagine the disappointment. I'll let Bonnie & The Barrows tell you the rest of the story. But it's neato keen...and both sides can you be yours for one name-your-price at Bandcamp.
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Late in every season, all these great free comps come out and I almost never have time to listen to them all the way through. Well I listened to "The Chvrch of Santa" all the way through. It's the latest in a long line of annual Christmas offerings from Friends Friends Friends Records. The Nova Scotia "label" evolved from the Raw Rock Militia. That's why "The Chvrch of Santa" is only Friends Friends Friends IV, even though there are Christmas comps dating back to 2010. These days, the Raw Rock Christmas project works like this: early in November, they send out a call to anybody and everybody to send in their Christmas tunes. A month later, they've got an album. It's worth noting that, most years, a limited edition CD will follow (given the turnaround time and all, the CDs usually get listed a few days before Christmas).
Although I listened all the way through, I'm not going to do a track-by-track. But this year's set is a good one. There's our old friend Nicholas Burgess with "Santa Planet". And I'm always happy to see Katie King on these; I love her stuff. The Holly Jollies go all Neo-Beach Boys on "Daddy's Really Santa Claus". There's an acoustic "Father's Christmas" from Jeremy Waterman, a straight-up Folk cover of "If We Make It Through December" by Blue Acres, some very nearly Punk Country from Alex Babineau covering Buck Owens, and even some Second Line Jazz from The Super-Krewe, "Xmas Potpourri". But beyond Nicholas and Katie, my favorites were the two tracks from Rawrwar and the Indie Pop tune up top, Whisperhawk's "Merry Christmas (I'm Sorry)". Importantly, there wasn't a single track where I was even tempted to pick up the virtual needle and move on. Great work, as usual, Friends Friends Friends. Find "The Chvrch of Santa" on Bandcamp.
Jake Duda and his band are based in Minneapolis and they play Country, Bluegrass, Folk and Blues. And they clearly have an ear for a catchy tune and cheeky lyrics. "Corn Dogs For Christmas" was originally recorded as a Christmas card for family and friends last year. But it would not be contained. The title track has become something of a seasonal trucking anthem in the Mid-West. "Spanish Midnight Mass" is a banjo driven piece that speaks to getting drunk at Christmas and waking up in the midst of Spanish Midnight Mass with no clue how you got there. "The Kid And The Judge" are instrumental mood pieces...slices of Americana in their own right. And we're back to the bottle in "Talkin' Christmas Morning Blues" (or, more accurately, the morning after). I've always enjoyed this kind of music. It may not mean much to many of you, but Jake Duda and his band remind me a bit of Cincinnati's Jake Speed & The Freddies. And that's high praise from me. Good stuff...and free at Bandcamp.
I was determined to find something free on Soundcloud tonight. Let me tell you, unless you know exactly what you're looking for, it's a complete wasteland. Most of what I have to dig through is people singing badly to other people's records. Ugh.
But this I like. And it's Country and I was actually hoping for something Country, tonight. Tamanie Dove was born in Tennessee and lives in or around Atlanta, now. She's only been pursuing the music thing for a couple of years. You'll find a couple of split albums (with Jenny Trindall) on CD Baby as Tamanie Dove, but she's been a lot more prolific since she dropped the "Dove" and just went with "Tamanie" (see iTunes and CD Baby). She's got a nice voice and sounds good when she's fully produced. "My Christmas Is You" is a little more raw, production wise (or maybe that's just Soundcloud), but she's still got a good voice. And I think what I like about this one, in fact, is that she's keeping it simple. The downfall of many an independent record is trying to do too much. Honestly, some times that works but, sometimes, not so much. "My Christmas Is You" is also old school Prairie Country, which alone makes it fun (it's the loping tumbleweed beat that makes it Prairie Country). There's plenty enough Big City Country out there. You should know that Tamanie says she does Rock, Funk and Jazz, too. But, to my ears, that voice sounds like a Country and Americana voice. Anyway, I wish Tamanie Dove all the best and thank her for the cool Christmas song, "My Christmas Is You". You can grab the song from Soundcloud (as it's her "song of the month", I wouldn't expect it to be up past Christmas) and pay the little lady a visit on Facebook. Come on in and sit a spell.
More major artist freebies from Noisetrade, this time a 5-song mostly Americana sampler from Thirty Tigers. Included are tracks from 2018 holiday albums from The Mavericks, LeAnn Rimes, and CeCe Winans. Krystal Keith's Christmas single "O Holy Night" is included as is Lance Carpenter's rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" taken from his new EP "Christmas White" (the title track is the one you want from that one, although his version of "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" isn't bad, if you like that sort of thing).
