Blog Posts

Clip Show (Part 2)

8/15/2024

The Sounds of Christmas podcast is approaching 200 episodes, and in the latest episode, I look back at the conversations I've had with artists about their music (and Christmas)!

Here's the episode:

What I really wanted to do here, though, is thank all of the artists that have given me their time to come on the podcast, There were too many to list in the shownotes, so I thought I'd put them all here. Click on the image, or click on their name below, to find out more about them and their music!

98 Degrees

All-Star Kid

Aubrey Logan

Bart Zeal

Blane Howard

Bob Sirois

Brynn Stanley

Cliff Beach

Corinne Cook

Critical Mass

Dan Ashley

David Arkenstone

David Browning

David Lanz

Deb Bowman

Fawn

Grant Maloy Smith

Guy Maeda

Jane Monheit

Jeff Fowler

Judy Pancoast

Karla Bonoff

KEITH

Kevin McGrath

Kristin Amarie

Linda Imperial

Lisa Biales

Lisa Kessler

Liz Kennedy

Mark Winter

Matt Molnar

Michael Brandmeier

Michael Sinatra

Michelle Malone

Norine Braun

Paul Kelly

Pete Hopkins

Quinn Hedges

Rehya Stevens

Rhonda Burchmore

Rock By The Sea

Rosalie Drysdale

Russ Lorenson

Safety Harbor Kids

Sarah Partridge

Sarah Reeves

The Stephens

Suzanne's Band

The Tell Alls

Tommee Profitt

Tommy Byrne

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Vista Blue

Winterbrook

Clip Show (Part 1)

7/28/2024

The Sounds of Christmas podcast is approaching 200 episodes, and in the lates, I look back at some of what I covered over the last three-and-a-half years, and many of the guests who were kind enough to join me to talk about Christmas music and related topics!

Here's the episode:

What I really wanted to do here, though, is thank all the folks that have given me their time to come on the podcast, There were too many to list in the shownotes, so I thought I'd put them all here (mostly) In the order they appear on this episode!

Please click on their images above or their name below (for any or all) to find out more about them!

The Sleigh Bells and Mistletoe Podcast

The Totally Rad Christmas Podcast

My Merry Christmas

The Christmas Podcasts Podcast

A Cozy Christmas Podcast

Season's Eatings Podcast

Christmas Creeps

Advent Calendar House

Christmas Movies Actually

Behind The Bells

P1 Media Group

Dr. Fab Mancini

Sweet Relief Musicians Fund

Holly Jolly X'masu Podcast

Can't Wait For Christmas Podcast

Christmas Spirit News

Holidays After Dark Podcast

Yuletide Spirit

Christmas Music News

Pause and Play

Tough Pigs

AXS-TV Top Ten Revealed

It's A 90s Christmas Podcast

Unfortunately, John O'Leary's website is no longer available as he passed away last Fall.

Christmas Tours

7/23/2024

There are lots of singers and musicians hitting the road in November and December for Christmas tours. I have very fond memories of seeing Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra (not together).

And I also know, as a Christmas music fan, these shows can come upon you very suddenly, and by the time you find out about them, they're sold out.

So, in an effort to help alleviate that problem, I'm posting a roster of artists that are planning some kind of Christmas tour for 2024. They'll all be listed below in alphabetical order, and you can just click on their name to go to their website for all the concert info!

If you hear about a show that's not listed, please reach out to me and let me know! And if you're an artist with an upcoming Christmas tour and you aren't listed below, let me know that, too!

I'll do my best to keep this updated, at least until the new season of the Sounds of Christmas starts on November 1 (then it gets really busy for me, and I can't promise to keep updating this as often as I should)!

Aimee Mann & Ted Leo

Alicia Witt

Amy Grant & Vince Gill

Andrea Bocelli

Brett Eldredge

Carpenters Legacy

CeCe Winans

Celtic Woman

Chapel Hart

Dave Koz

David Arkenstone

Debbie Gibson

Empty Pockets

For King + Country

Gaither Vocal Band

Girl Named Tom

Home Free

Jim Brickman

John Berry

John Legend

Johnny Mathis

Johnny Reid

Kate Rusby

Lauren Daigle

Lea Salonga

Leslie Odom Jr.

