Twelve Songs of Christmas

Looking Back at the First 100, Pt. 1

The previous episode with singer Meryl Zimmerman was number 100, and now that I've made it that far, I think it's time to stop and help some of you catch up. I've had a lot of episodes I'm really happy with that have moments I'm glad I helped to get into the world. Some realizations probably came together for the first time when we talked.

The conversations shed light on creativity, musicality, business, and spirituality--aspects the pop music enterprise that are too often overlooked or treated with too much care. I'm interested in all of these things, and Christmas music is a great vehicle to get into those topics. 

You can hear all that in these excerpts from season one with guests Panorama Jazz Band, Robert Earl Keen, The Waitresses' Chris Butler and Mars Williams, PJ Morton, Pink Martini, and Lowland Hum. Originally, I thought I'd simply do one retrospective episode, but I realized pretty quickly that it would be three to four hours' long, or it would leave out too much to be satisfying for me. So I'll be back with more next week and likely the week after that.

Listening back is a little humbling, hearing some ratty production and a laid back intro affectation so extreme that I don't need to share any of that with you. You can't help but notice it though if you go back and check out the early episodes. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify. During our post-Christmas break, we went live on the IHeartRadio platform, TuneIn, Audible, and Amazon's podcast platform. Now, you can ask Alexa and Siri to play the Twelve Songs of Christmas podcast and let them pop it up on your voice-controlled personal assistant. 

 

Meryl Zimmerman

This is the 100th episode of The Twelve Songs of Christmas, and I’m spending it with New Orleans' jazz vocalist Meryl Zimmerman. In late November 2022, she released her second album, A Very Meryl Christmas, so we talked about it as a business proposition and chewed on the uncommon song choices she made for it. Some standards are there, but so are some less common choices. As you’ll see, the more familiar ideas are dressed up in uncommon arrangements that take them into interesting places. Her bossa nova version of “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” was compelling enough to make me seriously consider an episode focused on versions of that song to fit in the week after Christmas. It didn’t happen, but maybe next year. 

In this episode, we talk about her cover of Louis Armstrong’s “Zat You, Santa Claus?” and I mention how Buster Poindexter’s version helped me see the song Meryl’s way. Here’s that version. 

On this episode, I also draw attention to Attention K-Mart Shoppers, and online archive of digitized albums of background music played in the 1960s and ‘70s in Kresge and K-Mart stores. I’m fascinated by the Christmas albums, of course, but there’s a lot to hear there. 

After this episode, I’m going to take a week off the start the next hundred episodes with a look back at the best of the first seasons. That will take more listening and editing than I can manage in a week, but I’ll be back with that in two weeks.  

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  During our post-Christmas break, we went live on the IHeartRadio platform, TuneIn, Audible, and Amazon's podcast platform. Now, you can ask Alexa and Siri to play the Twelve Songs of Christmas podcast and let them pop it up on your voice-controlled personal assistant. 

Nochebuena with Patricia Vonne

One sidebar in the last few years of 12 Songs has been the role of COVID in the creation of Christmas music. Some artists recorded Christmas albums to remind themselves that they were musicians during the pandemic shutdown of 2020. Some were able to get musicians who would otherwise be unavailable because COVID forced them off the road, and others had specific circumstances related to COVID that led to their Christmas albums. 

San Antonio-based roots rocker Patricia Vonne falls into the latter category. In this week’s episode, she tells the story of what prompted her to record My Favorite Holiday, and how she got an army of musical friends including Rubén Blades, Alex Ruiz, David Grissom, Rosie Flores, Stephen Ferrone, Carmine Rojas and more to participate.

 

I love Vonne’s energy and positivity in this conversation. She never stops selling, but that makes sense. Her story is a working artist’s story, and she lives from gig to gig and album to album. That’s a perspective that’s easy to overlook in the show biz world that many Christmas albums live in. 

 

This week’s episode also takes a quick look at the last Christmas-related hit of 2021, “Christmas Tree” by V of K-pop stars BTS. I argue that it’s not really a Christmas song and pay more attention to an earlier, truer Christmas song from BTS, “Christmas Day” by Jimin and Jungkook. 

 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  During our post-Christmas break, we went live on the IHeartRadio platform and Amazon's podcast platform. Now, you can ask Alexa and Siri to play the Twelve Songs of Christmas podcast and let them pop it up on your voice-controlled personal assistant. 

A Latin Music Christmas with Arthur Hanlon

How does a white guy from Detroit end up playing Latin music? Pianist Arthur Hanlon, one of the stars of the HBOMax concert film Piano Y Mujer, talks about that and his relationship to Motown in this week's conversation. We talk about the EP he released before Christmas, A Holiday Christmas Piano, and the roles Facebook and COVID played in making it happen. Along the way, we also talk about earlier Christmas releases and how Christmas music fits into Hanlon's big picture. 

This week, we also look at one of the bigger songs of the 2021 holiday season, "Merry Christmas" by Ed Sheeran and Elton John, and the song that beat them to become number one on the British pop charts at Christmas.

