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New England Musician Releases Heartfelt Christmas Album

The pandemic has changed how many people are celebrating Christmas this year, but one thing remains constant, and that's the joy of Christmas music.

New England musician Dan Blakeslee has released a new album this month called "Christmas Jubilee" that has a mix of tradition and original songs. NHPR's Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley caught up with Blankslee to chat more about the album.

(Editor's note: We recommend listening to this story.)

Rick Ganley: What makes you love Christmas music so much?

Dan Blakeslee: You know, I mean, depending on what Christmas music you're listening to, but a lot of times it has this, like, joyous, celebratory tone to it. And ever since I was a little kid, my parents were always playing Christmas music throughout the season. And I have a vast Christmas record collection, about 225 strong right now and growing.

Rick Ganley: This is not your first holiday album, Dan. Every October, you turned from Dan Blakeslee into Doctor Gasp for Halloween.

Dan Blakeslee: Oh yes, I do.

Rick Ganley: We featured you on Morning Edition a little over a year ago. What made you decide, though, to do a Christmas album?

Dan Blakeslee: Since 2006, I was writing songs for my family for Christmas gifts each year, like a song or two a year for a good number of years. And eventually I had enough to make an EP. And at that point I had shared a few of the songs with friends and they said, you have to put this out officially as an album. And I was like, no, I'm not going to do it. It's just for my family. And so eventually I ended up breaking, and a couple of years later I came out with an EP.

All the while, I had been in my head for the last solid 10 years, I've been dreaming up doing a bigger sounding record, one that had more orchestration and my full band. And so finally, last year, 2019, a few days before Christmas, I thought I was going to burst if I didn't record it. And we recorded it all through the winter with snow on the ground. I decked out the studio in Christmas decor to the max. I felt like it would filter down into the audio somehow.

Rick Ganley: Well, if you did it at least in the winter, you have that winter spirit going. You hear so many artists that do their holiday tracks, they're doing them in August, you know.

Dan Blakeslee: Right. Right. Exactly, yeah.

Rick Ganley: Do you have a favorite on the album? A favorite song?

Dan Blakeslee: Oh, man. You know what? One that is one of my favorites, most memorable and it has a story with it is Mister Candy Cane. I was over in Spain with my ex. She was going to school over there and I took a trip over there to visit her. And it was around Christmas time and it was the night before Christmas. And both of us were really bummed out. We were missing our family. We were missing the snow. We were missing New England.

And it was 80 degrees in Granada, Spain. And we're walking around. We're still, you know, having a good time, you know, looking at the holiday lights and everything. And all of a sudden we heard this street performer playing boogie woogie Christmas carols on a quarter sized piano dressed up like Santa. And it was the exact recipe we needed that night. So I wrote the song based on watching him play in his performance.

And I wish there was some way I could figure out how to get the song to him. I mean, he didn't have a stage name or anything. I just Googled Granada, Spain, you know, piano player, street busker, Christmas carols and nothing came up. So if anyone out there knows Granada, Spain, if they know this guy, please direct him to that song.

Rick Ganley: Could be a holiday miracle there, who knows.? So if people want to hear this music live, are they going to get an opportunity this year?

Dan Blakeslee: Yeah, we're actually playing one physical performance only. We're doing it at The Stone Church in Newmarket, New Hampshire, on December 19th at 1:00 p.m.

Rick Ganley: Oh, that's great. So people can at least be outside and enjoy the music, even if it's not in the traditional way. I mean, I suppose with some snow on the ground, cold temperatures, it'll feel festive.

Dan Blakeslee: Yeah. Oh, definitely. Oh, it'll feel festive to us playing.

For many radio listeners throughout New Hampshire, Rick Ganley is the first voice they hear each weekday morning, bringing them up to speed on news developments overnight and starting their day off with the latest information.
Mary McIntyre is a senior producer at NHPR.
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