Lindsey Stirling

Luminare Christmas!

Mannheim Steamroller

Mariah Carey

Michael W. Smith

Mindi Abair

Nadia Eide

Oak Ridge Boys

Over The Rhine

The Overtones

Pentatonix

Samara Joy

Sara Evans

Sarah Brightman

Tower of Power

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Tyler Shaw

Best Variety A To Z

7/1/2024

This is a variation of a blog I posted last year (and the year before). I always say that the Sounds of Christmas plays the best variety of Christmas Music. But I think the word "variety" has been so over-used these days that it no longer means anything.

So I thought I'd show you what I mean.

On Monday morning (July 1), the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z began, playing almost every song in the Sounds of Christmas library in alphabetical order. Here's a list of the artists played on that first day of the Christmas In July event.

Abby Walker, ABC, Adrienne Pierce, Al Jardine, Alabama, Alan Cox, Alex Rhodes, Alexis Stone Lopez, Ally Brooke, Aloe Blacc, Alvin Frazier, America, Amy Grant, Andrea Corr, Andrew Gold, Andy Williams, Anna Wilson, Annie Lennox, Archies, Aretha Franklin, Ashba, Austin Marolla, Avalon, Babs Gonzalez, Bailey Taylor, Bananarama, Band of Merrymakers, Bandana Splits, Barry Manilow, Bay City Rollers, Beatles, Bebe Rexha, Bee Gees,

Belle and Sebastian, Bessie Smith, Beverley Knight, Big Blue This, Big Time Rush, Bill Cantos, bird and the bee, Blake, Blenders, Bob McChesney, Bobby Goldsboro, Bobby Vee, Bradburys, Branches, Brent Burns, Brian Culbertson, Brian Hyland, Brian Setzer Orchestra, Brian Vander Ark, Brittany Dymond, Burt Bacharach, C.J. Snare, Calabria Foti, Captain and Tennille, Captain Kangaroo, Carla Thomas, Casey MacGill, Cast of Elf the Musical, Celeste, Celtic Woman,

Charlie Sayles, Chase Atlantic, Chenille Sisters, Cher, Chicago, Chris De Burgh, Chris Hillman, Chris Isaak, Christabel and the Jons, Christian Baustista, Christine Lavin, Christopher Cross, Circuit Symphony, Clare Teal, Clarence Carter, Cliff Hillis, Cloverton, Connection, Connie Francis, Cordell Jackson, Corey Hart, Cute Lepers, Cyril Niccolai, Daffy Duck, Dami Im, Dan Fogelberg, Darlene Love, Dave Koz, David Arkenstone, David Campbell, David DeBoy,

David Ireland, David Meece, David Young, Day 40, Delorentos, Dolly Parton, Don McAvoy, Doris Day, Dupree, Echelons, Echosmith, Eddie Floyd, EHM Eleventh Hour Messengers, Elizabeth Chan, Elly Thorn, Elvis Presley, Emil Bishaw, Engelbert Humperdinck, Epileptic Hillbilly's, Eric Alexandrakis, Eric Clapton, Eux Autres, Eye Spy, Faith Hill, Foghat, Francesca Battistelli, Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Jr., Frankie and the Lake County Collective, Franklin McKay,

Freddie Jackson, fun., Funky Butt Brass Band, Fuzzy Navels, G. Love and Special Sauce, Gary Glitter, Gary "U.S." Bonds, Gayla Peevy, George Winston, Gil Evans, Glass Tiger, Glasvegas, Glenn Crytzer Orchestra, Gloria Gaynor, Grant Maloy Smith, Greg Eggman More, Hannah Huston, Hanson, Harry Connick Jr., Helen Love, Helen Reddy, Hipwaders, Hooves, Idina Menzel, Illicit Kitty, Ivan and Alyosha, Jaci Velasquez, Jackopierce, Jae Ordon, James House,

