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.
 You know we at Stubby's like "different". And this is most certainly different.
Were I in my right mind, this morning, I'd do a little more research on Gotta Groove. But what I can tell you without any effort is that they're a record label (in Cleveland) who do a company 7" vinyl Christmas 45 every year (since 2011) to give to customers, artists and employees. To the extent they have any leftovers, they put them up for sale on Bandcamp. And, when the artists will allow, some will be made name your price downloads. This year's Gotta Groove holiday record is "Winter Waterfowl", a Yuletide murder mystery set in 1983. Seems Drake Srifftail wanted his band to cover "Run Run Rudolph", but the band refused. He threatened to quit the band and the result was....murder. It was murder they wrote. Or was it? I could embed one of the two sides, here, but this is the kind of thing you should really check out for yourself. The bad news is you're unlikely to score a copy of the 45 (as of this writing, only 5 copies remain). The good news is that you can name-your-price and download it from Bandcamp. It's kinda fun and certainly different. 
1. Bacio - I Can't Wake Up At Dawn
2. Ages - Kafeklubbin' 3. The Only Ghost In Town - Snowfall 4. The Classic Brown - The City, The Country and Me 5. Joy Riding - Empty Fingers 6. By Surprise - Cult of Seasonality 7. It's A King Thing - Israel and the New Breed 8. Mark Martucci - Maybe It's Still Christmas 9. Aspiga - Momentary Flashes 10. Chainsaw - Good Friend (free) 11. Dave Damm - An Audio Christmas Story Christmas, 2008 12. Endor Endor - The Meek 13. The Not Fur Longs - We Wish You a Marley Christmas 14. The Pizza Carolers - Meet Me In Dilworth Park 15. Only On Weekends - Christmastime In Kingston Falls 16. Somerdale - Merry Christmas Time DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP  The Arbor Christmas Show cast performs at the Audubon Auction House in 2012 | Photo by Mark Martucci | markmartucciphoto.com
It's year 17 for the Arbor Christmas collection and, damn, if this ain't the best one yet. If "I Can't Wake Up At Dawn" from Bacio don't light your Christmas fire, well....what the heck is wrong with you?
The "Arbor Christmas" collections showcase some of the finest Indie music in Southern New Jersey. Like Santa's elves, they work on this project all year long and then there's a live show that's pretty much the biggest celebration of the season and there are actual CDs, there (and nowhere else ever again). This year's show is TONIGHT at the Holy Saviour Gymnasium in Westmont, NJ (generally 7-11). Oh, yeah, this is all for charity, yo (the money goes to The Arbor Foundation, run by The Life Raft Group, in support of those with GIST and their families and survivors, in memory and name of Jon Montague, whose idea the show originally was). Jon passed away of GIST (a cancer that attacks the GI tract) after the first two shows, but everyone had pledged that, for Jon, the show would go on. And go on it has. And when I say show, I mean show. In the early years, bands were confused, thinking they'd play full sets and that it was just music. But, every year, they write a show--an S-H-O-W, show--an original script which usually has something to do with Christmas and the year just passed. Holy Heck, I can only imagine what they'll be doing this year. For the rest of us, we get the benefit of a free collection of great Christmas music, pretty much all of it original (I'd have to check, honestly). If you're late to the party, all 17 volumes are still available, though, beyond the year of release, there is a price for the albums (in the interest of helping to raise money for The Arbor Foundation). As for this year's, I went through real quick and can't say there was anything I didn't like. Seriously, I'd hate to even mention one track, lest I not mention the others. But that opening track is killer. And it's all uphill from there. If I'm not mistaken, track 11 sounds like a bit of one of the earlier shows. Maybe not. Anyway, get this at Bandcamp and name-your-price. Feeling especially charitable? Go buy some of the other volumes of "Arbor Christmas". You really can't go wrong. |
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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