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07/14/22 The Bacon Brothers in Minneapolis, MN at Dakota Jazz Club and restaurant Buy Tickets
07/16/22 The Bacon Brothers in Nashville, TN at City Winery Buy Tickets
07/18/22 - 07/19/22 Paul Guzzone in Austin, TX at Subaru National Dealers Conference
07/28/22 The Bacon Brothers in Mashantucket at Foxwoods Resort and Casino
07/30/22 The Bacon Brothers in Caroga Lake, NY at Caroga Lake Summer Concert Series

Check out the full tour schedule

Category: News

0 A Million Little Things Can Make A Big Difference

November 5, 2014
Paul
· News

I met Doug Allen when he opened for the Bacon Brothers at an outdoor show in Stamford, CT this summer. Being the opening act is a tough and often thankless task. Not everyone is suited to the job. Doug had the personality, the songs, the chops and the band to power through. I congratulated him as he came off stage. Unlike many openers he hung out for our set and even sat through the rainstorm that nearly washed us out. At the end of the night we met again near the merch table where I learned that he was moving to Nashville the following week. Cool! Our tour would be coming through Nashville later in the summer. We exchanged cards and CD’s and promised to stay in touch.

Sure enough, I got a call from Doug the day I arrived. “Hey man you wanna play on a session?” Me: “Sure” The only problem was that my gear was not arriving to town until after the session! I needed to find a bass and fast. As it turned out the guest house where I was staying was owned by a musician. Well, this being Nashville… what were the chances? Hah! The owner Bryan Cumming is a member of Nashville’s premier Beatles tribute band The Wanna Beatles. Bryan has a studio in the basement. On the wall was a newly refurbished 1959 Fender Precision Bass. I hit pay dirt! He was gracious enough to lend it to me. I promised not to leave town with it and to guard it with my life.

Doug, me and my borrowed 1959 Fender P-Bass

Doug had written a very special song with his buddy PJ Pacifico in honor of Jessie Lewis and the Choose Love Foundation. Jessie was one of the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Doug and PJ’s words shaped The Choose Love Foundation mission into a song. Read about the foundation here: http://www.jesselewischooselove.org/

I was also told that an amazing organization called Where Angels Play was building and has since completed 26 playgrounds in the state of Connecticut. One for each soul lost that day. Read about it here: http://whereangelsplayfoundation.org/our-story/

When I heard the back story of the song at the session I was moved and honored to play a very small part in this project. Sometimes you think there is nothing you can do to make the world a little better. Nothing you can do to help. But look around. Look past the nonsense in the headlines and you’ll find people like Scarlett Lewis of The Choose Love Foundation or Bill Lavin of Where Angels Play or Doug and PJ who apply their art and craft with love and care to a cause. It’s the golden rule.

What can you do? Go to iTunes and spend a buck to buy this song. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/choose-love-feat.-scarlett/id932050942

A portion of the proceeds will go to The Choose Love Foundation.

And more than anything else, listen to the words and take them to heart. Here’s the lyrics video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq6O4D16VO4

It all adds up. If each of us do something good then a million little things can make a big difference.

Peace.

0 I F#$&*!G love Craig Ferguson

September 19, 2014
Paul
· News

Craig Ferguson has had an eclectic some may say insane career. Leading him from the punk rock scene in the UK to a Peabody Award-winning late night TV show in the U.S. I can relate to this. Don’t misunderstand me. I am in NO WAY comparing my career with his. It’s just that like him I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going when I was younger. It was risky and foolish at times but he was willing to go wherever his talent led him. So was I.

Plus, as we say in the band biz… he’s “a cat”, and a damn funny one at that. Craig reminded me of another irreverent TV host of my youth: Soupy Sales. I love that Craig wrote, plays and sings his own theme song. I love the free-wheeling, anything goes style of the show. And like another touchstone of my wayward youth, the show feels like a kinetic Mad Magazine.

The Bacon Brothers were invited to perform on the show for the first time in 2006. We were heading up the coast in a tour bus when I heard about the gig. I said: “Craig who?” When we rolled in it seemed like any other TV show: professional crew and staff, T-shirts and swag in the dressing rooms, freezing TV studio. Craig was nowhere to be seen. At other shows the host always dropped in to say hello and maybe even go over what they might talk about with Michael and Kevin for the “couch” segment. Not Craig. He wanted total spontaneity. After our sound check and run-through for the cameras we settled into the green room to hang out until we were called.

