Anyway, I really need to get on to this post of some of the other artists working on Christmas albums; the backlog just keeps getting longer. Some of these will, of course, be coming out later this year while others, who knows, we may never see. We've already covered some of the 2012 Christmas projects that I'm most excited about--Jillaine, The New Royalty, The Fayetteville Ska Alliance, Lunch At Allens. What else we got?
OK, so how many of you out there--raise your hands--knew that Richard Carpenter (yes, THAT Richard Carpenter) was working on a new Christmas album? Well, OK, Richard's been said to be working on a new Christmas album for some years now (30 years, some would argue), but this time is different in that we have confirmation of studio activity. Last month, Richard was in a Hollywood recording studio with long-time bassist Joe Osborn, guitarist Tim May, drummer Michael Shapiro, and an unidentified female vocalist, recording new Christmas music for release in what is described as "the very near future". Perfectionist that he is, I'm not sure Richard will be putting anything out this year. But he might. And I'm really curious to know who the female vocalist is. So many singers have been proclaimed "the next Karen Carpenter" or "the Karen Carpenter of dot-dot-dot". My guess would be, honestly, that it's not one of those. All Richard has, himself, said (in an April interview with UCLA's The Daily Bruin) is "I've finally found someone who can actually do them [his Christmas pieces] justice, because it's hard to find an honest-to-goodness singer nowadays who can actually sing traditional melodies."
Another Soul/R&B artist with the holidays on his mind is Kem. All three of Kem's album releases have gone Gold, with his most recent, "Intimacy", fathering four big Soul hits including his most recent, "You're On My Mind" (great song, by the way). Kem's Christmas set is still a work in progress, so we may or may not get it by the end of this year.
But we are almost certain to get a Christmas album from Indie artist Freedom Imani, a relative newcomer to the relatively new genre of Hip Hop Urban Gospel. Freedom's album is due out in October and is tentatively titled "A NewFree Christmas". Tracks on the set include "This Christmas", "Carol Of The Bells", "Little Drummer Boy", and "O Holy Night" and the songs will incorporate Freedom's many musical influences and directions, or, to keep it brief, it's Freedom flavored.
If Broadway and Cabaret is your thing, you might also be interested in "Christmas On 57th Street", a studio album and documentary being put together by Cardigo Productions. At least I'm assuming that's the style. But it's hard to say what they're up to, since what we have is a casting notice. If you're looking to audition, get a move on as casting is scheduled for July 28.
Let's see. We should be getting a solo piano Christmas CD from New Age artist Isadar come November. That would be his second such album, the first being "In Search For The Meaning Of Christmas", originally released in 2000. I think that's right; it's kind of hard to tell with some of these New Age artists.
Let's put this post to bed with the artist whose Christmas album I'm sure you've all been waiting for--former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw. "But Stubby", you say, "I've already got a Christmas album from Terry Bradshaw". Well, if you do have "Terry Bradshaw Sings Christmas Songs For The Whole Family", a mid-90s "golden throat" special, you should know that Terry disowns that one. He says "It was horrible" and it's hard to argue with his assessment. So Terry's going to give it another go and he's wrangled Jerry Crutchfield to produce. There's no label involved (and, really, could you blame them?) and Terry's paying for the whole thing himself, so it's possible the old football player is going to have to punt the release to next year as many an Indie artist has found necessary due to the season's time constraints. We'll see.