By request we re-post this Cloverton version of Hallelujah — a Christmas Hallelujah. This song is very well known but this moving version burst on the scene last year to wide acclaim: Leonard Cohen’s 1984 tune has been covered by the likes of Willie Nelson, Rufus Wainwright and Jeff Buckley. Buckley’s 1994 version may be […]
Quick trivia question: what group has sold more Christmas albums than any other in the past 30 years? That would be Mannheim Steamroller, that improbable group of classic rock/classical/baroque combo that makes music like no other. Steamroller hung around the fringes of popular music for nearly a decade until they released their first Christmas album […]
The world’s first Christmas movie dates back to 1898, an age well before even popular silent films shown in movie houses. Directed by George Albert Smith, a British pioneer of film making, this wonderful bit of film was considered a technological wonder of the time and to this day remains a cherished look back at […]
LeAnn Rimes has officially named her new Christmas album Today is Christmas and has announced a new tour to support it to launch December 4th, 2015. “I wait for Christmas all year long; it’s my absolute favorite holiday;” Rimes says in a statement. “I can’t wait to share some of my new, original Christmas songs […]
Two Christmas specials of the Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Variety Show dating from the 1970s will be made available on DVD this fall. The shows originally aired in December 1969 and December 1970, and featured a mix of sketches and musical performances. Among Campbell’s guest on the episodes were singers Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, […]
One of last year’s biggest Christmas television specials was Blake Shelton’s Not-So-Family Christmas. It was seen by millions but who knew then what we know now of the soap opera that has become Blake and Miranda? On day #135 of the Countdown to Christmas we take a wistful look back at not only a year […]
Whether you read the book or simply watch A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens every Christmas there is no getting around the point that likely the juiciest role in the whole story is that of Jacob Marley. Think about it — he’s a mournful, lost, tortured soul suffering through the depths of hell that has […]
Katy Perry did more this week to advance the swirling rumors of a soon-to-be-released Christmas album by remarking on Instagram “When your derp squad writes a Christmas song in August ???.” — all underneath a festively decked photo of mysterious figures dressed in red and green. Katy has dazzled fans by singing holiday songs before, […]
Somewhere near you right now some poor guy is slogging through the heat of summer to put up a spectacular Christmas display. If technology has brought anything to Christmas it is a whole new level of creative celebration through lights and coordinated music. On day #137 of the countdown to Christmas we take a look […]
A friend on Facebook shared a video of a musician playing something called a Chapman Stick. I’m no musical dummy but I had never heard or seen anything like a Chapman stick before. As I watched the video I naturally wondered if any Christmas music had been done with this unusual instrument. Of course, it […]
