Jingle Jangle Christmas 2022

Or: Yes, I wrote a Christmas song of my own

Hey, check me out — posting two days in a row! Not usually my style, but time was of the essence with this one, since there’s less than a week to go until Christmas…

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So, I suppose it was inevitable that, after 50-plus years of exposure to Christmas music, I’d try my hand at writing a Christmas song of my own.

As some of you already know, I don’t just listen to music and write about it; I’ve also been playing it since I was in high school. (Well, elementary school if you count my ill-fated year-long dalliance with the French horn.) I’ve been more or less “retired” from band life since around 1999 or so, but I began writing music and songs again shortly before the pandemic began, and in the process hatched the idea for a “solo project” which I’ve dubbed The Corinthian Columns — a conscious nod to the archaeological and architectural obsessions of my youth, and perhaps an unconsciously punning one to my career in journalism.

Unlike with any of the bands that I’ve been in over the years, there are no sonic/stylistic rules or restrictions with The Corinthian Columns; everything from cop-show funk to mellotron-coated odes to teenage summers in NYC to goofy salutes to wandering cryptids is permitted. And so, too, are Christmas songs.

“Jingle Jangle Christmas” was an idea that popped into my head last December while taking a morning constitutional in the park near my house in a beautiful day in Greensboro, NC. It came together pretty quickly, though I definitely rushed some of the recording and mixing process in order to post it up on Bandcamp in time for Christmas. The response to the song was really positive, but I was never very happy with my vocals or the overall mix. So about a month ago, mindful that the Yuletide would soon be upon us once again, I started taking the original mix apart — tossing out some instruments, beefing up others, and finally adding a few elements (most notably new lead vocals) to get it closer to what I heard in my head. Last night, I pulled the original version off of Bandcamp, and replaced it with “Jingle Jangle Christmas 2022”.

Back when I was originally writing and recording “Jingle Jangle Christmas” last year, there were a couple of people in my life whose flagging spirits I was desperately hoping that the song would lift. I don’t know how well it actually worked, but I do know that reworking the song really gave me a much-needed boost this past month. Funny how that goes sometimes… you think you’re making something for somebody else, it turns out you were doing it for yourself all along.

In any case, I hope you’ll give it a listen, and that it’ll give you a bit of a lift, too. Between now and January 1, all proceeds from downloads/purchases of the track on Bandcamp will go to benefit Ziggy’s Refuge, which is one of the North Carolina things that I miss the most. It’s been an incredibly hard year for my pals Jay and Kristin, the folks who run the place, but I am endlessly inspired by how they manage to push through their exhaustion and sadness to give their four-legged babies the best life imaginable, while also teaming with other rescues to save other farm animals from neglect or worse. Give ‘em a follow on Instagram — you’ll be glad you did.

Happy Holidays to all y’all, and thanks as always for your support. Be safe, be kind (to yourself as well as others), and keep looking for the slivers of light in the darkness. And may the jingle-jangle Christmas roll you straight into next year.

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