Category: Country

KING CARDINAL - CHRISTMAS FROM O'HARE

12/4/2016

You may recall that one of our favorite discoveries in 2015 was Colorado Americana band King Cardinal and their song "Alone On Christmas Eve". They've graced us with a new Christmas song this year, "Christmas From O'Hare." The first thing tha has to be said is King Cardinal certainly makes a beautiful sound.

"Christmas From O'Hare" is about the importance of family at Christmas. Our protagonist is stuck in an airport bar as the planes have been grounded due to the weather. Sister is already a no-show, having her own family to spend Christmas with. So, perhaps with a little liquid courage and a lot of longing for home, he says that he can drive all night and make it home for Christmas Eve. To me, the interesting question is whether he actually intends to do that or if he's just thinking it. I get the impression its the latter. And chances are he shouldn't be driving anyway. But you understand the emotions and that's the root of the thing.

I'm becoming a King Cardinal fan and I certainly hope we get to hear more Christmas music from them next year. This one is free via Noisetrade.

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LAST TRAIN HOME - HOLIDAY LIMITED

12/1/2016

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Always loved these guys. Last Train Home were an Americana band back before they had a name for it. So you'd get a lot of "Country Rock" and "Southern Rock" and "Alternative Rock" and "Folk Rock" or "Roots Rock". Notice how all those have "Rock" in 'em? Well, I suppose it kinda works in a slightly skewed universe, but Americana fits just right. The song leading off "Holiday Limited", "Home For Christmas", was a frequent flyer on out of the way Christmas comps. Check your collection; you've probably got it on some Indie collection or other. That's not a criticism. I think its genius. Most local artist comps are for charity and they're usually regional. So, hey, Jersey just called and want a Christmas song. Maryland just called and they want a Christmas song. Colorado just called.... You get the idea. Everybody wins. Last Train Home released this full Christmas album in 2003 and, needless to say, its out of print now. So the group's label--Red Beet Records--is doing everyone a solid and making the full album available for free. And it's just too good to pass up (unless you already have it). Here's the Last Train Home Facebook page, in case you want to catch them live sometime. Great band. An American classic.

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DAVID STARR - DOING CHRISTMAS RIGHT

11/22/2016

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Medicine Show Music is a Country label and promotion house based in the UK (Scotland, to be precise) and we covered a few of their Christmas collections last year. Whether or not there's a full Christmas collection this year, there is certainly a Christmas single.

David Starr, who is based in Colorado, is a veteran of what we these days call the Americana scene. Not long ago, we'd have called it Country Rock. We might have even called it that California Sound, since it fits right in with groups like Souther Hillman & Fury or Poco. Indeed, David has shared the stage with Fury, as well as with John Oates, John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), Kenny Edwards (Linda Ronstadt) and the Guess Who, to name a few. His 2015 record "Love & Sabotage" featured guest appearances from Oates, Furay, and Steve Cropper.

"Doing Christmas Right" is a tale of finding the true meaning of the season after years of getting it all wrong. It's smooth and sweet and easy on the mind and good for the soul. The cover, by the way, shows David's Colorado store, Starr's Guitars. Get "Doing Christmas Right" as a free download from Bandcamp.

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MATT JACKSON - LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

11/10/2016

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1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings
2. Love Came Down At Christmas
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
5. O Holy Night

MATT JACKSON'S WEB SITE
MATT JACKSON ON FACEBOOK
DOWNLOAD AT NOISETRADE

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.

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LAURA ASHTON JONES - THE MOUNTAIN WIND BLOWS COLD

5/20/2016

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If you're as badly addicted to Christmas music as I am--and, for your sake, I kinda hope you aren't--you've probably got some Christmas albums you've bought that you've never even listened to, for one reason or another. Seriously, I've got the bug that bad. So I was going through the stacks and stacks and stacks of unsorted CDs sitting around my place (about 80-85% of which I have listened to) and came across a 2013 local artist compilation from Knoxville that I had no memory of. It was a charity effort--the fourth and, apparently, last Christmas album put together by independent radio station WFIV -- "Homegrown For The Holidays".

Now y'all know that local artist compilation CDs are my favorite kind of Christmas album. For charity...all the better. But 2013 was also one of those years I was super occupied with family obligations. So I guess it slipped through the cracks. That turns out to be a pretty cool thing because, well, wouldn't you be excited to find a Christmas present you never opened in the middle of May? I mean, you're hardly going to give a thought to, "Dang, I wish I'd opened it then." No, you're going to be all like, "Cool! I get to open a Christmas present right now! In the middle of May!" Wouldn't you?

Like most local artist Christmas compilations, it had highlights and some that didn't quite rise to that level. Personal favorites, FWIW, included the opening Boogie Woogie piano take on "Run Run Rudolph" by the Kit Shickers and Billy Lawson's "Santa Claus Is Back In Town".

But, hands down, the "winner" for me was the original "The Mountain Wind Blows Cold" from Laura Ashton Jones (no relation to either Laura Ashton or Ashton Jones). It's a tune that should have appeal to fans of Bluegrass, Country and Americana, but also to fans of Indie, Alternative, and Singer/Songwriter sounds. It won me over instantly. And fortune smiled upon us because the track is available as a FREE download via Laura's ReverbNation page. She's still playing the Knoxville area, as far as I can tell, though ReverbNation appears to be her only music oriented web site and there aren't too many details there. In any case, it's the middle of May and "The Mountain Wind Blows Cold" is a pretty nice Christmas present to find at this time of year. Enjoy.

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The FREE List

Here 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.

KING CARDINAL - CHRISTMAS FROM O'HARE

LAST TRAIN HOME - HOLIDAY LIMITED

DAVID STARR - DOING CHRISTMAS RIGHT

MATT JACKSON - LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

LAURA ASHTON JONES - THE MOUNTAIN WIND BLOWS COLD

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