It Snowed – Christmas CD Review and Giveaway

If you read my last post, you know how crazy I am about Christmas music – and that’s why I’m so excited about this post., which is a long one, but totally worth it.

First, I’m going to review a brand new Christmas CD from an amazing musical talent, Meaghan Smith.  And then, I’m going to give away two copies of that CD – just in time for Christmas festivities.

If you want to skip the editorial you can go directly to The Giveaway. I won’t think any less of you, but I will take you off my Christmas card list for next year. So there.

The Background

I’m not an NPR junkie like some people, and I certainly don’t believe the station is independent just because the word “Public” appears in the name, but that’s a soap box topic for another day.

Anyway, I must have gotten lucky with the timing, because when I switched on NPR I heard the most beautiful voice crooning a soft, lazy lounge song, and I couldn’t turn it off. An apt description of her sound, which permeates most of her songs, came from a Canadian newspaper reporter who said it’s as if Bjork worked with KD Lang and Doris Day. The artist herself simply calls it “Modern Vintage.” The song could fit equally well in the jazz era and the pop era, and Meaghan’s voice just ties it all together with a pretty red bow.

The artist has appeared on NPR several times and you can find one such session in the Meaghan Smith NPR Musical Interview. My favorite song is a pensive bluesy number called “Drifted Apart,” which plays briefly at the end of the NPR interview. It can also be found on her album The Cricket’s Orchestra. After hearing just a snippet of that song I immediately went to the interwebs to look up more information.

I found Meaghan’s website, downloaded “Drifted Apart”, promptly listened to it nearly 100 times, and then sent the artist an email letting her know how much I liked the song. In fact, I’m listening to it right now as I write this post. It’s crazy because I don’t typically display that kind of fanboy attitude toward anyone. I’ve seen the Rolling Stones in concert several times and own hundreds of their songs and never once sent them an email.

Then, a few days later, she sent an email back. That was pretty cool, and I’ve been a fan ever since trying to get my hands on every song she’s made available. When I heard she was coming out with a Christmas CD I was extremely excited – my new favorite singer and my most favorite type of music – all in one neat little shrink wrapped package (to be clear, Meaghan herself was not in the package – just her music.)

It Snowed – Meaghan Smith Christmas CD Review

I’ve been listening to the CD for a few weeks now and it’s fitting nicely into my holiday music play list.

As I mentioned in my Christmas Music Rocks post, I am a fan of all Christmas music – across all genres – and even from artists to which I don’t normally listen. I love the Christmas standards, but I especially love when artists take those standards and give it a new spin with their own style.  And that’s exactly what Meaghan Smith does with her new Christmas album, It Snowed.

It Snowed includes a great mix of old and new Christmas songs, including Silver Bells, Baby It’s Cold Outside, Silent Night, and Little Drummer Boy, among others.

You can also hear a copy of the title track, It Snowed, streaming below:

 

It Snowed is delightfully light and airy at times, and at others jazzy, soulful, and reverent. Putting her own personal touch on each and every song, Meaghan makes the standards more unique than any previous version you’ve heard. This year, I played It Snowed to kick off our annual tree trimming party to put us in that festive mood. The album was very well received from all in attendance, though to be fair, we were pretty sauced on the hot chocolate and Rumple Minze.

Her version of Silver Bells instantly became my favorite version of that Christmas classic, and her version of Christmas Time is Here is fantastic too – both perfect mood setters for the holiday season.

When I listen to It Snowed, I think about sitting by the fire, putting wrapped Christmas gifts under the tree, and the happy look on my wife and daughter’s faces when they open their presents. It’s a great feeling, and I want you to get the warm and fuzzies too – which is why we’re doing…

The Meaghan Smith It Snowed Christmas CD Giveaway

Ok, for the main event – enter to win one of two copies of the new album, It Snowed, by Meaghan Smith.  There are several ways to enter, only one mandatory. I will pick two winners:

1. The person with the most entry points
2. A person selected at random

I use rafflecopter’s giveaway software which randomizes the drawing and makes everything fair. In the widget below you’ll see several different ways to enter, of which only one is mandatory – a blog comment here telling us about your favorite Christmas song. You can see mine below to get you started.

After completing the mandatory entry, the extra entry options will appear and you can do those to your heart’s content. There are several different point values for different entry types. Do them all, or just one, but have fun with it.

The winners will be announced early next week and get to download the album to listen to it right away – just in time for Christmas!

a Rafflecopter giveaway