I'm not much of a fan of Christmas music, but over the last few years I've nonetheless learned to appreciate the form. If nothing else, it's a curiosity: No other holiday has spawned its own genre, with its own motifs, conventions and even its own distinct aesthetic. It's not like musicians record Thanksgiving albums, or like every spring radio stations convert to an all-Easter format.
As usual, this year local bands are getting in on the holiday spirit. Third Coast Digest has once again teamed up with WMSE for its 12 Song Holiday Project, hosting a dozen days of free Christmas tracks from Milwaukee musicians. Today's offering is especially inspired, an original titled "No More Christmas Suicide (Don't Make Baby Jesus Cry)" by the Celebrated Workingman and their friends Orangutan.
Meanwhile, the roots-rock group Trapper Schoepp and the Shades, which early this year released an excellent debut album, have posted to their Facebook page a free, downloadable cover of "Blue Christmas," along with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country."
And, finally, Christmas means the return of one of Milwaukee's oldest live-music traditions, the annual Sleighriders concert at Shank Hall. Every year dozens of veteran players from all corners of the Milwaukee music scene gather for a celebratory jam session to benefit the SafeZone Community Art Center. Monday night's lineup is particularly packed, and includes Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos.
