As the days shorten and the temperature drops their are two inevitable consequences – an increase in household carbon footprints as the heating goes on and the return of Americana UK’s beloved special Tracks feature Jingle Bells Friday. A firm fixture in the seasonal calendar, Jingle Bells Friday gathers together a bunch of the many Americana-ish Christmas songs that have come our way in the last month or more (the first Christmas song arrived October 22nd this year) so that we can offer you a festive pick-me-up as the actual holiday gets ever closer. So, take an eggnog in one hand and a mince-pie in the other and sit back and enjoy Christmas the Americana way.
The Imaginaries return with another Christmas song extolling the virtues of Chickasha Oklahoma, or, if you prefer ‘Christmas Town‘. If like the Count you love to count (and who doesn’t?) then you may notice that the young protagonist of the video moves once space too few. She also appears to steal the game. Kids, don’t steal – Father Christmas is watching you know.
The Colorist Orchestra & Howe Gelb featuring Pieta Brown have a slightly more downbeat take on the Winter Festival from the start “come winter, come grey come Christmas, come cold.” There’s a sense that it’s the message of peace that is the important part of the season, as Gelb sings “if you know how to love you can always get free and Jesus, Buddah, Krishna and Allah and Santa I’m told were just seen toasting in the north pole.”
There’s definitely a folk – albeit electro-folk – feel to ‘Like Snow (Slowly Falling)‘ on which the appropriately named Sara Noelle evokes a suitably chilly scene. There’s a somewhat macabre suggestion when she sings “lost on your way….were you ever found” hinting at the possibilities of, somewhere out in the wilderness, bodies under the snow.
We’re back onto more traditional ground with The Twangtown Paramours whose retro-rocking who extoll the virtues of getting so “naughty it’ll be so nice“. Previous advice applies here – as The Twangtown Paramours themselves admit, this kind of behaviour may cause Santa to just keep going. You’ve been warned.
Jackson Hollow fortunately are here to give you the path to Christmas salvation – concentrate on family, and a purer form of love. And bluegrass – because what is a Christmas, after all, without Bluegrass?
