A CHRISTMAS EP?

Music at the library Saturday got cut short with a power outage (‘tis the season, I guess). Ice tonight, which will make for a fun trip back to the Valley tomorrow.

Ran into a couple of Christmas EPs—short, 6-song albums—at a thrift store. Both were pretty obviously self-produced. One was a guy vocalist singing some Christmas classics (at least he had real musicians, and it sounded like it was done in a real studio). The other CD had two Christmas classics and four not-very-good originals; girl singer had an okay voice, but it was pretty obviously computer-generated music.

I could do that—and do it better, I think. If I had a record of Christmas songs, though, there would be only five—all originals, of course:

I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas
Santa’s Fallen and He Can’t Get Up
Even Roadkill Gets the Blues
Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire (co-wrote with daughter Kimberly)
Song for Polly and Glyn (I Want a Man for Christmas)

First two were recorded in a commercial studio (they’re on the “Santa’s Fallen” album), the other three just on the Tascam (though the chipmunks song is actually pretty professionally done). I took all of them and ran them through the Audacity program to make the volumes consistent (if a professional did that, it’d be called “mastering”).

I do hate to give something that’s only got five songs on it, but I think I will keep this one to the Christmas stuff. (Mostly. I’ll throw in “The Cat with the Strat” as a bonus track. It’s really good—and it’s never been on an album anywhere.) Designed a decent Christmassy label, using one of my archived gift tags as a template. (Last time, I photographed one of our cute Christmas potholders and used that for the label.)

This coming week is shaping up busy: music Wednesday night at the coffeehouse in McMinnville, Saturday afternoon at the library, and Friday I’ll either be playing music in Garibaldi with the Friday Night Group or being Santa Claus for the little kids in Lafayette—I don’t know which yet. Got Christmas presents to get ready for the people I’ve worked with, too—I don’t want to “go poof” without leaving them something to remember me by. Cookies and copies of the “Santa’s Fallen” album for everybody, I expect. And that doesn’t take into account the day-job work, of which there’s quite a bit next week, too.

The Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn.’s year-end bash this year will be Saturday, Dec. 18. Depending on the weather, I could maybe go. (Three 2,000-foot-plus hills to cross between here and there. I don’t want to do that in snow or ice.) No Deathgrass Christmas concert this year—drummer Chris isn’t available—so the weekend’s free; I could hang out in southern Oregon an extra day and see if anyone at the Wild Goose remembers me (they did the last time I went). It does mean I have to have all the Christmas stuff done ahead of time. As usual, not much time.

The Deathgrass “Failed Economy Show” benefit for the Food Pantry will be in January—third Saturday’s when the Dance Floor at City Hall is available. January may be good; people won’t be so busy, and there may be a shortage of good entertainment. We could remedy that easily. Wonder if we could get it videotaped this time?

Joe