St. Nick's Christmas Collection
All songs playable for free below

As Paul and Julie were helping me and Lani put our tiki bar back together for the summer, I shared with him my pipedream of recording a collection of Christmas songs just for fun. Paul said, “Let’s do it,” and so a few beers later it started, and eventually went all the way to eleven… songs, that is. Nothing professional here. Just a few friends and family members getting together to have fun and make music. Unlike a “proper” album, these songs were not sent out to be mastered, resulting in each track having its own unique feel and dynamic level. So, listen without prejudice, and hopefully you will find at least one or two that you enjoy.
-Nick

As friends, we’ve played music together for over 25 years…from Lapeer West H.S. football game halftime shows…to Eddie West benefit shows (over $30,000 raised)… to open-mic nights at Calvelli’s… to Grace Episcopal Church Christmas Eve mass services… This is our Christmas card to you…2021.
-Paul

St. Nick's Elves

    • Tim Bradley, Steve Burns, Jean & Dave ‘Red’ Coon, Doug Deierlein, Ginger & PJ Eastman, Paul Fernandez, Kate (Fernandez) Lee, Kathy & John Levitt, Macy & Bryan Mortimer, Haley, Nick & Ryan Ward, Dave Webster; special thanks to Julie Fernandez for the artwork!

Songs


  1. St. Nick’s Hope ℗ – vocal: Kate - background vocals: Macy - lyrics: Paul – All music written & played by Nick - 2021
     I told Paul, "You write the lyrics, and I'll write the music." He asked for a "theme" for the lyrics. I mentioned the idea of how Christmas seems to be a special time, even for people that don't necessarily celebrate it, or practice Christianity. We came up with the idea for this song in about 15 minutes before it eventually evolved into a sort of "sound explosion." This is our only 100% original song in this collection. Paul's daughter added her oh-so-smooth vocals to round it off, and Macy Mortimer added last-minute harmonies because... well, because her dad owes me a lot of money (Merry Christmas, Bryan!).

  2. Mary Did You Know? - vocals: John and Kathy - guitar: Doug - bass: Ryan - keyboards: Nick - song by M. Lowry & B. Greene - 1984
    John and Kathy have performed this song at Grace Episcopal Church's Christmas Eve service in Lapeer MI every few years, so it seemed like an obvious selection to include here.

  3. Santa’s Back in Town – vocals & guitar: Doug – background vocals: Jean & Red - piano & bass: Nick - song by Elvis (J. Leiber & M. Stoller) - 1957
    We asked our buddy Doug if he was willing to contribute to our Christmas project. He selected this song right away. A friend told me that he didn't start playing the guitar until he was about 40 years old. 72 years later, he's still rocking it like he owns it (he actually stole most of his guitars)!

  4. Another Red-Nosed Challenge – vocal, lyrics & guitar: Paul - bass: Tim - original song from Kenny Rodgers’ ‘Lucille’ (R. Bowling & H. Bynum) – 1975 –Crickets - courtesy of the woods outside music room window (yes, it was intentional).
     Paul has a talent for taking a popular song and rewriting Christmas lyrics for it. This is the first of three of those songs in the collection. Our good buddy and hall-of-fame coach, Tim Bradley, joined in on the fun with his steady bass playing.

  5. Little Reggae Boy – vocal: Bryan - music: Nick – horns: sax, Dave, trombone, Red, trumpet, Steve - percussion: Paul - (Katherine Davis-1941- original title (‘Carol of the Drum’)
    This song is pretty much how this project started. I told Paul that I've never heard a reggae version of a Christmas song, and that it sounded like a challenge, so off we went... My mother is not necessarily a fan of this song. She said it does not sound reggae enough.

  6. Elf (based on the movie Elf, with Will Ferrell) – vocal: Jean – lyrics & guitar: Paul - trombone: Red – piano & drums: Nick - original song: Sympathique by Pink Martini - 1997
    This song was meant for Jean to sing. She used to perform the original, non-Christmas version of this song with us for open-mic night, IN FRENCH, which the original song is in!!! Anyone that knows Jean can imagine her singing this!

  7. Please Come Home for Christmas – vocal, guitars: Doug – piano, bass & background vocals: Nick - song by C. Brown (& G. Redd)-1960 – recorded by The Eagles, 1978
     After recording "Santa's Back in Town," Doug brought up the idea of adding this song also. He added his own vocal flair to the piece.

  8. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – vocal: John – strings: Haley & PJ – bass: Ryan – bells: Ginger – keys & drums: Nick
     We first performed this song live in 2012 at Grace Episcopal Church in Lapeer, MI with the choir for Christmas Eve Mass. We recorded it the following week, making this the oldest song in the collection (by 9 years). This is the only song that includes all four of my kids/step kids.

  9. Mistletoe – trumpet: Steve (written by Pete F.) - vocal, lyrics & piano: Paul - cello: Nick- original song: Rainbow by Kacey Musgraves (& N. Hemby & S. McAnally) - 2018
    Paul recorded this song in one take (he takes pride in that legacy). I added the cello part later that evening, and Paul's son Pete wrote the muted trumpet part for the intro.

  10. Cool Yule – vocal - John; tenor sax - Dave; alto sax - PJ; trumpets - Steve; trombone - Red; keys - Nick; – song written by Steve Allen -1953 and originally performed by Louis Armstrong
     This ended up being the most challenging song in the mix. Four trumpet parts, three trombone parts, four saxophone parts, but our Horn Dogs pulled it off! I heard John singing Louis Armstrong's "It's a Wonderful World" once, so I immediately thought of him when we were deciding whether or not we could actually pull this off.

  11. My Christmas Card to You – vocals: Bryan & Macy - music: Nick – song by The Partridge Family - Tony Romeo, 1971
     I always thought this Partridge Family tune was an extremely underrated Christmas song, and couldn't wait to do a cover of it. Bryan Mortimer is a great friend and former bandmate. Our band "The Raves" used to play gigs at Rube's and Churchill's in downtown Flint, MI in the 80's and 90's. He brought along his daughter Macy to add a sparkle to the vocals.

Produced by Nick Ward & Paul Fernandez - for families and friends – Merry Christmas!


PLAY ENTIRE COLLECTION IN ORDER BELOW:
(or click this link to play full album on SoundCloud)

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE
(although some songs will have ads... out of my control)