So if you spent any time in the shops this year doing your thing for Holiday cheer, you can relate to me on this post. There’s only so much “Rum Pa Pa Pum” that I can actually digest.
I think it was the day after Thanksgiving when the music started pumping into our office and I have been plugged into my iPod ever since. Every once in a while you’ll get something interesting like Frank Sinatra doing a rendition of an old Holiday fav., but man… There’s only SO MUCH Manheim Steamroller I can actually digest and not get sick! (Also, MS is the #1 selling holiday band of all time! ~ good Holiday Trivia)
Even the Super Holiday spectacular albums with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, etc. get tiresome, so I went searching for an alternate musical choice for our Holiday parties and dinners this year. Lo and behold, in a manger on the North side of Chicago I was blessed with Christmas cheer by attending a Reverend Horton Heat show at the Metro, and my list to Santa was answered in Spades.
If you’ve never heard the Reverend before, think Brian Setzer on speed mixed with a drunken Southern minister. I think it’s actually impossible to not start bobbing and weaving with the music and stand up bass. Rockabilly, as defined by Wikipedia is:
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, and emerged in the early 1950s.
The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock (from rock ‘n’ roll) and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music (often called hillbilly music in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style’s development. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing,boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues
What’s even better, is that the Rev. has actually released a Christmas (or Holiday if you’re being PC)
entitled “We Three Kings”. This killer album includes such classics as Jingle Bells, Santa Claus is coming to Town, and my favorite… Santa bring my Baby Back. Take a listen to a preview of these tunes at Amazon Here and I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
This is such a great break from all of the Pottery Barn collaboration albums and really is something that you can have fun with while celebrating. So check it out, throw it on, and get ready for the way that Christmas Music should make you feel.
- Matt Dollinger