Paul on Late Night With Craig Ferguson 2012 – photo by Kevin Bacon

We all watched the opening monolog on the giant flat screen TV. The energy level of the audience and the host was off the charts. The jokes and comments were flying around almost faster than we could process them. We were convulsing and rolling on the couches. “OMG! Is this the funniest guy on the planet?” Now we had to follow this and on national television no less! That’s the thing. He makes you come up to his energy level. That’s when it hit me. It’s punk. I remember that feeling of performing as if your life depended on it. Boy was the adrenaline was pumping.

We hit it and quit it as James Brown might say. Success, we were accepted by the late night crowd. Another skeptical audience won over, another notch in the belt.

Since then, the band has been on three more times and Kevin has been on countless other times. When you’re in, you’re in.

We just did our fourth and final performance for Craig. He’s going off the air on December 19^th. Wish I could be there for that party! We performed the first single “Wonderful Day” from the new Bacon Brothers CD called “36 Cents”. Here’s a link:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/late_late_show/video/JzunhZLkfa54uim2V0KuRlRd6ShVZTwA/craig-ferguson-wonderful-day-the-bacon-brothers-/

Craig inspires because he’s tireless. He keeps moving. As a kid I knew that I wanted to be in the creative arts and I was a pretty good musician. That’s all. Now I write songs, produce music, teach, perform and consult about music. I’m still doing this because I kept moving and learning and growing. I’m sure I’ll be at it when I’m in the Start Me Up Home For Aging Rockers. At the risk of sounding clichéd I always tell my students at Pace that your career is about the journey not the destination.

Here’s to you Craig! Best of luck on your journey. Ooh La La!

5 The Kind of Day You Wish Would Never End

August 6, 2014
Paul
· News

It was well after midnight when we got back to our hotel. I was going up in the elevator with my friend and Bacon Brothers band mate Ira Siegel. He said: “Man, this was the kind of day you wish would never end.” That about sums it up.

Where to begin?

We’ve been touring on and off pretty much all summer long. We were in the last and longest stretch, which brought us through Nashville, Atlanta and on Sunday, August 3^rd to Charlotte, NC. Throughout the tour Kevin, either on is own or with Michael were visiting businesses and not-for-profits which are doing meaningful work to make our crazy world a little better. The “drop-ins” were organized by the wonderful Dan McCabe who manages Kevin’s charity project sixdegrees.org.

While riding up in our tour bus from Atlanta Kevin asked if we would join them that afternoon in an unplugged performance for 20 families at Ronald McDonald House Of Charlotte. Regardless of what you may think of fast food, this not-for-profit arm of the McDonalds Corporation does truly amazing work directly in communities all across the country. Here’s the link to RMcD house of Charlotte: http://www.rmhofcharlotte.org/

I’ve done my share of charity shows over the years performing at fund-raisers large and small but also in hospitals, firehouses and schools. No matter how many of these I do, nothing prepares me for the outpouring of emotion that settles over the audience and performers. For that moment in time we are all somehow united at the heart. For this show we had no amps or sound system what so ever, which made the connection that much more direct. I’m not one who goes in for organized religion but I think these occasions are what a house of worship ought to feel like. I say this with absolutely no ego. It is not about the performer. Kevin and The Bacon Brother’s celebrity helped to make it happen but the children in that room had no idea who we were. Certainly their parents knew Kevin. Some even knew about the band. But honestly that’s not what mattered. We were all in the room together to help one another feel good or at least feel better for a little while. And to let them know people cared about them.

The Bacon Brothers Band at Ronald McDonald House of Charlotte. The song we are playing here was appropriately called “Wonderful Day”.

After a group photo with the families, lots of handshakes and hugs we got back on the bus. It remained quiet for some time. Most of us lost in thought about the experience we had just had and sorting out our feelings. It’s complicated. No doubt we had done something good but it never seems to be enough.

Earlier in the day Frank had gone for a run near our hotel and noticed a bunch of tour busses rolling through town. He, being a smart guy for a drummer realized they were not ours. So he Googled around and discovered that James Taylor was performing just outside of town. All of us are HUGE JT fans. We begged our manager Chris Bailey (Sometimes known as Warden Bailey because of his strict tour management style) to wrangle us tickets. He made a few calls, tracked down the right people (on a Sunday BTW) and procured us VIP seats and a “Meet And Greet” with JT and his band. Ironically, the tables were turned. Now we would have to wait in line to meet the star.