James Taylor Jr., Jami Smith, Jars of Clay, Jason Crabb, Jason Paul Curtis, Jason Phelps, Jay Seidl, Jaye Hammer, J.D. McPherson, Jessica Sanchez, Jessie James Decker, Jethro Tull, Jewel, Jill and Kate, Jillian Edwards, Jim Brickman, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Neutron, Jingle Punx, Jo Dee Messina, Joe Stevenson, John Anealio, John Brazell, John Denver, John Eddie, John Lee Hooker, John Waite, Jones Gang, Jordan Fisher, Jordin Sparks, Josh Groban,

Josh Wilson, Joss Stone, Juice Newton, Julian Moon, Julianne Hough, Julius LaRosa, Justin Bieber, Justin Hines, Justine Blazer, Kat Perkins, Keith Lubrant, Kendall Schmidt, Kenny Loggins, Kenny Rogers, Kermit and Miss Piggy, Kik, Killers, Kimberley Rew, Kris Allen, Kristin Chambers, Kristin Chenoweth, Kukla Fran and Ollie, Kylie Minogue, Laufey, Laura Cheadle, LeAnn Rimes, Ledisi, Lee Aaron, Lenka, Lennie Gallant, Leslie Cours Mather, Liam Payne, Linda Eder,

Lis Soderberg, Lisa Biales, Lisa McClowry, Lisa Mychols, Little Joey Farr, Living Sisters, Liz Longley, Lobo, Louis Colaiannia, Luanne Hunt, Luke McMaster, Mabel Scott, Madison Taylor Baez, Majestica, Mamas, Mannheim Steamroller, Marc Broussard, Margaret Dorn and the Accidentals, Mariah Carey, Marie Osmond, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Mary Kartzen, Mary Kissmass, Matthew Sweet, Matthew West, McGuire Sisters, Michael Cunio, Michael Damian,

Michael Johns, Michael McDonald, Michael W. Smith, Michelle David, Mike Conley, Miles Davis, Mimi Webb, Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers, Miss Od and Gentlemen League, Modern Gentlemen, MonaLisa Twins, 'N Sync, Nancy Lamott, Nancy Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Neal Morse, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Nelson King, Neon Swing X Perience, New Christy Minstrels, New Edition, New Royalty, NewSong, Nick and Simon, Nickel Slots, Nikki McKibbin, Norah Jones,

Oh Hush!, Olivia Newton-John, Olivia Rox, On Ember, Orianthi, Orla Fallon, Over The Rhine, Paper Scissors, Paris Luna, Patricia Richard, Patsy Raye, Patti LaBelle, Patty Mattson, Peabo Bryson, Pearl Bailey, Peggy Duquesnel, Penguins, People On Vacation, Perry Danos, Pete RG, Peter Cincotti, Peter Paul and Mary, Phil Moore Four, Phoenix, Piney Gir, Polyphonic Spree, Pomplamoose, Pop Etc., Pop Tarts, Prince, Punchline, Ray Charles,

Rebecca Roubion, Rehya Stevens, Ricardo Autobahn, Rich Little, Richard Marx, Ricky Martin, Ricky Segall and the Segalls, Robbie Williams, Roberta Flack, Rocky Paterra, RuPaul, Ruth Lyons, Ryland James, Sammy Kaye, Sarah Connor, Sarah Smith, Shakin' Stevens, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Shelby Lynne, Shirelles, Si Cranstoun, Sidewalk Profits, Slim Man, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Sofia Talvik, Soulphonics, Spike Jones,

Squirrel Nut Zippers, Steeplechase, Stephen Colbert, Steven Curtis Chapman, Stratocruiser, Styx, Subsidiarity, Summats, Terence P. Minogue, The 88, The Boy Least Likely To, Third Day, Tim Meyers, Timbuk 3, TLC, Toby Lightman, Todd Almond, Tom Gaebel, Tom Lehrer, Tommy James, Tony Bennett, Tony Fazio, Tori Amos, Tractors, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Travis Cloer, Tyson Fury, Universal Honey, Until June, Used, Vera Lynn, Vince Vance and the Valiants,

Violet Burning, Wallace Shawn, Waltons, Weepies, Wes Ables, Wild Honey, Winterbrook, Wonder Girls, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Yule Logs and Zoe Jensen.

