Rhodes Bailey and the Frosty Four bring you Columbia's newest Christmas song

“Climate Change don’t take my Christmas away”

We were delighted when Columbia attorney, musician, and former SC house of representatives candidate Rhodes Bailey shared one of his new projects with us – a powerful, yet fun new Christmas song – and could hardly wait to share it with you. We asked Bailey a few questions about the project, and he graciously shared how and why “Climate Change is Killing Christmas” came to be: 

Jasper: What was the impetus or inspiration for this song?  

Bailey: My good friend Jake Erwin (whom I gig with from time to time) texted me not long before Thanksgiving and said we should record a Christmas song. I thought to myself "what if someone did a Christmas song about how it's too hot at Christmastime now because of climate change? No snow, no crisp air, etc., and the singer is pining for cold weather."  The more I thought about Christmas imagery, the more I thought about how 80-degree weather spoils the  mood. I sat down and banged this out in about 30 minutes. I sent an acoustic demo to Jake who laughed and said, "Oh man, I just meant we should cover 'Jingle Bell Rock' or something. I didn't know you were going to write a song."   

Jasper:  Are there more like it -- is this part of a collection or a solo piece? 

Bailey:  This is a solo piece for now. There's a pretty small window for holiday songs (between Thanksgiving and Christmas), so I had to record it, shoot the goofy video, and get it out fast. I'm at an age now where I only write lyrics when I have something original to say. I make up instrumental music all the time, but only spend time on lyrics if an idea strikes me as particularly interesting and I want to share it.

Jasper: Who are the Frosty Five? 

Bailey:  Spencer Collins (drums and backup vocals) 2) Jake Erwin (keyboards and jingle bells) 3) Evan Simmons (bass) 4) Zac Thomas (expert producer and sound engineer at the Jam Room in Columbia, SC) and 5) Me (12 string Rickenbacker guitar* and vocals). It should really be "Rhodes Bailey and the Frosty FOUR", but FIVE sounded better. We worked hard with Zac to get a vintage Christmas studio sound, like the ‘60s girl groups from the album "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" (which everyone should check out by the way) or the Mariah Carey classic. 

(editor’s note — we hear these words when we read them in the late great Tom Petty’s voice. If you know, you know.)

Jasper:  Was this just for fun or is there a serious motive involved? 

Bailey: This is for fun, but obviously climate change is serious and it's on our minds. I try not to be heavy-handed with lyrics. People respond better to humor than preachiness. An unseasonably warm Christmas is a bummer for everyone - even for folks like us in South Carolina that don't see much snow. It didn't snow a ton when I was a kid, but I remember having a white Christmas when I was in the fourth grade and that was "peak Christmas" for me. No subsequent Christmas could match it. As I grew up, my standards lowered to a "chilly Christmas."  Now we have to settle for "Not-hot Christmas."  We've seen 80-degree Decembers and they are a total buzz kill. The character in this song is lamenting the loss of a wintery holiday season but is still an optimist. He/she is holding out hope that snow and cold weather will return just like Darlene Love does for her baby in "Christmas  (Baby Please Come Home)".  

New Music: The Hollerin' River Talkers + TONIGHT = Jasper #006

Our magazine release parties (if you’ll forgive me for saying so), have had some fairly awesome live performances. And while I have written about our headlining band The Restoration in the past, I want to take some time before the party tonight to tell you about a new, lesser known act who is also capable of blowing your mind.

The Hollerin’ River Talkers, a diverse project-group of singer/songwriters spearheaded by Shallow Palace leader Greg Slattery, is dedicated to reviving classic old folk and blues tunes into a modern context. This task is something that, to put it simply, they blow out of the f***in’ ballpark.

Marshall Brown is the lead-off singer in the troupe, and contributes a (for-him) relatively straightforward vocal that still brings the Donovan-esque psychedelia he is known for to “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home.” Daniel Machado (of the The Restoration) makes a banjo-led attack on “Mary,” an old folk tune about how cheating on your wife ain’t gonna get you to heaven, while Aaron Berg and Slattery both take a gorgeously dirty stab at the blues standards “Catfish Blues” and “Death Room Blues.” Todd Mathis rounds out the set with a dirty rock take on the gospel tune “Wade in the Water,” the only tune which fully makes use of drummer Steve Sancho’s presence.

All of these tunes are ragged and sparse, but that’s not what makes them great—it’s the fact that each contributor never forgets the feeling that these songs first inspired, with lust, laughter, and longing all mixed up in equal measure. It’s a short collection, but I guarantee you’ll want to hear it again and again.

To listen/buy all of these tunes: http://rivertalkers.bandcamp.com/

Come out and see us tonight at Tom Law's Conundrum Music Hall on Meeting Street in West Columbia. We're starting at 7:30 with poetry from Kristine Hartvigsen and Cassie Premo Steele, three short films by Wade Sellers, the Next Door Drummers, a set of classical guitar from Amelia Mau, a solo set from Rhodes Bailey of the Whiskey Tango Revue, then the Hollerin' River Talkers and The Restoration, who will be missing their drummer so they'll be laying down some pretty damn good blue grass. JoeTurkaly will be making supper ($) and two bars will be open. The event itself is free. All to celebrate Columbia's badass arts scene and the release of Jasper #006 -- a solid year of bringing you the magazine we said we would, when we said we would, and in the best possible shape we could get it to you.

You can count on Jasper.