Brushfire Records — home of Jack Johnson, Mason Jennings, Matt Costa, G. Love, Rogue Wave and others — will soon release This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 1, a collection of holiday classics and Christmas originals performed by their family of artists.
That's right, you will hear Jack Johnson sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," as well as his take on "Someday at Christmas," a cut that Stevie Wonder once recorded. Plus Mason Jennings' rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
"This is something we've been talking about for a while," says Emmett Malloy, our buddy, who runs Brushfire. "It was a little difficult to get everyone in the Christmas spirit to record these songs during the summer, but we pulled it off." Elsewhere on the disc, Matt Costa does "All I Want for Christmas" and G. Love debuts "Christmas Baby." Rogue Wave wrote and recorded "Christmas" at home between tour dates, laying it down on a four-track. And Neil Halstead covers "The Man in the Santa Suit," a dope song written by Fountains of Wayne.
The collection will also feature the first ever official track by Malaysian singer Zee Avi, who is the first lady to be added to the Brushfire roster. "Patrick Keeler [drummer] from the Raconteurs suggested that we check her out," says Malloy. "And she's the perfect fit. She's like a cross between Norah Jones and Billie Holliday." (Check out a clip of Avi here. Keep in mind she used to perform under a stage name Koko Kaina.)
Zee Avi is currently recording her debut at the Solar Power Plastic Plant, Brushfire's home studio in L.A. Backing her are Jack Johnson's band: drummer Adam Topol, bassist Merlo Podlewski and keyboardist Zach Gill. The trio have become the de facto house band for Brushfire. "They're like our Motown rhythm section," says Malloy. "They've been playing on so many records — they're so tight."
Click more for full track listing for This Warm December.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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