Whew!

Of course, that's not close to everything we'll be playing. Not by a longshot. But it gives you an idea of what we mean when we say, "The Sounds of Christmas plays the best variety of Christmas music!"

And if you don't see your favorites here, don't worry. This is just the line-up of artists that we played on the first day of the Sounds of Christmas From A To Z. There's a lot more to come!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for sharing some Christmas spirit with us!

May you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken

2024 Schedule

6/24/2024

I'm posting this on Leon Day, and I'd like to wish a very Happy Leon Day to all who celebrate!

For those who don’t know, Leon Day is June 25th. That date marks the turning point, six months from Christmas Day! It's the point on the calendar when the Christmas Yet To Come is now closer than the most recent Christmas Past.

Oh, and Leon is Noel spelled backwards.

While the exact origin of Leon Day doesn’t seem to be known, it is closely tied into Christmas In July, which I covered on a podcast episode a couple years ago (which you can find HERE if you'd like some of the history behind that).

I thought I would use Leon Day as a day to officially announce the schedule for the Sounds of Christmas through the end of the year. Or, at least, SOME of the schedule.

On July 1st, I’ll kick off the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z. Starting at 6am Eastern, I’ll be playing almost every song in our library in alphabetical order by title.

That will be immediately followed by the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z - The Artists’ Edition, where I’ll be playing almost every artist in our library in alphabetical order.

Following that, on a date to be determined (probably in or around the middle of August), I’ll have a special 200th episode of the Sounds of Christmas podcast. Details on that are still being worked out, so stand by for that.

And just so you know, the latest episode (also out today) is episode number 196. So there’s still a little way to go.

Shortly after that, the Sounds of Christmas will become the Sounds of Halloween! On October 1st, we’ll switch to Halloween music, and that will continue for the entire month, all the way through Halloween night!

And then, on November 1st, the new season of the Sounds of Christmas will begin - featuring the Best Variety of Christmas music, including hundreds of brand new songs, many of which are still being recorded, mixed and otherwise prepared for the upcoming season!

There are also a couple of special shows in the works for December, including a tribute to the Christmas music of Saturday Night Live as well as a special dedicated to Christmas music from the 1980s!

I have a bunch of artist interviews already lined up for this fall on the Sounds of Christmas podcast, but I’m going to hold off on dropping any names until those are recorded and ready to go. Tech issues and scheduling conflicts happen. But I’ll do my best to bring on people who love Christmas and Christmas music...almost as much as I do!

Is that everything that’s happening on the Sounds of Christmas station and podcast? No, of course not. But I don’t want to spoil everything, so I just hope this is enough to entice you to stick around (or come back).

The Return of the Sounds of Christmas From A To Z

6/17/2024

We’re just over halfway through June as I’m posting this, which means July is just a couple weeks away. And for many Christmas podcasters (and Christmas peeps in general), that means Christmas In July!

Last year, I did something on the Sounds of Christmas I hadn’t done since I launched the station in 2007 - I played nearly every song in our library in alphabetical order.

I have added hundreds of songs since then, so I thought I’d revisit that this year.

Starting on July 1st, at 6am Eastern, I’ll be giving you the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z, playing almost every song in our library in alphabetical order by song title. And, at this point, I honestly have no idea how long it will go on. I can tell you that it takes over 15 hours just to get through all the songs that start with A (which is two hours longer than last year).

So, a couple things about this.

