The Dulcimer Christmas Card



   

The Dulcimer Christmas Card is a bakers dozen of Christmas instrumentals performed by Butch Ross. In addition to the mountain dulcimer, Butch plays all the instruments including banjo, guitar, upright bass, electric dulcimer and a hungarian zither called a citera. The CD makes a great polyanna gift, as rather than coming in a jewel case, the CD doubles as a Christmas card. It opens up to read "Wishing you the happiest of Holiday Seasons and hopes for a wonderful New Year." A jewel case version is also available.

Tracks:

  1. Good King Wenceslas
  2. We Three Kings
  3. What Child is This?
  4. Jingle Bells/Here Comes Santa Claus?
  5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
  6. O, Little Town of Bethlehem (Merv Rowley's 1-3-5 arrangement)
  7. Come All Ye Faithful
  8. My Favorite Things
  9. Carol of the Bells
  10. Hark! Angels! Joy!
  11. Linus and Lucy
  12. Away in a Manger
  13. Silent Night (for David)

The Tracks at length

  1. Good King Wenceslas
    A harbinger means the same thing as portent: It means something that signifies something else is about to happen. It's often considered bad (harbinger of doom for example) but can just as easily signify something positive, (like 'this thing is gonna rock') as it does here. This is played on the Hungarian Citera.

  2. We Three Kings
    I've searched all the old Hymnals and song books I can find, turns out there are no verses about rubber cigars.

  3. What Child is This?
    I think one of the reasons I like Christmas music so much is that so much of it is in a minor key, seriously. Of all the recordings on the album this one is my favorite.

  4. Jingle Bells/Here Comes Santa Claus?
    Did you know Jingle Bells was originally written as a Thanksgiving song? Neither did I, but given that Christmas now seems to begin the day after Halloween, it seems fitting.

  5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
    A few years ago for Christmas, I bought Christie an album of strange Swedish jazz, made in the sixties by a guy named Jan Johansson. This track makes me think of that CD.

  6. O, Little Town of Bethlehem (Merv Rowley's 1-3-5 arrangement)
    This is Merv Rowley's wonderful arrangement, he transcribed it in DF#A. I do it here in FAC and --as much as I could stand to-- I tried to remain faithful to the original.

  7. Come All Ye Faithful
    Another citera tune, this time with a Mike Clemmer dulcimer tuned CGG.

  8. My Favorite Things
    Okay so this is from "the Sound of Music", from the rainstorm scene, and I'm not sure why it get considered a Christmas tune either. But it is fun to play, and I like it, that's a good enough excuse to include it here.

  9. Carol of the Bells
    This is my favorite Christmas song. Period. It took me forever to figure it out for dulcimer. I even needed to have a 7 and 1/2 fret installed to do it!

  10. Hark! Angels! Joy!
    Three Carols done on a Clemmer tuned CGG, with a noter!

  11. Linus and Lucy
    If you don't consider this a Christmas song, you're a blockhead. Seriously, A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio is still my hands-down favorite Christmas CD

  12. Away in a Manger
    The basic tracks for this were recorded on a Folkcraft dulcimer (with dolphin sound holes) that I borrowed from Mary Carty, and recorded in an empty (nay abandoned) apartment in Philadelphia in 2003.

  13. Silent Night (for David)
    I'll admit that crickets on a summer's night hardly seems like a fitting way to end a Christmas CD, but it reminds me of the "back porch" tracks on David Schnaufer's CD Delcimore. The 'chorus of angels' are played on multi-tracked electric dulcimers, an idea I got from David's Uncle Dulcimer CD. Maybe not the best way to say "Merry Christmas", But it's a very fitting way to say goodbye to a true Godsend to our community. Sleep in heavenly peace brother.