2014 Christmas Stories, part two.
With just under two months to go until this year’s marathon, here’s the second half of the Christmas Stories recorded exclusively for the 2014 edition of my 25-Hour Holiday Radio Show on 103.3 fm WPRB.
I’ve posted them in the order they originally aired during the program.
Part one can be found here.
Please click on the links provided and support these musicians, artists and talented individuals who were so kind to tape remarkable original pieces for the show. Follow them on Twitter! Like them on Facebook! Buy their records and books! Support their events!
May these works inspire you to record something for this December.
Policymaker – “St. Peter The Poop”
Michael T. Fournier (gtr, bass, vox) and Rebecca Griffin (backing vox, bells) are Policymaker. Mike is the drummer/songwriter of Dead Trend, and the author of Double Nickels on the Dime (33.3/Bloomsbury) and, most recently, Swing State (Three Rooms Press). Rebecca is working on her PhD in English. They live in Western Massachusetts.
Advance Base – “Christmas in Milwaukee”
Advance Base is music by Owen Ashworth, formerly of Casiotone for the Painfully Alone.
Walking the line between electronic pop & more traditional singer/songwriter forms, Ashworth builds minimalist, heavy-hearted, & nostalgia-obsessed tunes around his conversational, baritone vocals, using electric pianos, Omnichords, orchestral samples, & drum machines. The sound of Advance Base has been described as “depressed,” “lo-fi,” & “pop.”
The song “Christmas In Milwaukee” is now available on his latest album, “Nephew in the Wild.”
Matthew Reid-Schwartz – “Should Auld Acquaintance”
Mr. MRS plays plays guitar and occasional flute in the Seattle band Kinski. Their most recent full-length “7 (Or 8)” is out now on Kill Rock Stars. Truth be told, he quite enjoys the holiday season – especially the port, pears and stilton.
Neal Markowski – “Tuba Christmas”
Neal Markowski lives in Chicago and plays in the groups Korean Jeans (which features a tuba) and Burn Permits (which doesn’t feature a tuba.) He used to maintain a sad blog about Hot Doug’s and now spends most of his time accidentally buying records off of eBay and making audio collages or sound installations.
Edith Frost with James Dering – “Toyland”
Edith Frost can be found on her website and/or Twitter.
James Dering hosts the Better Piano podcast.
This is their second contribution to the marathon in as many years.
John Petkovic – “Sacrilegious Child”
The mighty John Petkovic plays music (Cobra Verde, Sweet Apple, Death of Samantha), writes stories and does other things.
The ZED Show – “Christmas Episode”
The ZED Show is a podcast conversation between Zella, Ezra & Daddy. Their ages are ~46 when summed together, and one of then was alive in the 70s. Hear more at zedshow.co.
Pat Byrne – “Christmas Story”
Pat Byrne hosts the live variety show “Prove It All Night” once a month at WFMU. He’s a good dude.
Teri Noel Towe – “A Visit From St. Nicholas”
TNT is the once and future host of WPRB’s “Towe on Thursday,” a program with a special emphasis on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and performances by great artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Mike Adams – “I Once Bowled 300 And Won”
Mike Adams (of Flannelgraph recording artists Mike Adams At His Honest Weight) is a musician, talk show host, and dad from Bloomington, IN. In spite of playing at least once a year for the last 20 years, he’s just a mediocre bowler.
Kris Kennedy – “1976 – A Santa Story”
Musician and screenwriter Kristine Kennedy is a female McGuyver who has had one interesting Christmas in her life. She resides in Philadelphia.
B. Musikoff – “It’s Christmas, Mom’s Jewish In Phoenix”
Brian Musikoff is a Chooch of NJ (by way of NYC) who draws cartoons as needed, plays bass for a rock group named Stuyvesant and has recently been promoted to the role of recurring cast member on the program Live From The Barrage.
Betsy Herbert – “Little Pummer Girl”
Betsy Herbert is a writer living in Philadelphia with her partner and her dog. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. She’s had a short story published in Philadelphia City Paper.
She is working on a novel — along with other short stories, screenplays, plays, fiction and non-fiction. She also loves to make radio pieces. And, she has a Soundcloud account.
The Rutabega featuring John Hastie – “Joy”
South Bend, Indiana’s Joshua Wayne Hensley has been writing, recording, and birthing quirky sad-bastard songs under The Rutabega moniker since early 2002. In 2011 Joshua joined forces with multi-instrumentalist Garth Mason, and The Rutabega evolved into a bona fide Carp Rock power-duo (minus the blues, plus the creepy). Their album “Brother The Lights Don’t Work,” is the culmination of two+ years of sweaty rock shows, plasma sales, and tears. This eight song LP is available on vinyl, CD, and as a download through the band’s Bandcamp site. Cross your fingers for a follow-up in 2016.
Yes, that *is* John Hastie of Nonagon in the mix as well. Good ear.
Modern Hut – “Christmas In Prison”
Playing “extreme loner folk” with a 2013 album on Don Giovanni Records titled “Genetic Treasure,” Modern Hut for this recording is Joe Steinhardt with backing vocals by Screaming Females’ Marissa Paternoster. Their second contribution to the show in as many years is a John Prine cover.
Joel R.L. Phelps – “The Most Highly Favoured”
Vancouver’s Joel Phelps is a member of The Downer Trio and also plays with the group Dama/Libra. Joel is the only artist to record a “Christmas Story” for the show each of the last four years. Many demos and new recordings of his have been posted on Soundcloud, with the lion’s share of his studio output now available through Bandcamp.
November 18th, 2015 at 2:36 pm
Michael T Fournier passed along your info about silly/funny/satirical Christmas Songs
and I have one called the OJ Christmas Song and is sung to the tune Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (including verse). Please send it your way. All best Peterlet me know if you would like to hear a recording and I will