The show was at a shed-style performing arts center like Tanglewood or Wolftrap. The sky was clear, the stars were out and the temperature a perfect 75 degrees. The concert was of course off the charts amazing. Honestly, he has never sounded better. We got to hear JT sing “Going To Carolina” in Carolina. That’s kind of like hearing “New York, New York” at Yankee Stadium. Everyone in the amphitheater stood up and sang along on the chorus. Ear to ear smiles all around us.

After the show we hung out with everyone in his band. Some of us already knew some of them. Ira had worked with “Blue” Lou Marini and actually did a couple of gigs with JT subbing for Michael Landau. Is there anyone Ira has not worked with? Frank got to talk shop with the great Steve Gadd. Amazingly, they’d never met. It’s rare that I see Frank get this excited about anything other than a meal at Blue Hill. Seriously, he was really pumped. He even got a picture of the two of them which I’m sure was on the web within seconds.

JT, Kevin, Michael and me. Clearly, I am in deep thought wondering what I can say to James that will not make me sound like an idiot fan boy.

Then we met JT. What a delightful human being. Gracious and charming. All of us were in awe of his vocal stamina. After a 90-minute concert he did 45 minutes of meet and greet. All that singing and talking! He told Michael that he does one hour of vocal warm ups every day. We had the chance to tell him what people sometimes tell us. “We are BIG fans of yours. We love your music. Thank you.”

In some weird way our day had come full circle. Maybe getting to see James was cosmic payback for visiting Ronald McDonald House. Back on the bus to the hotel we cracked a bottle of wine and toasted to… what exactly? Friendship? Life? Health? Music? Let’s toast to all of it.

Like Ira said, it was the kind of day you wish would never end.

0 Paul Profiled by “this is it nyc …”

Paul Guzzone profile appears in "this is it nyc …"

June 9, 2014
Paul
· News · Uncategorized

Paul was recently interviewed for a profile in the online publication this is it nyc … The article appeared on Friday and you can READ IT HERE.

0 Full House at the Towne Crier Cafe

June 9, 2014
Paul
· News · Uncategorized

Paul with Al Stewart backstage at the Towne Crier Cafe

Paul opened for Al Stewart on Friday, June 6 (at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon, NY) to a full house of serious music listeners, a number of whom are now Paul Guzzone fans. One of them described Paul as “Ray Davies without the accent.” A major compliment, as Paul is a long-time Ray Davies fan.

Al Stewart played a typically tremendous set with his virtuostic accompanying guitarist Dave Nachmanoff. The duo arrangements offer a new take on Al’s hits as well as his deep cuts.

In one of his intros Al mentioned that he “likes to time-travel in his songs.” Yes, indeed. A true balladeer, Stewart often writes of people, places, and events from eras past. Each song is so vivid that you might wonder if, in a previous life, he had traveled Europe with lute in hand collecting tales of the ages to re-create in the 20th and 21st centuries.

But Stewart’s taste is wide-ranging. Talking music backstage, Paul learned that Al is a big fan of the Brill Building era – Leiber and Stoller in particular. In fact, he went so far as to say that there wouldn’t have been a Lennon and McCartney without a Leiber and Stoller. Hmm. Time to give another listen to “Idol With the Golden Head” and “Jailhouse Rock”!

0 The Towne Crier

May 20, 2014
Paul
· News

The first time I went to the Towne Crier Café was in 1985… to heckle my boss Tom Rush.

The Café was then at it’s original location in Beekman, NY. My wife, Mary Ellen Bernard and I were spending the weekend in nearby New Milford, CT with David Buskin and his wife Abra. We were brain storming with them and Robin and Wendy Batteau about how to launch their new B&B album. David, Robin and I were in Tom’s band but he chose not to use us that evening so we went seeking revenge!

Our host was proprietor and music maven Phil Ciganer who gleefully conspired by seating us all near the stage. It helps to have low friends in high places. It’s a night Tom would like to forget. All was forgiven by the next gig.

In 1972 Phil transformed what was once the Old Beekman Hotel and General Store into a music room and café-restaurant. Phil is equal parts hipster, promoter, carnival ringmaster and restaurateur. In that post-Woodstock era, upstate New York took on a certain mystique with regard to music. There was something in the air and the Towne Crier Café seemed to epitomize it. One of the first people to play there was Pete Seeger. There would be over 5,000 more shows in Beekman before he moved The Café to Pawling, NY.

