12 Gifts for 12 Days

I've published nine video gifts for Christmas on Facebook over the last few weeks, so I thought I'd embed them all here as a gift/archive. I'm adding three I shot on Dec. 19 at a Flobots benefit, for 12 days of Christmas. This series is dedicated to the memory of Vic Chesnutt, the singer-songwriter who died Christmas Eve.

First gift was Low singing "Long Way Around by the Sea"




The second was a video background I compiled myself, for the carol written by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, "Go Tell the Fox". Unfortunately, none of their original Christmas songs have had YouTube videos until now:



The third is a bonus - a video I took Dec. 19 of Oh Starling singing "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear":



The fourth is the first of two wassail songs - this one of Peter, Paul & Mary singing "A'Soalin'" on an old Australian TV show:



The fifth is another wassail song, the lesser-known "Gloucestershire Wassail" song:



The sixth is another bonus video, one I took Dec. 19 of Jen Korte and The Loss playing "O Holy Night":



The seventh needs a backstory. West of the British Yorkshire city of Leeds is the world's largest intelligence base at Menwith Hill, where a staff of mostly Americans sifts through the world's emails and phone calls. Most folks think that the closest town to Menwith Hill is the academic community of Harrogate, but there's actually a small village right next to the base called Otley. Every year, there's a folk festival in Otley right under the Menwith radomes. Last year, Bella Hardy sang one of my favorite carols there, "Down In Yon Forest":



The eighth gift comes from my wonderful friends in San Jose, Bev Barnett and Greg Newlon, and their original Christmas song, "Forget About Me":



The ninth gift is the MCLA Women's Chorus in MA singing the traditional carol, "Past 3 O'Clock":



The tenth is the last bonus, also shot Dec. 19 - Oh Starling singing "Baby It's Cold Outside":



The eleventh gift is one of my favorite views of Jesus, courtesy of Jackson Browne and The Chieftains:



Finally, we end with a special Christmas-night song from Low, the same band who started us off, singing about "One Special Gift" - after all of the money has been spent on loved ones, there'll be just enough left for one special gift, for one special guest:



Remember the season all year round, and remember Jack Rose and Vic Chesnutt as we leave 2009.