I love Christmas music so much, even growing up Buddhist, it always caught my ear. I know I’m not alone in enjoying this crop of tunes that pop up every winter, especially now as a father of two young children. My daughter Nora is playing a lot of Christmas songs on the piano, my son Breen is singing them at the top of his lungs, and my wife Erin is also singing along as well as playing records of the classics.
I’ve also been loving old-timey and bluegrass music these past two years, and thought I’d reach out to some folks in town to see if anyone would want to come jam on Christmas tunes, old-timey style! Shelby was an immediate yes and brought along Tim and Vance, two incredible musicians, from Blackfoot to join us. I reached out to Reese and Jayden to come join, and grabbed a bass for myself to round out the group.
I put together a few lead sheets of Christmas tunes, and then Shelby, Tim, and Vance had a few tricks up their sleeves that Reese, Jayden, and I jumped in on as best we could. It ended up being a wonderful jam session with excellent musicians that really lifted my spirits. I want to thank dearly all the players that came out and reveled with me.
I edited the show to include some of the conversations we had between tunes, talking about the arrangement, some chords, and just chatting about this and that. It’s a big part of the hang, and I thought it’d be fun to be a fly on the wall of a lovely afternoon.
This episode features:
Shelby Rae Murdock: fiddle, guitar, and mandolin
Vince Crofts: guitar and mandolin
Tim Hodgson: fiddle mandolin, and guitar
Reese Thompson: guitar
Jayden Simonson: guitar
Jon Armstrong: upright bass
I recommend everyone check out the Mountain River Ranch dinner and show that Tim and Vince put on:
https://mountainrivershows.com/
I also recommend Snake River Strings Co, the excellent music school founded and run by Shelby with locations in Pocatello, Ammon, and Blackfoot:
https://www.snakeriverstringsco.com/
Merry Christmas everyone
