Best of New Christmas Music from A Cappella Trudbol

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 18, 2018December 18, 2018julien neel 0 Comment

The miracle of the Internet and modern musical technology gives us music that simply wasn’t possible hundreds of years ago when God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen was created. Bear that in mind when you listen to this more accurate rendition of the song by a single man carrying four different parts. This song is one of the most abused in all of Christmas music and it is refreshing to hear it presented as it “should” be performed: Julien Neel is a one-man barbershop quartet. His business is creating learning videos for vocal parts. A happy byproduct of that are hisRead more

Great Christmas Video from the Glitter Bomber

Jeff Westover Christmas News, Christmas Video December 18, 2018glitter bomb 0 Comment

Honestly, this has not been a great year for the non-musical Christmas video. Usually we get a host of Christmas light videos, Christmas pranks or Christmas-themed story telling coming out of YouTube but this year has been fairly boring in that realm. Until now. What follows here could be the Christmas-Video-of-the-Year. Seriously. It’s a little long, but well worth the invested time for anyone who has ordered Christmas online only to have it stolen right off the front porch: I love his comparison to Kevin McCallister. It totally fits and that makes this Christmas. This is quite definitely a 21stRead more

Best of New Christmas Music from Yohan Kim

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 18, 2018December 18, 2018yohan kim 0 Comment

Here is a showcase of incredible talent from a young South Korean pianist named Yohan Kim. He made a splash on Youtube a few years ago as a 13 year old. But to listen to this now…wow. Just wow: There is so much talent here it is almost breathtaking to watch. I just cannot wait to see what else this guy does in his career going forward. What I find especially thrilling are the comments I cannot read written in Korean on his videos. Clearly this young man has a lot of home-grown fans and support. To bring that supportRead more

Best of New Christmas Music from Def Leppard

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 18, 2018December 18, 2018def leppard 1 Comment

Here is a new Christmas song that does my heart much good. Aging rockers Def Leppard — a group I have been a rabid fan of for decades and that I can glad admit has annoyed both my mother and my children — has released a pretty decent Christmas rock ballad called We All Need Christmas. Guess what? It rocks: Just months away now from their well-deserved induction in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Def Leppard released the Christmas single as part of their latest “best of” album. Their induction into the hall of fame was driven byRead more

Best of New Christmas Music from Richard Elliott

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 16, 2018December 15, 2018Tabernacle Choir 0 Comment

The annual Christmas concert by the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square is one of the toughest tickets to get in Salt Lake City and the show always goes on to air nationally on PBS. One of the unheralded heroes of the annual event is organist Richard Elliott, whose solo performance always brings down the house. Here he is with a very active version of I Saw Three Ships: We have become huge fans of Richard Elliott. His work at Christmas is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creative organ work. We single him outRead more

Best New Christmas Music from Home Free

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 15, 2018Auld Lang Syne 0 Comment

There are many songs of Christmas that are not, well, Christmas. This is one of them. But it is a Christmas song. I know — but hang with me here a minute. Jingle Bells, Winter Wonderland, Baby It’s Cold Outside — are all Christmas songs that do not even mention Christmas. Yet they have a place in Christmas. Home Free has just released a new single of Auld Lang Syne, the song of New Year that gets plenty of Christmas love, including from us, because these guys play it straight in their tight, distinctive style: Auld Lang Syne features prominentlyRead more

Baby, It’s Climbing the Charts

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 12, 2018baby it's cold outside 0 Comment

Only a week after Baby, It’s Cold Outside was banned on two major radio stations in Ohio and California the song is seeing resurgent popularity on Billboard’s charts. The song appeared three times on Billboard’s Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart, which is the most for any title. In fact, the song’s recent climb represents the survey’s largest jump. Dean Martin’s version jumped from No. 23 to No. 2 on the Holiday Digital Song Sales Chart, which is the song’s highest rank in seven years. Martin’s version of the song jumped from No. 33 to No. 25 on the streaming versionRead more

Best of New Christmas Music from BYU Vocal Point

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 12, 2018December 12, 2018 0 Comment

The great thing about Christmas music is that it comes in all varieties. From the sacred to the secular, whatever your mood there is always something in Christmas to be found. An artist can either ride the wave of emotion — or blow it. I recently saw a video of an epic, dramatic rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen that really not only ruined the song it was completely out of step with both its message and its spirit. This is why we say some artists shouldn’t do Christmas music. One size does not fit all but many performRead more

Virtual Hallelujah Chorus

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas Video December 8, 2018December 8, 2018 0 Comment

Imagine combining the voices of thousands in a massive performance of Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus. That was the vision in the creation of this video from just a few year ago: How many of us have imagined ourselves singing like this? How many of us have belted out our part of the Hallelujah Chorus while in the shower or in the car, hearing it on the radio? Handel’s Messiah was originally written for Easter but has over the centuries now become associated with Christmas. The Hallelujah Chorus is the climax of what Handel himself saw as a mircle. Of creating MessiahRead more

Best New Christmas Music from Mason Ramsey

Jeff Westover Christmas Music, Christmas News December 6, 2018December 5, 2018mason ramsey 0 Comment

Have you seen this kid, Mason Ramsey? Chances are you have. A year ago he was just another 11 year old kid from the midwest, likely tracking Santa and dreaming of a white Christmas. This year he is practically as famous as Santa and singing White Christmas — for millions. Only the age of the Internet can create such a thing. But here’s the deal: this Walmart Yodel Boy can actually…well, wail: Seriously. He became a sensation when a video of him yodeling Hank Williams in a Walmart went viral. He practically became a Hall of Famer when he becameRead more

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