Hippie Bad-Ass Phil at his club in Beekman, NY

“Cowboy” Phil at The Towne Crier Cafe – 1972 Beekman, NY

Phil loves musicians and music. Dedicated to presenting the best music experience possible, he installed a state of the art sound system in the new Pawling room. He also had a separate bar with glass so customers could gab and not disturb performers while watching the show. And he reminded the audience to be respectful of the performers. That’s old school, baby! As always he personally “curated” the shows he presented. Pairing up just the right combination of headliner and opening act. This offered new or young artists the chance to find an audience. I have memorable nights backing up Tom Rush and Buskin and Batteau on that stage for some of the best audiences ever.

So when the Bacon Brothers were looking for a place to do their first public show I called Phil and asked if he would book us. It took a little convincing. Like most people he was skeptical when it came to “actor bands”. Are they for real? Could they play? Fortunately he trusted my opinion. Which made me feel good. When the big night came Michael and Kevin were understandably a bit nervous with friends, family and show biz buds filling the room. Meryl Streep, Ron Howard and Giancarlo Esposito, among others, packed the room. I must say it was a triumph. Everyone was ear-to-ear smiling, including Phil. To paraphrase another legendary club owner… this was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

The Bacon Brothers appeared many more times including a raucous New Years Eve. I have a clear picture of me jumping off stage and dancing with Mary Ellen and Kyra Sedgwick during Footloose. Champagne was flowing.

Mary Ellen and I went back to the Towne Crier on many occasions, opening for Richie Havens, Rockapella and Sloan Wainwright, and to be in the audience for other artists.

It’s fair to say that on the Americana music circuit the Towne Crier Café has become an institution. But I know that Phil thought about closing shop from time to time. Running a club and restaurant is a relentless grind no matter how much you love it. So everyone in our end of the music biz was thrilled when Phil announced the move to Beacon. The Café fit right in to this town which already has an arts and music heritage of its own. There are not many music rooms that have carried on since 1972 and none, to my knowledge that have been run by the same person. So it is with great pride and pleasure that I find myself heading back to the Towne Crier Café stage to give this new one a test drive. On June 6^th 2014 I’ll be there opening for one of my favorite songwriters Al Stewart.

Here’s to the next chapter Phil!

0 Single Mom

May 7, 2014
Paul
· News

I think that one of the most important words in the English language is empathy. It’s one of the things that make us different from the lesser creatures of the earth: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. In our “what’s in it for me” culture too often empathy gets pushed aside.

A few years ago I met Jake Stigers at a BMI #1 rooftop party in Nashville. BMI does this whenever one of their songwriters gets a number one record on the charts. Sadly, it wasn’t for me! Chris Keaton who represents my song catalog introduced me to Jake and thought we ought to write together.

Next came the age-old songwriters question: what to write about? Harlan Howard said: “Country music is three chords and the truth”. The truth is, Jake was raised by a single mom. So, that became our song, but with a few more chords. (Sorry Harlan)

We took the idea to my other songwriting partner Mike Greenly. Together we wrote a song that none of us alone could have. That’s the beauty of collaboration. It also involves empathy. Mike and I were blessed with coming from two-parent homes. But Jake showed us the world he and his brother Curtis grew up in. Honestly, I rarely gave the subject much thought.

There are many reasons why a woman may find herself in the position of raising children on her own: divorce, abandonment or the death of her partner, maybe even by her own choice. Whatever the reason it’s incredibly difficult to be a single parent. Man or woman. But there’s something about being a single mother that’s different. For one thing it’s harder for her to find a job and when she does, she will earn less than a man. The single mom has been the focus of endless opinion pieces and commentaries. I’m not a social scientist, I’m a songwriter and musician. All I can do is imagine what it would be like.

Empathy. Again

I have a niece, more like a little sister really because of our closeness in age. She and her husband John had a daughter Alison and were pregnant with their son John when John Sr. was tragically taken from them in a car accident. Through the years she faced the challenges every a parent faces raising a family. There were people around to help but in the end the responsibility was hers alone. I saw her become empowered and rise to the challenge.

“Because her man is gone, she had to be twice as strong… she’s a single mom”

And there were times… oh boy there were times…

“Lord knows she’s not perfect, but she did her best”

I read somewhere that for a single mother her child’s love compensates for everything. This must be true because there is love in that house.