During our post-Christmas break, we went live on the IHeartRadio platform and Amazon's podcast platform. Now, you can ask Alexa and Siri to play the Twelve Songs of Christmas podcast and let them pop it up on your voice-controlled personal assistant. 

Mitchell Kezin of ”Jingle Bell Rocks,” Jim McCormick, and Bailey James

This is the last episode of the Christmas season, but The Twelve Songs of Christmas is a year-around affair, so the conversations will continue in January after I take a much-needed week off.

This week's episode includes an interview with filmmaker Mitchell Kezin, whose documentary Jingle Bell Rocks! takes a deep dive into the world of Christmas music, talking to people who collect it and create it. It's streaming on Hulu and Amazon Prime, and we'll talk more about the movie next year, but this week we discuss its origins including the songs and ideas that set him on the path for a documentary on Christmas music. 

Then I talk to songwriter Jim McCormick, an old friend and successful songwriter in Nashville. Last year, he co-wrote his third number one, Gabby Barrett's "The Good Ones," and we catch up on the story behind that, as well as some of his favorite country Christmas songs. We talk about Kacey Musgraves, Randy Travis, Alan Jackson, Luke Bryan and more, thinking about the songs from the songwriter's or the industry's perspectives.

Finally, I talk to young country artist Bailey James, who is still finding her audience. We talk about dealing with COVID times and her two Christmas recordings, which at the time of the interview made up a quarter of her output. How does Christmas music create marketing opportunities? 

Alexandra Scott returns this week to discuss two of Phoebe Bridgers' Christmas songs--"The Christmas Song" and her cover of Merle Haggard's "If We Make it Through December." 

We also hear some of our favorite contemporary Christmas albums, JD McPherson's Socks and Kelly Finnigan's A Joyful Sound, and The Polyphonic Spree, who put tickets on sale for their 2022 Holiday Extraganza this week. JD, Kelly, and Tim DeLaughter of the Spree have all appeared on Twelve Songs.

We also heard new lofi Christmas music this week from Brooklyn's The Fundamental Sound. 

Last week, my story on the influence of Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas appeared in The New Orleans Advocate. This week, a story I wrote on Christmas on Death Row, the Death Row Records' Christmas album, appeared in The New York Times. It's based in part on an interview on the podcast with Death Row vocalist Danny Boy and label exec John "JP" Payne from earlier this year.

I'm going to take a week off and return in January with a new episode. Christmas will be over the conversations continue. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  

Thanks to Car Floats for the sponsorship.

Amanda Shires, Rodney Atkins and Rose Falcon, and Julian Koster

This week, we have a few guests again as Christmas nears. Americana artist Amanda Shires is on hand to talk about For Christmas, and the way it reflects some of the less common impulses behind Christmas music. The husband and wife team of Rod and Rose—country singer Rodney Atkins and Rose Falcon—talk about why they recorded “Winter Wonderland,” and how their conflicting writing styles got them to a new song for this holiday season. Finally, indie multi-instrumentalist Julian Koster drops by to talk about his role in the 2008 album, The Singing Saw at Christmastime. 

 

We’ll have more with all three in 2022.

 

In the news this week, host Alex Rawls contributed a story on the influence of Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas to The New Orleans Advocate. The story includes quotes from George Winston, Steven Drozd, Kristin Chenoweth, Joey Burns of Calexico, Mega Ran, and Jen Gunderman of The Ornaments, all drawn from episodes of this podcast. 

 

If you’re maxing out on the Christmas music you have, let us help. At Spotify, you can listen to our 24-hour “Twelve Songs of Christmas Radio.” Just click Shuffle and you get the Christmas radio experience minus the repetition. Or, you can email Alex@myspiltmilk.com to get an mp3 of our 90-minute holiday mix. 

 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  

Bonus Episode: Twelve Songs x Ranking the Beatles

Last year, Twelve Songs did its first crossover episode with Jonathan and Julia Pretus of the Ranking the Beatles podcast. During the COVID shutdown in 2020, Jonathan took the time on his hands as an excuse to rank all of The Beatles’ songs, from his least favorite to his favorite. That list morphed from a Facebook conversation into a podcast with his wife Julia as the voice of reason. 
Since The Beatles didn’t release any true Christmas songs during their time together, last year we ranked the annual fan club-only releases, testing Julia’s patience in the process.

This year, we got together for a second crossover, this time ranking their post-Beatles Christmas music. Julia had reached a saturation point between watching, discussing, and podcasting about Peter Jackson’s Get Back and opted for a badly needed night off. Jonathan and I discussed the obvious choices by John and Paul as well as less obvious ones from George and Ringo. 
If you like what hear, you might consider adding Ranking The Beatles to your podcast feed.

