We’d like to thank you for the pleasure of sharing ‘A Familyre Christmas - Vol. 1′ with you all. It was an exciting project, and so much fun to have everyone involved.

If you missed the download window, don’t despair. There is a high likelihood it will be made available again next Christmas season, along with Vol.2!

The complete track listing for Vol.1:

1: ‘Christmas Eve Nite’ - Danielson
2: ‘For There Is Born A Child’ - Lenny Smith
3: ‘Plant A Little Fir Tree’ - Half-handed Cloud
4: ‘Dayspring From On High’ - Soul-Junk
5: ‘Pat-A-Pan’ - Leopulde
6: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ - Dan Zimmerman
7: ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’ - The Singing Mechanic
8: ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ - Sufjan Stevens*
9: ‘What Child Is This’ - Rachel and Jon Galloway
10: ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ - Woven Hand
11. ‘Christmas Is A Holiday’ - Ben + Vesper
12. ‘Immanuel’ - Joshua Stamper
13. ‘O Holy Night’ - Elin

*Recorded with Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida at
the NJ Recreation Rm over Thanksgiving Weekend (2007).

Have a wonderful 2008, folks!

Love,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre

by Singing Mechanic

Here is some purchasing advice for used-car buyers:

–Don’t buy a car from a body shop. A little makeup can hide a whole lot of blemish. The right shirt can hide an otherwise indisputable set of love-handles. Likewise, hammering out a few dents and giving a car a nice new paint-job can suppress just about any sordid tale of automotive woe . . . for a time.

–Don’t buy a car with new tires . . . brand new tires. Why would anybody put brand new tires on a car they are selling? People put new tires on a car before selling it to disguise tracking problems. If it has front-end or steering problems, the tire wear will show this. Or if the car has been in a severe accident, tire wear can reveal this. So folks with unfixable or too-expensive alignment problems will often opt to cover up the problems by simply buying new tires.

–Don’t buy a car from a guy who lives on a boat. These guys often use their car for storage of items such as fishing gear and bait, old boots/shirts etc. Fish smell — well — it sticks around . . . longer than the little cardboard pine trees that hang from your rear-view mirror.

–Last but not least, never buy a car, especially a van, from a musician. We all know how clueless musicians can be when it comes to automobiles (excepting of course Neil Young, Les Claypool, and the Singing Mechanic*).

Obviously, there are always exceptions to the rules. The best advice is to get an inspection before you purchase. Keep in mind though, your mechanic might love it if you buy a lemon!

* Someone a few years ago got a killer deal on my old Cruise Master (aka: Cruise Bastard). It was a mini motor-home I converted into the ultimate tour van; big enough to stand in, complete with a bathroom and a fridge — but it still fit easily into a normal parking spot!


And now: a limerick (of sorts):

tour from heaven
tour from hell
tour round the country in a van that smells

when two are united
they can’t be divided
and if they can . . . this tour will