Well, we can hope. Yes welcome one and all to Americana UK’s celebration of all things solstice and Winterval, of all things eggnog and marzipan, of all things cards and presents and good cheer and companionship. Or, to be more succinct, we are happy to announce the official return of our beloved feature Jingle Bells Friday with all the best of Americana/Folk/Country-Rock-ish music that celebrates all the cool stuff to do with the holiday season. And all the drunken arguments as well, we love Xmas but we’re not blinkered about it.
As usual we will also announce when the first seasonal song came our way – and it was….September 13th. That’s not so bad, at least it was the Autumn. And who was so early? Well, as you’ll tell from their video Little Big Town just couldn’t wait for the season to arrive – not only did they share their new song ‘Glow’ but it came with the news that their new Dave Cobb produced album ‘The Christmas Record‘ was not only ready to go – it was out via Capitol Records Nashville. Little Big Town shared that “We shot the video for “Glow” while on tour in Switzerland this summer. Being in Gstaad and the Swiss Alps channeled our holiday spirit, so we couldn’t pass up the chance to create our own winter wonderland magic! We’re so happy to finally share our first-ever Christmas record with the world. We hope this soundtrack will create some new traditions for you this holiday season.” Us too – like starting the celebrations in September. Why not?
Anyway, we also have some good advice for y’all on how to get onto the good list….just in case you had any worries. There is still time, as The Sheepdogs explain on ‘Santa Man‘ the key things to remember are getting the stockings up in time, and leaving out a shot of whiskey ‘cos Santa would prefer it if you “leave that milk right there in that old fridge.” Darn tootin’.
We love a theme on tracks features and it’s no less true for Jingle Bells Friday – and the emerging theme appears to be an inability to wait for the Winterval day to arrive, and Father Christmas….Old Saint Nic’….Santa. As on Chapel Hart‘s ‘Come on Santa (Ready For Christmas).‘ Chapel Hart are a family affair – sisters Danica and Devynn Hart and cousin Trea Swindle – and it is Trea who has explained that “I feel like ‘Come on Santa’ is the perfect song to kick off this holiday season. Until we’d finished the first playback, I realized that there hasn’t really been a song that accurately described the pre-Christmas excitement that we’ve been experiencing. This is the anthem for the folks who want to start hanging their decorations well before the pumpkin spice starts rolling out!” We at Americana UK know exactly what you mean.
Having identified a theme let’s make a side-slip to the other part of the time of the year we’ve already alluded to a little already. It does also have an element of early planning – the word October may appear – but really it is a case of the Christmas Blues ‘cos you haven’t done what your lady asked you to. Yup – as Ever More Nest (singer-songwriter Kelcy Wilburn) discovers spending too much time on eggnog consumption when you were meant to be shopping can get you ‘Back In The Doghouse On Christmas‘.
The song is taken from the ‘Merry Little Thing EP.‘ Kacey Wilburn explained what this song, which follows a queer couple’s marital tribulations with the same wit Nashville’s hitmakers have long reserved for straight relationships, means to her: “The holidays elicit a variety of emotions and therefore make for great songwriting fodder – the holidays can be merry, sure, but they can also be challenging. As a songwriter, I think it’s important to capture the spectrum of experiences holidays bring.”
We have so many traditions – some of them are even good ones – and one that we like to stick to is bringing the true spirit of Christmas to you at least once a week. What, we ask, would Christmas be without banjo? Nothing. It would be a travesty and a disappointment. Fortunately Jackson Hollow – and that’s Tianna Lefebvre on lead vocals, Mike Sanyshyn on fiddle, mandolin, percussion, and harmony vocals, Charlie Frie on bass and harmony vocals, Michael Kilby on resophonic guitar and acoustic guitar, and Justin Moses on banjo – agree with us. ‘Papa Noel‘ contains these lyrics we can only concur with: “ring the chimes / It’s Christmas Time / And pick the old banjo / well Santa Claus will come tonight / Down on the bayou.”
And that is Jingle Bells Friday complete for this week – but don’t worry we have plenty more to bring you every Friday to the big day…and we’re pretty sure that a few more will trickle/flood in over the next few days. We’re short on solstice songs, and, just saying, we’ve never had a folk rendition of ‘Merry Christmas Everybody.’ Still time…
Ho ho ho