First, I began the organization of this by taking my master library list and putting it into a Google spreadsheet, then I set it to alphabetize all the entries by song title. For the most part, I think this worked okay. In some instances, punctuation in the song titles made it tricky. Sometimes, I was able to move those songs around where they made the most sense, but that probably wasn’t always the case. So you may hear a song that seems out of place, and that could be the reason.

Or it could be other things. Sometimes artists change the name of a song they’re covering. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" becomes, simply, "A Merry Little Christmas". "My Grown Up Christmas List" becomes just "Grown Up Christmas List". And "Run Rudolph Run" is sometimes listed as "Run Run Rudolph". I’m sure there are plenty of others, but those are the ones that leap to mind.

I tried to deal with that as best I could, but this was a huge undertaking, and there may have been some I missed. Another reason that, upon occasion, there may be a song that seems out of place.

Also, I’m not playing every different version of every single song. I did consider that in the beginning last year, and thought it might be interesting to hear so many different artists with their own interpretations of each song. Then I realized that, if I did that, there would be over nine hours of different versions of “Silver Bells”.

I like “Silver Bells. A lot. Maybe even more than most. But I don’t think even I would listen to nine hours of it.

So I went through and picked one version of songs like that, to kind of represent the song. A couple times, when I had some versions of a particular song that were so different from each other, almost like they were completely different songs, I chose to play more than one. And sometimes I play an instrumental along with a vocal version of the same song. I tried not to play two versions of the same song that sounded very similar. But there were a couple times I found it hard to choose, so I included both.

I didn’t include Chanukah or New Years songs, or Thanksgiving or Halloween songs. However, Christmas songs that also include elements of Chanukah, New Years, Thanksgiving and Halloween are part of the A to Z event.

For songs that started with numbers, I simply spelled out the numbers, and you’ll find them accordingly. I also took out a lot of the "the"’s, "an"'s and "a"’s that started a song title. But not all. I made a lot of judgment calls on that, taking away the ones I thought were unnecessary, while leaving others I thought were important. Like “The Christmas Song”. That’s how everyone refers to it, not just “Christmas Song”, so that “the” stayed. You get the idea.

I included lots of medleys, even though some of the songs included in those will be found elsewhere in the entire A to Z event. I went back and forth on this, and finally decided that medleys are quite possibly more popular in Christmas music than in any other genre, so excluding them just seemed wrong.

I may have made some mistakes with all of this. Once again, this was a much bigger undertaking than I thought it would be. So some songs might come up in the wrong place. Some songs might play more than once. And some might not show up at all. None of that is on purpose. Just human error. My apologies if there’s a song you want to hear and somehow you miss it or it doesn’t show up.

I also get that you may not agree with the choices I make as far as which version of a particular song gets played. In most cases, I picked the more obvious choice, but a couple times I shook things up a little to pick something you might not expect.

I know that this isn’t for everybody. When some people listen to Christmas music, they want Bing’s “White Christmas”. They want Nat King Cole and Elvis. For others it’s Mariah Carey and Kelly Clarkson. And while all of those artists do appear, more than once, in the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z, it will take a while to get to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”. And if you miss Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on that first day, you won’t get to hear it again until we get back to regular programming.

But, if you love Christmas music, all kinds of Christmas music, I think you'll enjoy it. You’ll get a real taste of what I mean when I say the Sounds of Christmas plays the best variety of Christmas music. You’ll hear lots of songs you may never have heard before, and you’ll hear lots of artists that you may have never heard before, either. But I really think you’re going to like it (at least I hope you do)!

I’ll probably send periodic updates through social media to let you know where we are as the month of July rolls on (and possibly August).

I’m set to kick this off on July 1st with Faith Hill’s “A Baby Changes Everything”, and then keep on going until at some point we get to “Zuzu’s Petals” by the group Lunch At Allen’s. It seems like it took a couple weeks to do this last year, and there are more songs this time around, so it should take a little longer, but since I’m still programming it all, I really don’t know. I guess we’ll find out together.

