Dear Friends,
Happiest of Holidays to you! I'm delighted to share that I have a couple new Christmas songs out in the world TODAY! ...
Over the years, I've continued a tradition of recording a Christmas song each year. This year, I decided to record two Christmas songs! And they're both out now!!
The first is a new version of my original Christmas song, "Snow" that features absolutely gorgeous strings by Sharon Gerber and Anya Gerber!! "Snow" has always meant a great deal to me. And this year, since the passing of my Mom, this song has taken on new and deeper meaning as my family and I try to celebrate our first Christmas without her. It's hard to even type those words out. As I began to think about the holidays this year, (with quite a bit of dread, if I'm honest) I kept thinking about this song and this line:
"the table is set, our glasses are full. though pieces go missing, may we still feel whole"
That is a prayer that I've never meant more than I do now. There's a lot about this song that reminds me of my Mom. It references my Mom's and my favorite Christmas movie, "It's A Wonderful Life," and my Mom was always particularly kind to me about this song and celebrated that it was written with the intention of offering hope to those of us who feel hopeless around the holidays. She helped me remember that each year. So, in my Mom's beautiful honor and memory, I wanted to record this song again.
If you listen real close, you can hear my daughters, Lily and Iris and my nieces, Emma, Nora and Clare singing a single note together. So darn cute. Speaking of cute, the cover art features 5 paper snowflakes that were made by all 5 of those amazing kiddos! These little girls, my Mom's granddaughters, were the absolute JOY of her life. So I wanted to include them somehow into this new version of "Snow."
The second song is my simple take on a Christmas classic, "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear." Hope you enjoy it! It was so much fun to record. This song also features my daughters and nieces sweet voices!
Tim Damitz designed the cover art for both songs and Chris Bethea mastered 'em! HUGE thanks to each of them!!
Oh, and If you'd like to hear EVERY Christmas song I've recorded, here's a Spotify Playlist!
Lastly, I just released a brief new episode of The Sleeping At Last Podcast all about these two Christmas songs! It's out everywhere podcasts are! Heaps more episodes to come. Thanks for listening!!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!! Thank you for welcoming these songs and all of my Christmas music into your homes this holiday season!! It means so much to me! Speak suuuuuuper soon.
Huge Love, Ryan
PS. here’s a list of stuff i love right now…
1. Candles (into candles lately. what is wrong with me? is this what being old feels like?)
2. Bonobos (still obsessed with all of their clothes. i bought a sweater with pizza on it. come on. wonderful.)
3. Magic Band Reader (my wife got this for me and it makes my disney heart so happy! i scan my magic band and it turns on my Christmas Tree lights!)
4. Taco Bell (am i embarrassed to put this on my list? yes. but the heart wants what the heart wants.)
