Anticipation, celebration, new beginnings, old friends, holiday greetings to strangers and those just met, short days. long nights, gifts given and received, matters of the spirit -- these are all part of the winter holiday season. So is music. Take a listen...
Tish Hinojosa’s From Texas for a Christmas Night.
an expanded version of a short album Hinojosa recorded some years back, at first just intended as a gift for family and friends. From that album come her lively chats with the family Christmas tree over the years, a Christmas story for today in Building #9, the lively and joyous Milagro, and a graceful and heartfelt version of A la Nanita Nana, the song traditionally sung in Hispanic communities as the Holy Family’s search for a place to stay the night is re enacted. Newer songs include an evocation of western skies in title track, and a song in Spanish celebrating Chanukah.
Christine Albert and Chris Gage also live in Texas, but the title track for their album One More Christmas was sparked by Albert’s parents’ decision to sell their home in New York state, where she’d spent her childhood holidays. That makes a fine kickoff to an album which blends just the right holiday mix of relaxed fun and seasonal spirit. There’s the traditional carol Un Flambeau, Jeanette Isabella, 
the lively Mr. & Mrs., Santa Claus, Joni Mitchell’s bittersweet winter song River, a jazzy take on Christmas Everyday, and a fine closer with musical friends gathered ‘round for Go Tell It On the Mountain.
Aine Minogue is known for music which evokes the mystery and spirit of Ireland. This season, the harpist and singer has taken all that in an added direction, offering a dvd called Winter Meditation. With her images Minogue invites you to follow 
along through the light and dark of winter, opening doors for reflection as well as suggesting quiet stories through her harp and voice.. 
The artists of the audio CD Winter’s Eve tell varied stories of the season, too. Singer and songwriter Pierce Pettis looks at Mary as the woman behind the icons and the statues, Alison Brown and friends share a banjo led celebration, John R. Burr considers the quieter side of the season and Andrea Zonn sings of homecoming in a range of songs drawn from and created in American folk tradition.
Kathy Mattea starts things off with a medley of familiar holiday carols for her recording Joy for Christmas Day. It’s an album 
focused on faith, connection, and change, and as she often does with her music, Mattea takes into account the need for laughter as well as for quiet reflection. Baby Grew Up and Baby King are songs which invite you to laugh and to sing along, while There’s Still My Joy acknowledges the pain of loss at Christmas time, and Straw Against the Chill reminds of hope, love, and connection. 
Another fine and very different voice is Heidi Talbot's. She’s the lead singer on Cherish the Ladies’ album On Christmas Night.. The music is a wintery mix of songs and tunes, music both seasonal and specifically Christmas. There are familiar pieces such as Little Drummer Boy and ones perhaps lesser known such as Old Apples in Winter. The band closes out the recording with Talbot singing Silent Night in both English and Irish leading into a set that features The Kerry Reel and Limestone Rock.
Matt and Shannon Heaton include both Irish and American traditions in their album Fine Winter's Night. In with the carols and tunes, they mix several fine originals, including a visit to Julius the Christmas cat as he prepares for the Holy Family, and a look at a Christmas meeting in Victorian Boston in First Snowfall of Winter.
Robin and Linda Williams celebrate Christmas in the American south on The First Christmas Gift. There’s the gospel style Mary Had a Baby, and the reflective look at the town stilled to hush, On a Quiet Christmas Morn, along with celebrations of 
Christmas connections of all sorts on Shotguns Shells on a Christmas tree and Silent Night, All Day Long.
good holiday wishes to you --
you may also like to see
Gretchen Peters: Northern Lights
Mary Chapin Carpenter: Come Darkness, Come Light
Music Road: heidi talbot: in love + light
You'll find music content from many genres and plenty of other music fans at Gather Essentials: Music. For more of Kerry Dexter's Voices columns, look here. It's published on Thursdays.
Kerry Dexter, Music Correspondent Kerry's credits include VH1, CMT, the folk music magazine Dirty Linen, Strings, The Encyclopedia of Ireland and the Americas, and The MusicHound Guides. She also writes about the arts and creative practice at Music Road and contributes to Fred Bals' Series of Tubes.
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