Yet another Christmas album. These traditional carols have been performed countless times, so why exactly should these versions be part of your holiday season? The only answer I have is to tell the story of this album. It was partially completed a year prior as a short EP length release, with only five tracks. It was myself with my guitar and nothing else, recording extremely simple rhythm guitar parts with melodies and guitar solos, in a swing guitar style. I wanted to complete the album this year with additional songs to round out a full length album. However, I didn't want to have it just be my own playing and my own ideas. I needed someone else to provide a spark to make this project work. Enter Keith Thompson, a guitarist with a ferocious pocket and an endless supply of percussion! Keith provided the driving rhythm guitar on several tracks, including Up On The Housetop, Deck The Halls, O Little Town of Bethlehem, We Three Kings, and Go Tell It On The Mountain. He also provided terrific percussion on Jingle Bells, Auld Lang Syne, and many of the other tracks. Finally, he provided a little bit of stylistic variety; the blues/rock take on Go Tell It On The Mountain is his arrangement, and his delicate rendering of the chordal elements of O Little Town of Bethlehem and Deck The Halls helps balance the punchy, four to the bar Count Basie Band rhythm guitar I provided to tunes like Jingle Bells and God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. What was supposed to be a couple of weekends of simple recording in my home studio turned into a month, and I ended up putting far more work into this album than I ever intended, possibly, er, probably, well, uh, ok, let's face it: I kinda sorta annoyed my wife by how many hours I put into the post production of this "simple" Christmas album (Sorry honey! Next time I promise not to put off chores to finish an album again!). The reason why I went overboard was that I was just delighted with how Keith's work turned out- and I couldn't bear to let those tunes not be taken to their logical conclusions, even if that meant spending days tweaking a drum part, or doing dozens of takes on particular guitar solos. Fortunately, you get to just enjoy the results without all the late nights! Christmas music makes me happy on every level- from a pure musical standpoint, and from a spiritual one as well. It stirs the heart and the soul like no other music, and I hope our takes on these classics will do the same for you.