The High 48s cover of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" ought to be more than acceptable to fans of vintage Rock. Their Jazzy acoustic cover of "Skating" will remind your Jazz friends of Bela Fleck and David Grisman. There's the Gospel of "Children, Go" that would've shown like a diamond in the already superb soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou (wow, two mentions of that film in one post). "Christmas Every Day" should touch the heart of any Country fan as well as fans of "the California sound" (Poco, The Eagles, Redwing, etc.). Who can resist any version of "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"? "Holidays With The High 48s" even includes my late mother's favorite, the too seldom covered "Friendly Beasts". And the band goes all Earl Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" on "Auld Lang Syne", ending the set in glorious fashion.
This really is one of my favorite new Christmas albums of the year and I've got that feeling you get when you hear something great and you can't wait to share it with everybody you've ever known and then some. I'd like to go out and stop cars on the highway to tell people about it (and you know that would not end well). Personal highlights--well, the whole record, basically. But extra applause for "Santa Claus Is Back In Town", "Auld Lang Syne", and the Becky Schlegel penned "Christmas Every Day"--a song about the people you've lost along the way. You can get the digital version of "Holidays With The High 48s" on Bandcamp and CDs are available from The High 48s web site.