And lastly, I started this post off, mentioning that I’ve added hundreds of songs since I did this last year. Those weren’t all just new songs from 2023. There were lots of older releases that came back into print, or were finally released for the first time (or in a slightly different configuration). So I also added a lot of songs that hadn’t been available for a long time (and in some cases, songs that had never been released in the first place).

Anyway, despite all the caveats and possible mistakes, I hope the whole thing is fun, and that, if you do tune in, you like what you hear.

Thanks so much, and may you always believe in Santa Claus!

Happy New Year

12/31/2023

Happy New Year! And thank you for an amazing 2023!

I feel like I say thank you a lot, but I really want to convey how grateful I am that you continue to listen to this podcast and the Sounds of Christmas online station.

For the station, I don’t know that we broke any records this year. And, to be honest, with more people than ever listening on their phones, tablets and other devices, and with security improvements made to protect your privacy, we have the highest percentage ever of listeners in unknown areas.

In fact, unknown has more listeners than anywhere else except the United States (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t hit the number one spot in the next couple years).

Germany, Canada and the U.K. round out the top five. And those are followed by Australia, Brazil, Norway, Italy and France.

I’m not bragging, and I hope it doesn’t sound like I am. Frankly, these days, when it’s easier than ever to make a Christmas music playlist, I am so grateful, and even humbled, that so many seem to return to the Sounds of Christmas, year after year (and, since the station is on all year long, that so many continue to listen long after the traditional season has wrapped up).

And, really, the geographic particulars aren’t that important, at least not to me. I started the Sounds of Christmas back in 2007, hoping to share my love of Christmas and Christmas music with any who might be interested. And it’s beyond gratifying to know that, sixteen years later, people are still sharing at least part of the season with me. No matter what state, or what country, they’re in.

I’m writing this in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve in Florida. And while I’m doing that, I’m listening to a version of “Run Rudolph Run” by the Dave Edmunds Band (along with listeners in Cincinnati, OH, Naperville IL, Redwood City CA, Germany, India and Afghanistan). And I think that’s pretty cool. I’m just so appreciative of everyone that takes the time to spend even just a little of this very special season with me.

So, thank you for listening. And while traditional radio stations have already put away their Christmas music, the Sounds of Christmas is still on, playing the Best Variety of Christmas all year long (except, as you probably know, when October rolls around and we switch to Halloween music for the month).

I’m also grateful for the support you’ve given to the Sounds of Christmas podcast. I believe we just posted our 179th episode, as we near the end of our third year. And like the Sounds of Christmas station, I wasn’t sure that anyone else would be interested in listening to me talk about Christmas music, but I thought I’d give it a shot. And I owe you a tremendous amount of thank you’s to you for listening to and downloading so many episodes. Especially during the past year.

Okay, this next part might seem like I’m bragging again, but honestly, I’m so grateful, and I just want you to know that any successes this podcast have had has all been because you listened.

First, for the third year in a row, My Merry Christmas dot com named us the Best Christmas Music podcast. This comes from people voting on their website, and I am just gobsmacked that this has happened three times!

This was followed by two amazing announcements from the folks at Feedspot. The Sounds of Christmas was named Best Christmas Podcast and Best Christmas Music Podcast! For this, Feedspot considers over 500 Christmas-related podcasts, and while I don’t know the specific criteria they use, I am stunned that the Sounds of Christmas podcast is at the top of both of these lists!

And finally, the site Goodpods place the Sounds of Christmas on their list of the top 100 Music Commentary podcasts. I have no idea how they decided on that, and I’m seriously humbled at the company I’m with on that list.

In fact, that goes for all of these accolades. I’m definitely thrilled to have the Sounds of Christmas podcast recognized like this, but it’s pretty amazing to be around so many other terrific podcasts. And I hope if you check any of the lists I mentioned (or click on the images above) that you’ll check out some of these other podcasts, too. I’m pretty sure you’ll find some that you like.

But as far as 2023 goes for the Sounds of Christmas station and podcast, all I can say is Wow. And thank you.

