Tuesday Breakfast
The Maverick Band have released ‘Christmas is Coming’ and ‘A Lonely Homeless Christmas’.
The Maverick Band are supporting HRH Prince William’s ambition to end homelessness with the release of two special Christmas songs. The profits from the singles are going to homeless charities.
According to Shelter at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England alone, including 123,000 children!
John Cristal, The Maverick Band’s singer songwriter says “I originally wrote a cheerful, very family orientated Christmas song called ‘Christmas is Coming’. The song is about all the things families typically do in the run up to Christmas.
However, having written that song and subsequently reading about the homelessness campaign that HRH Prince William has recently initiated, I felt very strongly that there should be a song to support such a worthy project, especially when you read the shocking statistics!
I did a lot of research in order to appreciate the different aspects of homelessness – that was a real an eye opener and quite upsetting! The song is titled ‘A lonely homeless Christmas’. I’m very optimistic once people have heard it, they will feel motivated to donate to the various homeless charities, who do such great work. All the profit from the song will go to a number of these charities, including Homewards, Part of The Royal Foundation of The Prince & Princess of Wales.
We’ve decided to launch both Christmas songs simultaneously as a Double A-side to help reinforce the extreme polarised positions between a very happy, cheerful household and a very lonely, homeless person, at Christmas.”
We’ve previously heard ‘I Love Coffee Culture’ (Week 118, October 2023)
The Maverick Band have a website, at mavericksongs.com.
On 1st November, D’Artagnan released ‘Merry Christmas Darling – A Christmas Love Story’.
Singer songwriter D’Artagnan is a Cheltenham based singer/songwriter. He released his début album ‘Crush Hour’ in late 2019. ‘Crush Hour’ has achieved significant airplay on radio stations across the UK. We heard he’s nex tsingle, ‘Sunshine’ in October 2022 (Week 68)
He says, “I love playing live and am constantly gigging. Highlights from this season have been The Riverside Festival, Frampton Country Fair and at many Point to Point meets.”
Now D’Artagnan has launched his new, heart-warming Christmas single, ‘Merry Christmas Darling’ on 1 November 2023. He shares its romantic story, saying, “A few years ago, I met my fiancée, Josie, at Christmas time. (Josie was born in Ipswich). Our first date was on the ice at Hampton Court Palace. We had a beautiful year and I decided she was the one for me.
So the following Christmas we went skating again to mark our first anniversary and I surprised her by proposing on the ice with an antique diamond ring. She accepted! Yay!! Spectacular!! Unexpectedly, the ice photographer caught my proposal on film.
As I am a singer/songwriter, the natural thing to do was to write a Christmas song to capture the romantic moment that we had shared. Merry Christmas Darling, my new Christmas single is the result.”
To find out more about ‘Merry Christmas Darling’, and D’Artagnan’s album ‘Crush Hour’ see his website, at dartagnanmusic.com.
George’s Rockstars have recently released ‘Let’s Make Christmas Loud’.
George’s Rockstars, a children’s music therapy charity based in Fareham Hampshire, announce their first ever Christmas single. The song, ‘Let’s Make Christmas Loud’, is dedicated to 6-year-old George and all the children who have to spend Christmas in hospital due to illness and or disability. The track is a catchy pop/rock song, which is reminiscent of all those classic Christmas singles from the 1970’s and 1980’s. It was written by one of the Trustees of the charity, Daniel Ash, who is a musician and songwriter and was also George’s music teacher. Many other supporters and trustees of the charity feature on the record including George’s Dad Craig O’Shaughnessy on drums.
Amy O’Shaughnessy, co-founder of George’s Rockstars says “The song is in memory of our gorgeous boy George and is inspired by his journey with music therapy during treatment for childhood leukaemia. We lost George in 2019 and we wanted to help other children like him who spend far too much time in hospital. Our mission is to bring music to every child in hospital across the UK.”
George’s Rockstars are on Facebook, Insta, YouTube and LinkedIn. Plus they have a localgiving page where you can make a donation to the charity.
The Kings released ‘This Christmas (Celebrate in Harmony) on 14th November.
The Kings are a platinum selling, Canadian rock band. They are best known for their smash hit ‘This Beat Goes On’ from the Bob Ezrin produced album, ‘The Kings Are Here’. Having released a hit song that stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 23 weeks, five studio albums, two live albums and more than 2000 shows, The Kings are well established in the North American rock scene.
