Country-folk quintet, Blitzen Trapper dare to celebrate the holiday season by unveiling their own original-cut, “Christmas Is Coming Soon.” Now available to be streamed for download via BandCamp under the “pay-what-you-wish” motif, the holiday-treat arrives fresh on the heels of their eighth-studio-effort, All Across This Land, released last October courtesy of Vagrant.
Bandleader/vocalist/guitarist extraordinaire, Eric Earley insists all proceeds will be made to specifically benefit Mercy Corps:
“whose mission is to alleviate suffering, poverty, and oppression by helping to build secure, productive, and just communities in some of the toughest places in the world.”
Plucking away ever-so-thoughtfully, embroidered by the friendly-tap of percussive-subtlties, “Christmas Is Coming Soon” ensues that still so refreshing after breaching a fervently-recognizable mesh of modern-folk nuance. The traveling troubador marches on with a message to the weary and burdened man. Coined by songwriting sensibilities so seemingly-indicative of the west, it’s no surprise these boys of the common-folk hail from Portland, Oregon.
During a press release, Eric Earley conveys the meaning behind the song:
“This is the only Christmas song I’ve ever written, sort of the Christmas song equivalent of a dark comedy. We wanted to create a small way for our fans to pair with us in giving this holiday season through Mercy Corps which has been doing great work since 1979 helping people in need around the world.”
Having written the majority of Blitzen Trapper‘s material, Earley first dipped his wick into the fine craft of music-making at the primitive age of three. When inquired upon his methods for songwriting, Earley merely replied:
“It’s different for every song. Generally, it just depends on the type of song. If it’s a story song, I’ll start with the words. If it’s not, sometimes it starts with the music, sometimes it’s sparked by someone else’s song or someone’s story they tell me.”