I hope our song Single Mom resonates for you. If it does feel free to share the video with friends. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4fP0nv_d78

Single Mom was written by Jake Stigers, Mike Greenly and Paul Guzzone. Lead vocals by Jake with instruments, additional vocals and production by Paul.

5 It Was 20 Years Ago Today (Almost)

March 13, 2014
Paul
· News

It was around this time of year back in 1994 when I got a phone call from Michael Bacon.

He said: “My brother and I are forming a band and you’re the bass player”.

I met Michael many years before that when he was the opening act for Tom Rush at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. Marshal Rosenberg and I were the rhythm section for Tom. We noticed this guy with a cool baritone voice who was playing cello and singing at the same time. How unusual we thought. He noticed the “colorful” singing bass player and Latin percussionist using a film can for a snare drum. How unusual he thought. He also thought, If ever he and his brother formed a band he would call us to be the rhythm section.

By the time Mike moved to NYC to pursue his career as a film composer I had become a music producer and writer at a music production house. He looked me up and we began to share our rolodexes. (Remember the Rolodex?)

“Hey man, I need a good studio to transfer old 16 track tapes. Know any?”

“Sure, I need someone who can play Asian flutes.”

“Cool!”

It was a great time to be a music producer in NYC. There were lots of studios and musicians moving from session to session all day long. (Ira Siegel and Frank Vilardi were two of them.)

I knew Mike’s brother was an actor but I didn’t know he was a musician. No one did.

A boyhood friend of Kevin’s asked them to play a benefit. Mike saw this as an opportunity to form a band. The gig was in June but he wanted plenty of time to work up material and book musicians. So I got the call.

Two days later I found myself at Mike’s studio singing with him and Kevin. Coincidentally, I had gone to a SAG screening the week before and now I found myself face to face with the guy I had just seen do a tour-de-force acting job on the big screen in Murder In The First. I was a little bit nervous. As it turns out so was he. While he was confident as an actor he was still growing as a musician and singer. And now here he was in rehearsal with a professional musician he had never met. But as our three voices began to harmonize, everyone loosened up. The vocal blend really was exciting to hear for the first time. It was great! And, I heard Bacon Brothers songs for the first time. Including Only A Woman and Memorize. There was definitely something cool going on.

The experiment was a success so on to step two. We had a rehearsal with Marshal. That’s when Marshal and I suggested doing a warm up gig. We suggested a great music room called The Towne Crier, which was then located in Pawling, NY. (It’s now in Beacon) We hooked Mike up with the owner Phil Ciganer who booked them for a gig in late May.

Still, what to call this new band? We all liked the name Mid Life Crisis. It was Kevin’s suggestion and I think he liked it because it took the spotlight off of him. But of course, they settled on The Bacon Brothers. What else could it possibly be?

On the day of the Towne Crier gig we did our sound check in the afternoon then we drove back to Kevin and Kyra’s house which was about 40 minutes away just over the state line in Connecticut. We arrived to find Kyra making dinner for all of us, which was unbelievably sweet. The house was buzzing with nervous energy. A camera came out of somewhere. My wife Mary Ellen took a couple of indoor shots. Then we went outside because the spring sunlight was so beautiful. We went over to the fence and took this picture.

Kyra said: “I see an album cover here”. As we jumped up on the fence.

Twenty years.

Marshal and I became honorary Bacon Brothers as did Frank, Ira, Joe Mennonna, Charlie Giordano our crew Chris Fenn, Andrew Harris and our manager Chris Bailey.

When I met the guys, Mike and Betsy’s son Neal was playing bantam hockey in grammar school. Kevin and Kyra’s daughter Sosie was a toddler and Travis was mastering his first skateboard. They have all grown up to be good friends.

We’ve had ridiculously joyful times and unforgettable experiences tempered by sad and painful ones. I wouldn’t have missed any of it for the world.

It’s been a great ride and there’s more to come. There’s a new CD on the way and we’re booked starting in spring and well into the summer. We’ll be singing and playing for all of our dedicated fans who made this possible and we hope to win over a few more.

To quote Mr. Dylan: “I was so much older then I’m younger than that now”. I actually am, no really.

0 Holiday Club 47 Concert at Symphony Hall with Tom Rush

January 6, 2014
Paul
· News

I just finished reading The Mayor of MacDougal Street a memoir by Dave Van Ronk (with Elijah Wald). Much of the book is about the folk music revival centered in Greenwich Village in the early 1960’s, or as Utah Phillips referred to it: “The Great Folk Scare”.

