| For years,
friends and O'bros fans have been asking me to record some Christmas
music. I do love Christmas music, but I must say it wasn't first on my
list of things to record. It wasn't until I met a woman with the
peculiar habit of listening to Christmas music in July that I was
inspired to actually do it. As I sat down to contemplate the project,
I realized that the two biggest challenges were narrowing down the
list of wonderful Christmas music and trying to present it in a manner
in which it hasn't been heard a thousand times. Playing "Sleigh
Ride" in 7/8 time, for example, was a mind-bending experience.
I have so many
wonderful memories of Christmas. I certainly have the amber-hued
childhood memories, but my favorite Christmas memories come from more
recent years. Every year for the past eleven or so on December 23, I
have gotten together with my musical family, The O'bros, for a musical
party to raise money for local charities and to play the music we
love.
The most meaningful
Christmas memories for me, however, come through the eyes of my
daughter, Chloe who can be heard here at the age of 5 on "Have
Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". She was born shortly before
Christmas and it is through her eyes that I see the wonderment of this
time of year. Whenever I needed to conjure an image of Christmas in
the recording studio sometime before we carved our pumpkins, it was
invariably of Chloe riding on a wagon with a Christmas tree or singing
something resembling the lyrics of "Oh Christmas Tree" in
front of an entire church of people with unabashed innocence. It is to
her this little homespun project is dedicated. Hopefully it will be
the background music to many wonderful Christmases to come for her and
all of you.
I'm not, of course,
forgetting to mention the true meaning of Christmas to me which is
that someone came to this world so that I might be forgiven; and that,
my friends, is the greatest gift of all.
I do wish to point out
that this CD was generally intended as a gift. If it can accomplish a
greater sense of giving, however, all the better. For that reason all
of the proceeds from the sale of this CD are donated to World Vision
to feed starving children in India, a place I was fortunate enough to
visit this year. I incorporated some of the instruments of India in
"We Three Kings" including a strange triple-reed instrument
called a mizmar, which I purchased from a street musician.
Additional copies of
this CD are available for purchase for $15, postage paid, by mailing a
check to:
Clay Konnor
1904 East Lake Bluff Blvd.
Shorewood, WI 53211
I encourage you to
sponsor a child through World Vision. For the cost of about $22 per
month an Indian child can be fed, clothed and educated. You can reach
World Vision at:
World Vision Inc., mail
stop 207
P.O. Box 9716
Federal Way, WA 98063-9716
Or www.worldvision.org |