This Winter, The Kings present a timely and heartfelt song called ‘This Christmas (Celebrate in Harmony)’. This is a song that speaks of the simple values of family and friends getting together at this time of year. As the song goes, “Some of us have stayed close to home, and some of us been far and wide, and what I’m hoping, is they’ll all return to join us here in this Christmas tide.”
The Kings have a website, at thekingsarehere.com, and are on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Insta, TikTok, Spotify and Apple.
Paul Etterlin has released ‘A Whisky for Christmas’ on 17th November.
We’ve previously heard ‘Secrets’ (Week 51, June 2022) and ‘A Way to Your Love’ (Week 74, November 2022).
Paul writes, “Christmas 2023, what will it be like this year? How will we celebrate Christmas this year? In the past I had already written several Xmas songs and recorded and sung even more Christmas productions for all kinds of artists as a studio musician. Mind you, always in the middle of the hot summer, so that everything is finished in time. Of course you wonder how the world will look like half a year later. “A whisky for Christmas to friends that are missing and thinking back over the year” – like every year, I will do exactly that, come what may.”
Paul has a website, at pauletterlin.com, but it’s in German! He’s also on Facebook and YouTube.
Andrew Young has released ‘Home for Christmas’.
We’ve previously heard ‘I Don’t Like Him (Mr Nice Guy)’ (Week 98, May 2023) from Indianapolis native Andrew Young. He is a platinum downloaded singer/songwriter. He has major distribution through Sony Music, and a Grammy consideration in 2023. This iconic vocalist has come a long way since his teen years of being a recurring champion on the television show Star Search. This has led to millions of streams on every digital music platform.
Andrew Young has a website, at andrewyoungsing.com, and is on SoundCloud, Spotify and Twitter.
Michelle McManus released ‘Christmas Glow’ on 23rd November.
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of winning ‘Pop Idol’ Michelle McManus is digitally releasing a Christmas single ‘Christmas Glow’. It features the amazing Soundsational Choir. The track is written by Michelle and Tommy Chambers, the MD of Soundsational. It is a nostalgic and uplifting festive song which captures the spirit of a family Christmas.
To coincide with the new release and the 20th Anniversary celebrations, BBC Scotland will broadcast a fantastic new documentary. ‘After All This Time’ will broadcast on 22nd December.
Soundsational have a website, at soundsationalmusic.co.uk.
Ryan Kershaw released his cover of ‘A Fairytale in New York’ on 8th December.
Ryan Kershaw is a family man at heart, while struggling with the eccentric, angry and troubled performer within. He finds joy and meaning in the works of musicians, poets and artists across the centuries. From John Milton and William Blake through to Jim Morrison as well as contemporary writers like Philip Pullman and Terry Pratchett.
Owner of an extremely impressive vinyl collection Ryan’s love of music was inspired by both his father and uncle. His father’s passionate encouragement was repaid by an unending hunt for new artists that he might like. Ryan attributes his obsession with guitar and music in general to his uncle.
From the mundane, to the sublime, Ryan’s musical perspective never fails to raise a wry smile. William Blake couched in the warm embrace of harmony, “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
Ryan has a website, at ryankershaw.com, and is on YouTube, Insta, Facebook and Twitter
On 23rd November Julia Thomsen released ‘The Magic of Christmas Joy’.
Julia Thomsen is an award-winning classical music composer. With her music, she aims to transport you away from the hustle and bustle of modern life to a land where only serene vibes prevail.
Julia has a website, at juliathomsen.com, and is on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Insta, Apple and Spotify.
‘Ring Out the Old’ by Jodie Louise is from ‘The Next Christmas Classics, Vol. 3’
Kringle & Co, the Christmas division of KWS Blank Canvas Music Publishing, Ltd., is a UK-based record label that discovers and curates new original and re-imagined Christmas songs that have the potential to become holiday classics. In 2020, when Christmas was cancelled, three music lovers came up with an idea. They aim to bring family and friends together with much-needed Christmas cheer.
A Call for Songs went out all over the globe in early 2021. Now with over 100 Holiday songs in a curated catalogue, with selected songs featured in annual album releases including ‘The Next Christmas Classics’, Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (2023); ‘plus a range of other albums have been created by the Kringle & Co family of over 40 writers and composers from all over the world.
Kringle & Co are on Facebook and a linktr.ee from where you can purchase all their albums.
A recording of the show is available on MixCloud.
More Posts for Show: New Music Emporium