Local musicians collaborate for Christmas album, concert
Some of Richmond's best-known musicians share billing on a new holiday album: “A Shockoe Sessions Live Christmas.”
The trend isn't new, but the Richmond spin is. This is the second time Shockoe Records has put together a holiday album, but this time a majority of the songs are original to the artists.
“Of the people we reached out to last year, half wrote original songs," said Reese Williams of Shockoe Records. "This year it was way more than half, 8 out of 11 songs on the album are original Christmas songs."
When creating the project, the artists had to finish composing and recording their holiday songs in the warm early weeks of October.
Though a daunting task to pull together 11 unique artists to be on one cohesive album, the artists were already one step ahead.
“So many of the bands said, 'We have a Christmas song in our back pocket, we just needed a reason to finish it,'" Williams said. "We are really lucky everyone jumped on board for the holiday.”
Unlike a typical Christmas album that features a homogenous, familiar sound of yuletide festivities and holiday nostalgia, this album unifies sounds from a range of genres; from rock to opera and the genre-bending sounds of the local act Sweet Touch.
As this album showcases the dynamic talent pool of Richmond’s musicians, it allows for the listener to lend an ear to an artist they may have never stumbled upon before. While one may play the album to hear the soft soothing voice of Ms. Jaylin Brown, they will be transitioned into the jubilations of Ant the Symbol & Mo’s “Season of Peace.”
The album will manifest into a jubilant celebration of holiday spirit on Tuesday night at the Hippodrome, where each artist will perform their song from the album and a song of their choosing.
“It will be a celebration of the vitality and enthusiasm of the holidays,” Williams said.
Concert-goers will be treated to live opera from Weldon Hill and the Commonwealth Concert Opera, as well as the profound drone-folk-pop sounds of Holy River. Just like the album itself, it is rare to hear unique sounds like this in the same space.
“Music is our unifier,” said Williams. “Everybody will hopefully discover something new.”
“A Shockoe Sessions Live Christmas” also stays true to the giving spirit of the holiday season, with its proceeds benefiting the Richmond Animal League. As Williams herself is an animal lover (her very own dog is featured on the cover of the album), it seemed fitting to give to an organization that helps the animals in need in our community.
And for anyone who simply likes to indulge in the sounds of the holidays, “A Shockoe Sessions Live Christmas” will satisfy every ear it reaches with its unmatchable variety of Christmas sound.
“A Shockoe Sessions Live Christmas” CDs are available at the following local shops: Plan 9, Vinyl Conflict, Pedal Power, Glass Boat, and Reveler. The CD and tickets to the Dec. 3 live show at the Hippodrome are available at shockoerecords.com.
