Christmas Songs!

Gosh knows that I’ve been a Grinch for most of the year, but sometimes there’s a little magic that makes me find a smile beyond all the chaos… Thanks to:  the wonderful people in my family, and my life, I intermittently find things to be truly celebratory about!

And so over the last two years I’ve had the pleasure of recording some great Christmas songs with Cheri and Nick; some amazing people in my life, in the hopes that we can raise the spirits of all the other great people who bless us all year long.

Cheri Modrow, and my son Nickolas Meinerz, helped me record these renditions of Christmas classics, all recorded because they stir up special Christmas feelings in their own ways (especially chosen for personal connections). ~ Yes, that is my son Nickolas, blowin’ some mean saxophone on “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”! (He also did harmonies in the beginning of the song). We had such a good time recording these songs, and I hope that by next year we’ll have a whole CDs worth of songs to present to our world. So for now, please accept these five songs as our Thank You to the special people in our lives, past and present, who’ve made us who we are today. We thank you and sing for you, from the depths of our hearts.

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree (Right-click link at right to download): Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

We picked this one because we knew Cheri could simply nail it!… and I knew Nick could add some righteous saxophone! I realllly enjoyed writing the extra intro section… it feels great to add a little something to make a song ‘personal’ and give it a little ooooomph! This song was the easiest of the bunch.. (I think we had extra egg-nog)

Here Comes Santa Claus (Right-click link at right to download): Here Comes Santa Claus

I really wanted to do this song because there are some great lyrics which give a little extra attention to spirituality, even though I’m not overtly religious. I really enjoy singing, “Santa knows that we’re God’s children, that makes everything right”, and, “Peace on Earth will come to all if we just follow the light…”  this song always keeps me grounded and happy, all at once, if only for 2:01!

Winter Wonderland (Right-click link at right to download): Winter Wonderland

Here we tried to take the Eurythmics version and not exactly replicate the electronic focus, adding new harmonies and musical elements. I realllly wanted to add a French horn solo, because I guess I’m odd! Luckily, we utilized it in the outgoing improvisation part as well; I felt like a proper band geek! As you can hear, Cheri really knows how to divvy out harmonies, so I think we have a keeper…

The Christmas Waltz (Right-click link at right to download): The Christmas Waltz

I always liked Frank Sinatra’s version of this (in fact, his was the first version I’d ever heard) but it seemed kind of sleepy, and I wondered what a true waltz version might sound like. ~Yet, I’m not a waltz expert, and I know that real waltz orchestration would be a good dozen instrument arrangements, so what you get is: not enough string additions (sorry!), some layers of vocal harmonies, and almost a jazz drum swing to make up for my lack of waltz knowledge!  Even so, I really had fun doing the piano solo, since I heard this sort of thing in my head from my first few listens of Frank’s version. Most of all, I’m proud of the new lines and melodies that I wrote, from “..wishes you and yours… a dance with the one that you love”, and, “..all I want this year, is a chance, tonight, a dance in the moonlight… with you my Love…”  -I think that’s the best work I’ve done all year! ~AND, it actually got me a dance in the moonlight, so I’m feeling really cavalier!

Silent Night (Right-click link at right to download): Silent Night

Cheri wanted to do this song as minimally as possible, so she had to wrench the production tools out of my hands, but I think we whittled it down to a sweet, intimate essence. We found all three of the original verses, and then I took some liberties with the chord changes as we went along, and then finally added our own ideas after verse three. Again, you might as well make it your own version, right? Thanks Cheri for making it something special.

Most of all, I really hope everyone enjoys these songs in some way; Christmas songs can bring out really good energy from us, and I hope in some small way that we’ve added something to your Season…   God Bless us All, all the days of our lives…..

“… and this song of mine in three-quarter time, wishes you, and Everyone…..  a dance with the one that you Love…”

Merry Christmas to everyone across the whole world, regardless of your religion. May this season bring you true peace and love and precious time with your family and everyone you love.