 | 1. Walking in the Air 2. Noel 3. We 3 Kings 4. Patapan 5. Midnight Clear 6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 7. Lonely Christmas 8. Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella 9. Little Town of Bethlehem 10. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 11. Holy Night 12. Somewhere Out There 13. Lully Lullay 14. Emmanuel |
Michael Marks the son of the legend Johnny Marks who wrote Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer says "This version of Rudolph is fantastic!" Featured soloist artists on the album include guitarist Adeshir Farah from Strunz & Farah, Joe Craven violinist touring musician with the Grateful Dead and saxophonist Ras Beeken Dan touring musician with Sublime. This album encompasses years of Christmas arrangements and thoughts composed by pianist Ridge Schneider of San Francisco, CA who's been performing them over the last 40 years. As well as a number of talented performers from and surrounding the Bay area.
Every year, there's at least one Christmas release that intrigues me to no end. As often as not, that's because, initially, there's so little information to go on. And I get to be like a a hound on the trail, searching and digging, digging and searching, until I find something. Well, the hunt for this one did turn up a cover and tracklist, but (so far) not much else.
What I can tell you is that Leilani & The Distractions are a Southern California band (fronted by Leilani Villamor) with very little digital footprint. Their YouTube clips are all pieces of gigs or rehearsals, probably filmed on someone's phone. Sound quality leaves something to be desired. Much as I hate that there's no professional video and that even what's there are cover tunes (Leilani is a songwriter, but I can't tell that from YouTube), you can tell that the group is a Funky bunch who can Rock, Roll, Swing, Blues it, and they love a little Latin spice (there's one gig on a Facebook clip that's largely Santana covers). And they seem pretty good. Wish there was a professional film clip so I'd know for sure. Other than YouTube, they're on Facebook (as of February 2017) and Twitter (as of September 2017), and that's it. What you can tell from Facebook and Twitter is that The Distractions are driven (and not to distraction). Everything is about the next gig. And it seems like they'll play anything anywhere at any time. Need someone to come over and sing your kids to sleep? Leilani is probably up for that gig. By the way, I'm not at all saying that's a bad thing. I've been around long enough to know that you can have all the talent in the world and you aren't going anywhere if you aren't driven like that.
What I can tell you is that Leilani & The Distractions are a Southern California band (fronted by Leilani Villamor) with very little digital footprint. Their YouTube clips are all pieces of gigs or rehearsals, probably filmed on someone's phone. Sound quality leaves something to be desired. Much as I hate that there's no professional video and that even what's there are cover tunes (Leilani is a songwriter, but I can't tell that from YouTube), you can tell that the group is a Funky bunch who can Rock, Roll, Swing, Blues it, and they love a little Latin spice (there's one gig on a Facebook clip that's largely Santana covers). And they seem pretty good. Wish there was a professional film clip so I'd know for sure. Other than YouTube, they're on Facebook (as of February 2017) and Twitter (as of September 2017), and that's it. What you can tell from Facebook and Twitter is that The Distractions are driven (and not to distraction). Everything is about the next gig. And it seems like they'll play anything anywhere at any time. Need someone to come over and sing your kids to sleep? Leilani is probably up for that gig. By the way, I'm not at all saying that's a bad thing. I've been around long enough to know that you can have all the talent in the world and you aren't going anywhere if you aren't driven like that.
Leilani & The Distractions have no previous releases under that name that I can find. Which means their debut CD is their Christmas album, "Planet Christmas". And I always give bonus points to any group that debut with a Christmas album. That takes some balls. And they were driven enough that it looks like they recruited some top Bay Area talent, to do the album up right, and got themselves a national distributor. So, while its weird that there isn't so much as a band bio online, you could argue that they're directing their energies and resources to the things that really matter.
Based on the limited information so far available, I figure the worst case scenario is that Leilani & The Distractions are a better than average club band. FWIW, remember that, once upon a time, Bruce Springsteen was part of a "better than average club band". But, if the band is as good as the poorly recorded videos suggest that they might be, then the sky is the limit. There's enough potential in that for me to look forward to hearing "Planet Christmas" when it arrives on October 19.
Based on the limited information so far available, I figure the worst case scenario is that Leilani & The Distractions are a better than average club band. FWIW, remember that, once upon a time, Bruce Springsteen was part of a "better than average club band". But, if the band is as good as the poorly recorded videos suggest that they might be, then the sky is the limit. There's enough potential in that for me to look forward to hearing "Planet Christmas" when it arrives on October 19.
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