We introduced you to the Dutch Americana band Hidden Agenda Deluxe in 2016, when a tour with Oklahoma's own Carter Sampson resulted in a somewhat impromptu Christmas album, "Christmas From Amsterdam to Oklahoma". As Hidden Agenda Deluxe prepares to release their second holiday effort, "Angels In The Snow" featuring Canada's Oh Susanna, that first beautiful album is currently available as a "name-your-price" instant download via Bandcamp (no email required). No further words are necessary. Except to say this may be the best free Christmas download you'll get all year. Waste no further time. Head straight to Bandcamp and download "Christmas From Amsterdam to Oklahoma" from Hidden Agenda Deluxe & Carter Sampson. And, if the track above didn't win you over, here's one of my favorites from the album, Carter Sampson's rendition of Dolly Parton's "Hard Candy Christmas".  We needed a little variety here anyway, but give me a cello and women singing in clise harmony, and I am so there. This is the vocal trio Post Monroe. I do wonder where the name comes from, but anyway... Relatively new on the scene, there's been a lot of buzz about Post Monroe in Country music circles this year. They declare that they aren't Pop Country--just Country. But I'm going to tag "Let Christmas Hang Around" as Country and Country Pop, because I do that sort of thing. Post Monroe are definitely a group to watch in the year ahead. "Let Christmas Hang Around" is free at Noisetrade.  DOWNLOAD FREE AT CIGAR BOX NATION 1. Waiting for the Wise Men by Jim Morris 2. Sleekit Santa by C# Merle 3. Silent Night by Mark Jeghurs 4. Steve's Christmas Log by Jamie MacBlues 5. Christmas Credit Card Blues by Clint Lavens 6. A Cold and Snowy Night by CDA Ramirez 7. Wickerbee the Wannabee by Chuck Otto 8. Bug's Xmas Song - Have a Thought for Christmas by Buggy 9. Christmas Wishes by Eric Denton 10. Christmas Comin' Round Again by Glenn Kaiser 11. Christmasses Long Ago by Derek Rose 12. Doin' Shots with Santa Claus by RTZ Guitars 13. Into the Light - a Song for Advent by Henry Lowman 14. Love Love Love for Christmas by Mississippi Crawler Andries D 15. Coventry Carol (Trad. 15th Century) by Robert Killen 16. Away in a Manger by Henry Lowman 17. I Had A Beer With Santa Claus Today in My Lonely Christmas by Big Fat Tom 18. Kickin' the Snow Off My Boots by RTL CBGs 19. Kampusnacht by James Conder 20. Merry Cigar Box Christmas by James O Lunsford 21. Oh Yes It's Christmas by Smilingdog  One of my favorite annual holiday collections of the last few years is "A Cigar Box Nation Christmas". Cigar Box Nation is a place where musicians who build and play instruments out of cigar boxes gather together and compare notes, swap stories, share songs. If you've never turned a cigar box into an instrument, but would like to try it, you'll find plenty of people there more than happy to help you on the journey. Honestly, hang out for a while and you get the feeling that these cigar box musicians and instrument makers are like kids who get to celebrate Christmas every day. And the instruments can range from the simplest you can imagine to concert ready electric guitars (here's a tip for you; if you're making your first one, start with the simpler designs). Since 2009, Cigar Box Nation's denizens have been putting together these Christmas music collections featuring cigar box instruments--for their own enjoyment and the enjoyment of anyone who stops by. They've always been free and they all still are. The music runs the gamut from Bluegrass to Blues to Hard Rock, although this year's set is heavy on Blues. It's amazing what you can do with a cigar box guitar (acoustic or electric) or banjo. Some of these folks are professional musicians and some are just hobbyists, so you get a full range of sound quality (although one basic rule they employ is that you have to be able to hear it; good rule).
