As you come down from your sugar high, let’s segue from Spooky Season to Holiday Season with new music for your playlist!
Besides being a gorgeous Christmas classic that I’ve always adored, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” has a greater message that goes beyond the seasonal story line. Let us all “pray for peace everywhere.” What a blessing it was to create music alongside: Sean Hurley (bass), Dave Levita (Guitar), Victor Indrizzo (drums), Ginny Luke (violin) and Kenneth Crouch (piano), with Kirk Pasich producing and Zackary Darling engineering. You can add it to your favorite streaming platform here.
The video for “Do You Hear What I Hear?” was beautifully filmed and edited by Blue Élan’s own Dee Galipeau, and features footage from our recording session. It’s exclusively available for members of the Pnut Gallery On Patreon here. For as little as $2 you can join the fun here: patreon.com/cindyalexander.
I will be live streaming portions of my recording sessions with an all star band next month for my “Nuts.” Want to be a fly on the wall? Want to hear the demos? They are all in the Pnut Gallery!
Hope you enjoy “Do You Hear What I Hear” as much as I enjoyed recording it for you. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, love and beautiful music.
Over the summer, I performed for Seth & Tony’s House Concert series. Not only did I enjoy L.A.’s finest taco cart and eat cake with my picture on it, I made some new friends in a community that enjoys and supports independent live music. When I heard that Kevin Fisher was going to be entertaining at the next concert, I quickly bought a ticket.
Let’s backtrack…. Before I played my first show back in the 90’s, I used to hang out at Genghis Cohen on Fairfax Avenue and learn by watching L.A.’s finest singer-songwriters. Some of my favorites were Vonda Shepard (whom I’ve opened for several times over the last 20 years), Dan Bern, Danny Peck, Kevin Montgomery (who became a dear friend) and Naked to the World. Kevin Fisher was the lead singer and songwriter of Naked to the World, and to this day, some of his songs are indelibly stuck in my brain. We orbited in the same circles but never really connected until the night I went to his show at Seth & Tony’s. As I remembered, his songs were poignant, funny and super smart. We chatted after the show and made a date to try to co-write a holiday tune. I had it in my head that I wanted to have something to release before the end of the year for my fans.
My first co-write with Kevin yielded the tune “Christmas in the Ordinary.” It came fast and easily, and we decided to keep going! In a p-nutshell, Kevin and I share similar backgrounds and values, and swim in the same head space. On a whim, we created a side duo project and we’ve dubbed ourselves…. The Humming Bards. Our first collaboration is a completely fan funded holiday EP called “Holy Common Ground.” It’s a collection of songs for Everyone- “whatever you believe, whatever road you’re on.” I hope you get a chance to listen to it! The EP releases November 16th on my own JamCat Records. There are only a few limited edition, autographed physical copies available in my store, but you can also download it from iTunes on 11/16.
Art by Lynanne Petroff (Please visit her page, Lynanne’s Creations on Facebook)
We’d like The Humming Bards facebook page to be a community that fosters and inspires creativity. We were so touched when the gifted Lynanne Petroff (@LynannePetroff) posted her artwork inspired by one of our online concerts. (If you’ve never checked out my live Concert Window broadcasts, please do! Be sure to register so you can participate in the live chats. Most shows are free or “pay what you can. www.concertwindow.com/cindyalexander. Next show is December 2, 2018.)
Kevin and I are scheduling house concerts for 2019. We will be performing our own material plus the new songs we’ve written (and continue to write) for The Humming Bards. Please email me (cindy@cindyalexander.com) if you are interested in hosting!
Wishing you all a beautiful holiday season ahead. With much love and gratitude,
I’m happy to report that although I went into Target unarmed, I came out alive with the Palace Pet and Green Hulk Pillow that my children requested. I had eyes, not words, with the woman who tried to take the Palace Pet out of my cart while I was perusing an Amelia Bedelia Easy Reader. If you haven’t finished your shopping or you (like me) haven’t gotten to your cards yet either, may I offer up a simple solution? How bout the gift of music? Surprise! I have a brand new Holiday EP called “Christmas is Here” !
One of the perks about being an artist signed to Blue Élan, is that I get to make MORE music MORE often. “Christmas is Here” is a three song stocking stuffer: The first tune was hand picked by Blue Élan President Kirk Pasich (“Christmas is Here”) and is written by Frank Michael Sullivan. Yes, the same guy that wrote a bunch of hits for Survivor! I wrote the second, “For Auld Lang Syne,” together with producer Dave Darling especially for this EP. It’s a song about gratitude, forgiveness, and the chance to start over again. The third song is a favorite of mine, “River,” by Joni Mitchell. This is a recording that I did with Paul Trudeau a few years ago that has been sitting in the drawer, and I’ve always wanted to release it. I hope you enjoy this collection and that you find it worthy of your holiday playlist. You can sample the songs in the videos below or hop on over to iTunes or the Blue Elan store. (Note: if you are purchasing outside the US, please go to Blue Elan as iTunes won’t have it available.)
Wishing you the warmest of holidays, filled with love and beautiful music. Hope to see you in the New Year ~ I’ll be touring the US so please check the Tour links for updates!
XO pnut
For Auld Lang Syne
Lyrics by Cindy Alexander
Music by Cindy Alexander and Dave Darling
Copyright 2014 JamCat Publishing/ Loud & Stupid Music (BMI)
All night
I’ve waited all night
Watching a fire light
Tinsel and torn up paper
Safer inside by a window
Holding a snow globe
Of what could have been
Let’s not pretend
We’d do it again
But I’m better for all of that mess
Let’s count the blessings and let ’em count the rest
Come back home
It’s a holy night
Let’s wrap up this year in candle light
As the ball comes down and the sun comes up
Can I have this dance
My love, for Auld Lang Syne
My life
I’ve waited all my life
Yeah it’s the right time
To open your heart and give it
Back to the one who has asked you
This is our chance to start over again
Let me be clear
It’s a Happy New year
What’s broken is still in our hands
You got the pieces I’m missing and I’ve got the plan
Come back home
It’s a holy night
Let’s wrap up this year in candle light
As the ball comes down and the sun comes up
Can I have this dance
My love, for Auld Lang Syne
Let’s not pretend
We’d do it again
But I’m better for all of that mess
Let’s count the blessings and let ’em count the rest
Come back home
It’s a holy night
Let’s wrap up this year in candle light
As the ball comes down and the sun comes up
Can I have this dance
My love, for Auld Lang Syne (repeat)