I came up in the music biz around 1970 with my band called Revival (named after the afore mentioned folk revival). We were more like The Lovin’ Spoonful or a country rock outfit like Poco than a folk group like Peter, Paul And Mary, but our roots were firmly in the Greenwich Village scene. I met Van Ronk on several occasions and saw him perform at The Gaslight, Folk City and later on in the 1980’s at the Speakeasy. I missed the heyday of “The Village” by a full decade but there was still an echo of that musical revolution in the air as we played the clubs, walked the streets and hung out with the other musicians and songwriters of our generation.

Dave and his memoir were partially the inspiration for the Coen Brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis. As a result, musicians like Dave, Tom Paxton, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and of course Dylan are being talked about a lot in the media today.

(Quick aside: Van Ronk offered to introduce me and a friend to Joni late one night while we were sitting at a bar. I was just too star struck and nervous to take him up on it. Boy, do I regret that!)

As fortune would have it, I closed out my year on stage at Symphony Hall with Tom Rush for his annual Club 47 Concert. On the bill this year were performers from that era: The Jim Kweskin Jug Band featuring Geoff and Maria Muldaur and Bill Keith. Also on stage with us were Sarah Lee Guthrie (Arlo’s daughter and Woody’s grand daughter) and her husband Johnny Irion, plus one of my all time favorite songwriters and guitarists Patty Larkin.

It’s a mini folk festival with everyone catching up or getting to know each other. Performers sit in with one another, creating interesting combinations of players and songs. Patty brought a modern electric edge to the evening while Sarah Lee and Johnny reminded me of funky Richard And Mimi Fariña. She rocks a mean shaker and he’s a killer guitarist. (See below) It’s a delightful evening for the fans and musicians alike.

Maria, Johnny in a blues rock crouch, me and Marshal backing up Maria on I’m A Woman.

Backstage, there were lots of stories and laughs going ‘round. Maria regaled us youngsters with tales of her early Village days. Like when she and Geoff were playing in one of the coffee houses and a couple of well-connected wise guys strolled in off the street. Many of the Village clubs I should point out were “mobbed up”.

Wise Guy: “Waddayou guys playin’? Is dat folk music?”

Maria: “Uh… yes it is”

Wise Guy: “Waddayou called?”

Maria: “Uh… The Washington Square Ramblers” (She nervously made up the name on the spot)

Wise Guy: “Youse want a job? Twenty bucks a piece dis Saturday on Long Island.”

A little nervous but thrilled by the offer, they did the gig. After all, they had never been paid that much! So, for at least one Saturday night Sinatra took a back seat to jug band music.

Anyway, one of the highlights of this Club 47 performance was an impromptu rendition of Auld Lang Syne arranged and led by Bill Keith on banjo. He dedicated it to musician friends who have passed like Fritz Richmond from the original Kweskin Jug Band. Twenty three hundred strong in the audience sang along. Ya can’t beat that sound.

Back: Me, Geoff, Tom, Maria, Jim and Johnny
Front: Joe Walsh, Patty, Sarah Lee and Marshal

5 Why Wait ’til Christmas?

December 18, 2013
Paul
· News

Have you ever caught yourself saying, “time is flying by”? Me too. Back in the summer of 2012 I was walking along a country road with Mary Ellen and we were talking about our dear friend Pat Woodward who had passed away suddenly that April. In that very month I also lost my old friend Pete Fornatale and then my oldest brother Tom. I don’t mean to be maudlin but jeez, that was a really awful spring! Anyway, our conversation was a stark reminder that we had to make the most of every single minute. I began to look forward and mentioned something we should do for the next holiday season, and Mary Ellen replied, “why wait til Christmas?” Boom! Just like that, a song title. Maybe our departed loved ones were sending us a message.

A day or two passed and Mary Ellen handed me a page of lyrics. No surprise there! I could tell she was working it through in her mind. What I didn’t know was that she had the melody already fully crafted in her head. She plunked it out on the piano and I helped her find the chords. We completed it in an hour and later that week we cut a song demo with our friends Joe Mennonna on piano and Karen Mason adding her splendid voice. A full year passed before we found the time to cut our own version of it.

As I was listening while mixing it, I realized that it’s not so much a Christmas song as a New Years’ song. So, if you’re looking for a resolution for 2014, how about this: let’s all resolve not to put off the things that are truly important. Make it Christmas all year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from both of us!

Listen: Why Wait ’til Christmas (Lyrics)

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