Thanks so much for listening, helping me share some Christmas Spirit and for continuing to support the Sounds of Christmas station and podcast.

May you always believe in Santa Claus.

Scrooge Songs

11/18/2023

On the first of November, Christmas Podcast Day, our podcast episode was all about Scrooge Songs, music that was written and recorded specifically for adaptations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

It was kind of fun, tracking down all of the info for this, from the CBS special, part of its anthology series Show Of Stars, in 1954, to last year's animated Scrooge: A Christmas
Carol on Netflix.

But it didn't seem like quite enough to just list the adaptations and tell you a little about the songs.

So I've tracked down all the music, and put it together for an all-new special that will air on the Sounds of Christmas next month.

Here's a little sneak peek at the movies and TV shows that gave us all original songs for different versions of A Christmas Carol...

Scrooge Songs will debut on the Sounds of Christmas on Saturday December 2 at 7:00pm (Eastern). There will be additional airings on Saturday December 9 at 9:00pm (Eastern) and on Saturday December 16 at 10pm (Eastern).

And to whet your appetite, here's the 1954 episode of Shower Of Stars with their adaptation of A Christmas Carol...

TSO The Christmas Attic 25th Anniversary Special

11/18/2023

We are so excited to announce that we'll be airing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra The Christmas Attic 25th Anniversary Radio Special!

For an entire hour, we'll be presenting TSO's music, along with interviews from guitarists Al Pitrelli and Chris Caffery, along with drummer Jeff Plate!

They'll be talking about this year's tour, the music and the legacy of Paul O'Neill!

You'll have several opportunities to catch this special on the first three Sundays in December, with airings on the Sounds of Christmas on Sunday, December 3 at 8pm (Eastern), Sunday, December 10 at 10pm (Eastern) and on Sunday, December 17 at 11pm (Eastern).

If you want to see when the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is coming to a concert venue near you, just CLICK HERE to go to a special page on their website with info about all of their dates for the 2023 tour!

To get you in the spirit, here's a video TSO recently posted to their YouTube channel, offering up a sneak peek at their Winter Tour!

Gratitude Weekend

11/15/2023

The Sounds of Christmas began broadcasting online in 2007. This probably would not have happened if it weren't for Mannheim Steamroller.

Their album "Christmas Song" came out that year, and they sponsored the Sounds of Christmas, promoting the new album and helping me get the station off the ground.

They came back the next year, and the year after. And thanks to their support, the Sounds of Christmas was up and running. I can't imagine that we would have gone on to become the top Christmas station on Live 365 (year after year) if it hadn't been for Mannheim Steamroller. And I am forever grateful.

In those early days, the Sounds of Christmas started up at some random date in October and ran through January 6. About eight or nine years ago, after receiving emails and social media messages from listeners all over the world, the Sounds of Christmas began to stay on all year long.

Even though the station was on every month of the year, advertising continued to be kept to a minimum, with only a small amount of commercials running at all, and those only aired in November and December.

Further, the commercials aired on the Sounds of Christmas have all been for artists promoting their Christmas projects (music mostly, but a few books, too). And they're the ones that have made it possible for the Sounds of Christmas to stay on, season after season, year after year.

I post about those artists on social media, helping them promote their Christmas releases. And I've mentioned them in posts on this website, and in the Sounds of Christmas podcast. I even dedicate four different hours each weekday, where I only play music from those kind enough to support us. That's not enough, of course, so I also mix in their music throughout the day.

Here's a look at most of them...

But that doesn't really seem to be enough, either.

So this weekend, the Sounds of Christmas will have a Gratitude Weekend. Every single song that gets played will be from a singer or band that has sponsored us over the years.

I hope you'll listen. And when you hear something you like, I hope you'll click on over and buy it or add it to your Christmas playlist!

I'm also very grateful that you listen, even if it's just for a short while. It's an honor for me to get to spend even a little of this wonderful season with you.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

And may you always believe in Santa Claus!