This is a GREAT acoustic Christmas CD.
author: Michael Gaither
This is a GREAT acoustic Christmas CD, featuring both traditional tunes ("O Come All Ye Faithful", "While Shepherds Watched", "Silent Night") with original songs by Bev Barnett and Greg Newlon. "Starry Starry Night" in particular is a standout - I've already emailed Bev and asked for the chords and lyrics, though there's no way in heck I can bring justice to it. (She has a wonderful voice, and Bev and Greg harmonize quite well together.) Greg plays anything with strings on this CD (acoustic and electric guitars, mandolin, bass), wrapping some nice instrumental tunes around Bev's voice and the other songs.
We always keep a handful of Christmas CDs on shuffle every year, mixing the standards (Elvis, Sinatra) with contemporary stuff. "Starry Starry Night" is always in the mix now.
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Worth owning - a respite from sacharine commerciality
author: MIke Simpson
Christmas albums are tough to make. So many exist, and so many more come out each year. The trick is to select content that has freshness and yet stays firmly in the tradition.
Starry, Starry Night, by Bev Barnett and Greg Newlon does both. Ranging widely through the landscape of Christmas music the Los Gatos based duo cover Christmas from the point of view of cowboys, well-off Americans, the poor and war-torn, lovers and friends.
Christmas stories both traditional (O Come All Ye Faithful/The First Noel), and newly imagined (The Christmas Star) spell out the miraculous joy of the season.
The religious nature of the holiday is never ignored here, but the universal call of Christmas as a time for the best in thoughts and action, word and deed is pressed home in Forget About Me, If I Can't Sing with You This Christmas, and While Shepherds Watched.
And lest we forget that Christmas has drawn out some of the greatest music the Western world has known, Silent Night and I Wonder as I Wander provide simply stated and delightful instrumental settings for these sweet melodies.
The album is worth owning, providing a respite from saccharine commerciality. Bev and Greg share the gentle sweetness with which they regard Christmas in each track.
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