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It's that time of year again, one month to Christmas. We get so saturated with commercialism during the holiday season, it almost works exactly the opposite of the intentions, for me at least. To put in musical terms, we hear the same ol' stuff in the stores, parking lots, radio ads, TV ads... until we're about ready to scream. And it's a pretty good bet that your favorite artist has created their own album of holiday music, because it's a very lucrative thing to do. So, of course, I've purchased even more holiday music so I can make my own selections. And there is some really good stuff, and some... errrr...  not so much. Some new renditions of old classics, and some new songs altogether.

Some of my old favorites from rock/pop artists include:

• John Lennon, 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)'
• The Beach Boys, 'Little Saint Nick'
• David Bowie & Bing Crosby, 'Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy'
• Elvis Presley, 'Blue Christmas'
• Jose Feliciano, 'Feliz Navidad'

Being a "guitar guy" I must include some of my other favorites including the great guitar work of The Brian Setzer Orchestra, 'Boogie Woogie Christmas' and 'Dig That Crazy Christmas' or Gary Hoey, 'Ho Ho Hoey'. There is the more traditional albums by Gloria Estefan, 'Christmas Through Your Eyes' and Jewel, 'Joy, A Holiday Collection'. Los Lonely Boys, Sugarland, and others have also made some worthwhile contributions. I do really enjoy the new age styling of Mannheim Steamroller and the symphonic rock of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. If you haven't heard these last two you really need to look them up.

I'm working on this year's video, meanwhile here is a link to the past four years.

 TunaToons Christmas

Tap Tap Tapping at My Chamber Door

I've read a few articles lately on guitars with more than 6 strings. A 12-string is fairly common, that has 2 strings very close to each other for each of the guitar's 6 strings, and it's played the same as a standard guitar (although it does take some extra finger strength and stamina). That's all good, others have an extra string, or two, on the bottom end for extra bass for the guitarist. Interesting stuff but... it makes me think of a completely different instrument I first saw at an art fair years ago. A beautiful sound was floating over the noise of the crowd. I worked my way towards the notes. And finally stood mesmerized by Leo Gosselin tapping on a "Chapman stick". It's kinda like a guitar but with 10 to 12 strings, 5-6 for bass and 5-6 for melody. It's played with each hand tapping on the string(s) and not plucked at all. Bass, melody, chords, rhythm, percussion are all combined to a fantastic brew. It sounds like it's been over-dubbed and there are multiple tracks when it's all a single live amazing performance. There are many talented artists of the Chapman stick, including Blue Man Group, Mike Oldfield, Alphonso johnson, Dream Theatre and more. There are other more "polished" samples out there, but this YouTube below is close to what originally drew me to the sound.

 Take Five: Leo Gosselin