'Twas a Month Before Christmas and...

A couple of new songs were added which, I think, are from the new Christmas CD which was released this year. All tunes are stretched, extended, jazzed up, and jammed out, compared to the recordings. In short, these guys just let loose and kick out the music when they play live and you just will not get a flavor of it from the recordings (although the Stars and Promises Alive recording does get you in the ball park). I think my favorite song of the night was the last one before the encores. It is a delta blues version of Go Tell it on the Mountain and each year I think they extend it and slow down the tempo more than the past. Peter's slide guitar soloing on this is just something that is hard to put into words. Maybe other worldly might do. It's just wild and this tune in itself is worth the price of admission.

He also seems to add something new to the slew of guitars that he uses every year. This time it was a single pickup, hollow body, f hole style jazz guitar which was used for the solo on one of the tunes. It worked well although the sound of this guitar through the system could have been dialed in a bit better I think. And speaking of the sound, the main issue was that Maggie Estes violin was just too soft and I could barely hear her playing on the first couple of songs. But it did improve as the sound engineer worked on it. Maggie is the 17 year old violin (and occasional mandolin) player who joined the group last year. She has a very smooth and sweet, understated style of soloing which is enjoyable to hear and mixes will with the songs. In short, she shows maturity in her musicianship which is well beyond her years.

Chris Walters on keyboard is a most excellent addition to the group this year. At times I had to look twice to make sure it wasn't Bruce Hornsby playing on some of the tunes. His soloing is just awesome and he adds quite a bit to every single song that he plays on. Chris was a guest to the St. Louis concert two years ago. This year he is in for the full tour. You guys are in for a treat in other cities if you go to see the show.

The sound of the night that I liked the most and which sounded the least electronic to me was the flute work of Mark Holland. Check out Mark's group web site, www.Autumnschild.com and listen to some of the videos. They also have a Christmas CD out that sounds most excellent. Mark comes with about a dozen different Native American flutes. He gets a phenomenal range of sounds out of these. Everything from a kind of Japanese Shakuhachi sound to interesting bird like imitations as well as just beautiful melodies played in a variety of ranges.

All the others in the group deserve mention of course. Mark Torlina's base work and Scott Bryan's percussion provides a solid and soulful foundation to the music. So next year, some of you guys who visit this blog need to plan on coming with us. I hope I have whetted your appetite!

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