Thanks as usual to our sponsors at Car Floats, who asked me to contribute a Christmas music playlist to their website. I’m pleased to have curated a number of playlists this season including the 23-hour “Twelve Songs of Christmas Radio” playlist on Spotify. Go to it and click Shuffle to get the all-Christmas radio experience but with a greater variety of music. You can also still get this year’s downloadable listeners-only playlist by writing me at alex@myspiltmilk.com to request it. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  

Kristin Chenoweth, Ronnie Milsap, and Paul Gilbert

Last week, Kristin Chenoweth was part of the episode focused on A Sentimental Christmas, an album of remakes of songs by Nat "King" Cole. Today, we continue that conversation to cover her new Christmas album, Happiness Is ... Christmas and 2008's A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas. 

This episode also includes my interview with country legend Ronnie Milsap, whose Christmas with Ronnie Milsap was reissued this year, and guitar hero Paul Gilbert, who got in the Christmas music game this year with his new album, TWAS. Unfortunately, we had a wifi disconnect and, as you'll hear, had to pick up more or less where we left off. That gives us a choppy moment part way in, but that's life on the Internet. 

This episode also includes new music from New Orleans-based jazz vocalist Meryl Zimmerman, who released A Very Meryl Christmas this year, and a cover of John Prine's "Christmas in Prison" by Aidan & the Wild, Lewin, and the Revanche Family. It's on Another Christmas Vol. 2, and I'll talk to someone from Revanche Records in Amsterdam next year about the label sampler as a marketing strategy. 

This episode also includes new music from Americana band Loose Cattle, who recently cut a version of Neil Young's "Star of Bethlehem" with the holidays in mind. Michael and Kimberly of Loose Cattle were early guests on Twelve Songs, and if you're in New Orleans, they'll play a holiday show Saturday at The Broadside with many of their musical friends.

Finally, the episode closes with a version of "The Christmas Song" by The Polyphonic Spree. I interviewed Tim DeLaughter of the Spree last summer about their then-new album Afflatus and their Holidaydream Christmas album. At the time, he said that they planned to bring back their Holiday Extraganza this year in Dallas. It's on for December 18, and last time I checked, there were a few tickets still on sale. I'll be there this year, and if your tastes run toward the maximalist and psychedelic, it might be for you too. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  

Jay Landers, Kristin Chenoweth, and Calum Scott on ”A Sentimental Christmas with Nat King Cole & Friends”

For this Christmas season, producer Jay Landers put together "A Sentimental Christmas with Nat "King" Cole," an album that refreshes some of Cole's holiday classics with new arrangements and a handful of new duets with new singing partners Johnny Mathis, John Legend, Gloria Estefan and more. 

Today on the show, Landers talks about the hows of whys of putting together this kind of project, and why Cole continues to sing these duets well after his death. Kristin Chenoweth and Calum Scott are two of Cole's singing partners this time around, and they talk about the experience, Cole, and what they learned about him in the process.

Singer Alexandra Scott returns this week to talk about Icelandic pop artist Dadi Freyr and the Christmas songs he released in 2020 and 2021. 

This episode ends with a lovely cover of Low's "Just Like Christmas" by Gabrielle Aplin. Last year, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker appeared on Twelve Songs in an episode that felt surprisingly intimate and, perhaps for that reason, became more personal than I expected. 

This episode of Twelve Songs is sponsored by Car-Floats.com, which makes reusable fabric stickers for your car. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.  

José James, Bruce Cockburn, and The Twangtown Paramours

This episode drops on Thanksgiving, and if you're listening on Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday is Black Friday, the official, incontrovertible start to the Christmas season, and just in time for it, Twelve Songs has created an alternative to the all-Christmas radio station, Twelve Songs of Christmas Radio on Spotify. It's a 20-plus hour playlist of songs that are or should be Christmas favorites, and all you have to do is click Shuffle to get the radio effect, minus the commercials and station breaks. 

If that sounds a little daunting, you can also email me at alex@myspiltmilk.com to get a copy of this year's 90-minute listeners-only Christmas mix. It covers a lot of ground and offers some new takes on Christmas classics, and it will almost certainly introduce you to some Christmas songs you haven't heard before.

For those looking for a more irreverent, indie-oriented Christmas collection, I recommend XO for the Holidays Vol. 10, which fits the bill nicely.

In this week's episode, I'm again featuring excerpts from interviews I conducted this fall. José James presents himself as a jazz vocalist for the hip-hop era, but that's only occasionally obvious on his new Merry Christmas from José James. On it, he and a traditional jazz trio give us a beautiful, timeless Christmas album that sounds like what might happen if a Sinatra-like singer fronted a Bill Evans-led band.

I also talk to Canadian folk artist Bruce Cockburn, who is starting his tour celebrating 50 years in the business in December. The tour should have started last December, but, you know, COVID. We talk about the tour and his 1993 Christmas album, Christmas, including one of the less likely songs on the album and where it came from.

Finally, I talk to Nashville's Twangtown Paramours, who have a new album, Double Down on a Bad Thing, due out in February. We talk a little about that, about how its recording was affected by COVID, and how they used a new Christmas song, "My Gingerbread Man," as a marketing tool.

This episode of Twelve Songs is sponsored by Car-Floats.com, which makes reusable fabric stickers for your car. 

If you haven't already done so, please do what you have to do to get Twelve Songs in your podcast feed. You can find us at Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pandora, and Spotify.