Sloan releasing Christmas single, continue 'One Chord to Another' 20th Anniversary tour
What did you find yourself doing on the hottest day of this past summer? Hanging at the beach? Going for a swim? Relaxing with a book under a tree? Having a tall cool drink by the pool? How about standing in front of a microphone with sleigh bells and singing about snowballs, sleighs and Christmas day? That’s the position we found ourselves in this past August while recording a brand new 7” single of 2 original Christmas songs. I think It’s safe to say that it was a challenge, but we still managed to get into the holiday spirit while it was 39 degrees (that’s 102 degrees Fahrenheit, American friends) outside the studio.
As they mentioned in their BV interview, Canadian greats Sloan are releasing a Christmas single this year which they recorded, One Chord to Another-style, using a cassette four-track recorder for the drums. The A-side is a Chris Murphy song, “Kids Come Back Again at Christmas,” and the B-side is a Jay Ferguson-penned song, “December 25.” Drummer Andrew Scott, who is a very talented artist, did the sleeve as well as a set of four holiday cards that come with the 7″. There are only 500 copies made and pre-orders are available now. Jay offers more holiday tidings and details about the Christmas single, below.
Meanwhile, Sloan kick off more of their 2016 One Chord to Another tour dates tonight, which includes more East Coast and Midwest dates in the U.S. That tour hit NYC back in October (where a couple got engaged on-stage), and all remaining dates are listed below.
Sloan – 2016 Tour Dates
Nov 8, 2016 TUES Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Loplops
Nov 9, 2016 WED Madison, WI The Frequency
Nov 10, 2016 THU St. Paul, MN Turf Club
Nov 11, 2016 FRI Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
Nov 12, 2016 SAT St. Louis, MO Blueberry Hill
Nov 14, 2016 MON Nashville, TN The High Watt
Nov 15, 2016 TUE Atlanta, GA The Earl
Nov 16, 2016 WED Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle Backroom
Nov 17, 2016 THU Charlotte, NC Visualite Theatre
Nov 18, 2016 FRI Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel
Nov 19, 2016 SAT Buffalo, NY Iron Works
Nov 19, 2016 SUN Cleveland Heights, OH Grog Shop
We’ve tried our hand at Christmas recordings before. In 2011 “The Twelve Days of Christmas” got an elaborately musical treatment that would have made Perry Como do a Hollywood style double-take, while Slade’s “Merry X-Mas Everybody” got a rocking tribute in 2012 commandeered by Patrick on lead vocals.
This year we decided to add 2 original songs to the canon of holiday fare. On Side A, Chris, with Patrick harmonizing along side, takes the lead on his galloping, acoustic driven future-holiday-classic “Kids Come Back Again at Christmas”. On Side B, I contributed a snowy piano song suitable for a slow skate called “December 25”. Thanks as well to our Gregory Macdonald for adding his touch of seasonal splendour to these recordings.
Andrew chimed in with the wintery collage artwork found on the 7” cover and the 4 Christmas cards that come with this package. The cards feature seasonal messages inside in the form of lyrics from our catalogue. Some miiiight be a stretch, but hopefully the merry sentiment remains intact and your relatives and recipients won’t be puzzled!
One final note: as a tribute to our One Chord To Another album that we’ve been celebrating this year, the drums on these new songs were recorded direct to 4-track cassette just as we did with that album 20 years ago. I’m not sure if Chris’ or my engineering skills have improved since 1996, but I still think they sound kinda cool. I’ve added more blank C-90 cassettes to my Xmas wish list.
From us to you, please have a merry holiday season and a happy new year!
