Scroll down for more about why and how this album was made, who worked on it, the songs and downloadable charts.

WHY A CHRISTMAS ALBUM?

The world is full of Christmas music. Why add more?

  1. Leading Mars Hill Portland and Redeemer Church (2011-2017) in worship at Christmas time was always a highlight for me and over the years many have asked me to record some of our arrangements. This project partly commemorates that time and is a gift to all the wonderful people of those churches. 

  2. Many traditional Christmas songs are not just sentimental celebrations of a season, they are powerful songs of worship to a Savior! Sure, they have been recorded in cheesy and insincere ways, but I want to encourage musicians and worship leaders not to count them out. EVERYONE knows these songs and using them in worship is a great opportunity see hearts moved by the glory of God as we celebrate Jesus’ first advent (arrival) and long for His return. 

  3. Over the years I LOVE taking familiar Christmas songs and putting then in new creative arrangements. If my arrangements can be helpful to you feel free to use them (you can download charts below). But even better, I would encourage you to be creative with these old songs. We can be another link in a chain going back centuries of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ taking these beautiful texts and tunes and setting them in arrangements that make sense for our day. 

A BIT ABOUT HOW THIS RECORDING WAS MADE

Back in the day, when you bought a record, tape or CD, it came with a detailed description of who played on the recording and, in some cases, a bit about how it was made. They were called "liner notes" and I miss them. Without this information we can be tempted to believe that music is the work of a singular individual. There are rare cases where an individual does it all themself, but it almost always takes a village. Here's what the process looked like and those who helped make this project happen. 

I got the idea for the project in early August when Thomas Terry of Humble Beast encouraged me to get back into recording music. I started doing demos on my own to flesh out the arrangements and recruited my friends Ben Lane and JD Hafer to play drums and bass respectively. We recorded basic tracks (drum, bass, rhythm guitar) with Raymond Richards at Long Play Recording in late August. Then I took those tracks home and added almost everything else in my home office. Raymond played guitar on a couple tracks and Ben sang backup vocals. Raymond did an amazing job mixing each song as I finished recording and we met our goal of having it all mixed by the end of September. I delivered it to Thomas who eventually got it mastered, picked up by a distributor and released the week before Thanksgiving.

This is the first project I have ever "self-produced" and I'm very thankful to each person mentioned above for making it so much better than I could have ever done on my own. If you're ever looking for a drummer, bass player, producer or mixer, I would highly recommend clicking on any of the links above to see their instagram profile and contact them. 

THE SONGS

  • God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings Medley

    I got the idea for this medley from a recording by the Bare Naked Ladies (no, they're not a dirty band, just quirky Canadians). I love mashups and I love Rockabilly and these all came together well in this song. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is one of the oldest recorded Christmas carols with earliest versions dating all the way back to the 16th century or earlier. It’s profound to think about how many have sung these words over the centuries.

    Tim Smith - lead vocals, guitars, percussion

    Raymond Richards - lead guitar

    JD Hafer - bass

    Ben Lane - drums, backup vocals

  • Hark the Herald Angle Medley

    Like I said, I love a mashup, and some years back I realized that these songs had a very similar structure and feel. They were both great songs but kind of short so I made them into a power medley! I love lots of rootsy music and Raymond's pedal steel guitar work was just the special sauce the song needed.

    Tim Smith - lead vocals, guitars, organ, percussion

    Raymond Richards - pedal steel guitar

    JD Hafer - bass

    Ben Lane - drums, backup vocals

  • Silent Night

    One of my other musical loves is spacey shoegaze dripping with loads of reverb and delay. This kind of musical setting has always seemed like the right fit for a modern arrangement of this old German/Austrian carol. We always lit candles during this song at Christmas Eve gatherings and those are some of my favorite Christmas church memories.

    Tim Smith - lead vocals, guitars, keys, percussion

    JD Hafer - bass

    Ben Lane - drums, backup vocals

  • O Holy Night

    This arrangement was inspired by my friend Brian Eichelberger and if you haven't listened to his Christmas album you definitely should check it out on Apple or Spotify. I love how upbeat and celebratory this song can be and hearing people sing their guts out to this amazing song is another of my favorite memories over the years.

    Tim Smith - lead vocals, guitars, organ, percussion

    JD Hafer - bass

    Ben Lane - drums, backup vocals

  • O Come All Ye Faithful

    This is another spacey arrangement and it might be my favorite of these recordings. I pushed myself further than I have before with synths, guitars that sound like synths and other programming inspired by my love of ambient music. I love the refrain of, "O come let us adore Him," as such a pure expression of worship. I think I have closed every Christmas Eve gathering I've led singing these words acapella by candlelight.

    Tim Smith - lead vocals, guitars, keys, percussion

    JD Hafer - bass

    Ben Lane - drums, backup vocals

Here are charts for all the songs.

Use the contact button below if I can help you or your church in any other way.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!