A Holiday Album That's Not Same Old

 

 

 

JOE NEWBERRY and APRIL VERCH

On This Christmas Day

 

I am the Grinch of Christmas Music. I usually decline offers to review holiday albums of any sort, a habit reinforced when I heard Bob Dylan’s 2009 abomination Christmas in the Heart, which might be the single-worst record through which I’ve ever suffered. I’ve even avoided going to live shows in December for fear that some well-intentioned performer might think it fun to have the audience sing “Jingle Bells” or “White Christmas.” In other words, if you want me to listen to a holiday album, you’d better offer something I’ve not heard 9²⁵ times before.

 

A project from Joe Newberry and April Verch mostly falls into that category. On This Christmas Day is a thoughtful collaboration between veteran Ozarks singer/songwriter Newberry and Verch, a self-described country girl from Canada’s Ottawa Valley. I call it “thoughtful” because it aims for the less familiar which, if you think about it, is what Christmas is supposed to be about: renewal. For most listeners, the only one of the 11 songs that might be familiar is a cover of John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches.” If you don’t know it, give it a listen as the event it details­–a Christmas Day truce and mutual celebration between German and Allied troops during World War I–actually happened. At this time of the year especially, a reminder of the insanity of war seems appropriate. In a spirit akin to the reset-your-values of “Christmas in the Trenches,” Newbery and Verch offer “Della and Jim,” a musical retelling of O. Henry’s famed short story “The Gift of the Magi,” which tells of how a poor couple sacrificed to buy each other Christmas gifts that can’t be used. Again, if you’re unfamiliar with it, take in the story, a reminder that it truly is the thought that matters most.

 

The title track will put you into a warm Frank Capra-like mood. Much of the rest is a bluegrass-influenced collection and reinterpretation of originals and lesser known compositions. Who can resist “A Yodel for Christmas?” “Round the Christmas Tree” is a lively song that invites a sashay around the fragrant pine (or ye olde plastic tree in my household). The banjo/fiddle combo of “Christmas Eve” is done as an old-time tune that’s decidedly more down home than down at the mall. The same features, plus Newberry’s unpretentious vocals, help us celebrate the coming of 2022 on “First Day of the Year.” Overall, this record works because it dispense with tinsel and gets us back to basics. To nitpick just a little, I’d prefer to hear Verch play the fiddle more and sing less; she’s world-class on her instrument, but her nasal high voice takes some getting used to. That said, I won’t be lining up at the exchange aisle to return this one. Okay, it was sent to me free for review purposes, but you get the point!

 

Rob Weir