New Music for the Holidays

Hey. Wanna hear something I haven’t shared with anyone else yet? I mean, it’s not quite done and I might change the whole thing around. But still, maybe let’s call it my little early present for you – a song still in process.

This song had its inspiration a few years ago. My friend Mark is originally from Newfoundland, and while he has since moved to Alberta, he is still very much a Newfie at heart. One of the things he brought with him – and has instilled in his friend, a Jersey boy transplanted to New England – is the spirit and celebration of St. Tibb’s Eve. 

Tibb’s Eve itself has Irish roots. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a day that never comes (“I’ll get to it on Tibb’s Eve”) or a holiday for the patron saint of those of questionable morals.  

On coming to the Western Hemisphere, the Newfoundlanders (who did not become proper Canadians until 1949, remaining a British Commonwealth until then) brought the Irish tradition with them, but assigned it to a day where they could party it up. Advent supposedly being an austere time, the local citizens decided that December 23 was a perfectly acceptable time to end this dry spell and party it up – as Tibb’s Eve.

The tradition has tamed (a little) and is now, in the words of one local wit, “the day where you go and have dinner and fun with the people you want to, before you spend time with the people you have to.”

So, there’s a warm home in Fort Saskatchewan, AB where every December 23 there is a circle of people with guitars, beers, and good food, laughing and singing. 

Now, it’s worth noting that December 23 also just happens to be my birthday.  So of course, I commandeered the holiday. 

That having been accomplished, I needed to write a song. So I did. Much of the song was done last year, and there’s a video of the original version being played at Devlin’s in Brighton on the day it was written (ah, the times we used to gather in physical proximity!).

But this year I had a listen and decided that the song needed a little more and also needed to be changed around to work. This is the result so far.  

So, please enjoy “Holiday’s Rest (Tibb’s Eve)“

I hope you enjoy. I wish you a great Tibb’s Eve, and a wonderful holiday rest, and on my heart I wish you a much better 2021.

-Chris