Unlike some postings in past years, I've actually had the chance to listen to the "2016 Cigar Box Nation Christmas". This year's collection is a relatively (for them) modest 21 tracks (last year's, in comparison, was 31). You'll find that's just about one song (3 or 4 minutes) too long for a single CD. The members, this year, were pushing each other to submit original songs, so the majority of these tracks are, indeed, as homemade as their instruments. Jim Morris opens the set in style with an original Folk Gospel number (with Celtic overtones), "Waiting For The Wise Men". I actually had to go back and read the discussions to make sure it was original because it sounds so much like all those old Folk carols, I initially thought it had been with us for a couple hundred years. Just a great, great song. My favorites, though...some tracks that truly blew me away...were C# Merle's "Sleekit Santa" and "Silent Night" by Mark Jeghurs. C# Merle's number feaures a Jazz flute playing over a Blues cigar box guitar/bass bed. Of course, I'm a sucker for flute, anyway, but the Jazz-Blues pairing works so much better than you'd imagine it would if someone (like moi) tried to explain it to you. But even "Sleekit Santa" was no match for Mark Jeghurs' Delta Blues "Silent Night". Oh, sure, you think you know "Silent Night", but I guarantee you've never heard this. This "Silent Night" is merely based on the one you know. It is a completely original song--original music (well...Delta Blues), original lyrics. Awesome squared and my pick for the collection's best. "A Cold And Snowy Noght" by CDA Ramirez is a stripped down Progressive Rock tune--another highlight. Eric Denton's "Christmas Wishes" is a wonderful Americana Christmas instrumental that legitimately makes you feel like Christmas. Glenn Kaiser's "Christmas Comin' Round Again" is perfect front porch Blues. I enjoyed Big Fat Tom's contribution, which I'd call Vince Guaraldi inspired Pop. And the one song that bothered me a little was Derek Rose's "Christmasses Long Ago". And it bothered me because it's on the cusp of being a great song, but it needs some collaboration--someone to tighten up the lyrics and music a bit. Do that, record it in a professional studio, and you've got a Jimmie Rodgers Folk Pop hit (the "Honeycomb" dude, not the other one). Of course, you have to remember that most of these folks are not professional songwriters and performers. Some of the music and words are probably very much off the cuff. But these are people having a blast and that always shines through. And, every year, a few of the tunes on "A Cigar Box Nation Christmas" will be among my absolute favorites of the season. Mark Jeghurs' "Silent Night" is going straight into the Stubby's Hall of Fame (or it would if there were one). I'm pretty sure all the old volumes are still available as well, but I don't have links handy (check the Stubby's archives; you'll probably find most of them). Poke around at Cigar Box Nation and you'll find some nice Christmas videos not on this collection. But, first, grab the free download of the "2016 Cigar Box Nation Christmas".
So you say you're feeling down because the new Sloan Christmas single sold out before you could get one? Is that what's troubling you, bunky? Well lift your head up high and know that you can get a digital download of at least one side of the single for free. "The Noisetrade 2016 Holiday Mixtape" has arrived and, right off the bat, they hit a home run by having Sloan's "Kids Come Home At Christmas". The collection has lots of other good Christmas music, too. Old favorites like Sleeping At Last, Andrew Belle and Sugar & The Hi-Lows are joined by artists you may be less familiar with like Saintsenaca, Old Sea Brigade, and Trelia. There's even a nod to the Festival of Lights as the LeeVees classic "How Do You Spell Channukkahh" is included. Sure, the star, here, is Sloan. But there are no loser tracks and it's all free. After a quick sample, I'd say it's well worth your while to check out Trelia and Benjamin James. One thing of note. The collection does not appear to be streamable, so you're going to have to download it to hear it. But that's not a great inconvenience, being as it is a free gifty.  Country music has evolved so much through the years, that you sometimes wonder if you're talking about the same thing as the next guy. There was a time when Country music was raw and real. Then it moved uptown and got a string section. And, one day, you woke up and Country music was essentially Pop music with a steel guitar.
I was never a big Country fan. My father was. But I do find myself enjoying the Indie Alt Country that's out today. Seems to me they've gone back to the roots...ditched the horns and strings and high class production for a bit more of that original Country flavor. I loved this new song from Bonnie & The Barrows from the first note to the last. To me, this is what a Country Christmas song should sound like. Great vocals from Liz Wawak and Collin Marks, guitar, bass and drums...that's all you need on a Country song. Nice easy rhythm. Sad sound that's still hopeful. Doesn't hurt that hey give a shout out to David Bowie in the middle. Adds some authenticity, somehow. And, if "Christmas Brand New" doesn't click with you, lend an ear to "You've Got The Problem (I've Got The Gun)" from their January EP "Tammy Wynette's Mysterious Death". I'm gonna have to rethink my relationship with Country, cause I like this band a whole lot. Who'd have thought the best new Country act in America would come out of Chicago? "Christmas Brand New" is name-your-price over at Bandcamp. |
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