Wednesday, November 26, 2008

"Always Believe"

"You have to believe to receive," was all I ever heard when asking about Santa. Christmas Eve was the big night in our house, growing up. The fancy china, Waterford crystal and long stemmed red candles would appear on the table, for our special family dinner. After dinner, our house would fill up with music, friends and family. Inevitably, the dinner table would clear and the cards would come out, for a game of 25.

I have only seen the card game, "25" played in Irish households. Growing up, we learned how to play and it has been a family tradition ever since. It has also been the cause of many an argument, especially between my Dad and Uncles, over "poor card playing!"

Christmas Eve would not be complete without heading into the Bronx. We would load up a car or two and the "Jersey gang" would head into Sam Maguires! I can recall many great Christmas eves there, singing and dancing the night away. There may have even been a few Santa sightings leaving Sam's...or maybe it was just an over indulgence in holiday cheer!

All these memories and thoughts were put down on paper as Patrick and I started writing, "Always Believe." It was late September and on a whim, we decided to write a Christmas song. One of our goals was to write the song without saying "Christmas." Once we had the lyrics and a melody, it seemed like the parts just fell into place. Frankie came up with the opening hook and John and Kenny played just the right parts to make it sound like Celtic Cross. Within the month, we were in the studio recording.

While in the recording studio, we thought a tin whistle would really add to the song. Ken's 10-year-old son, Kenny Vesey, was more than willing to take a 1/2 day of school to come in and play the tin whistle part for us. He is an amazing talent and was able to play his part in one take. The same week he made is recording debut with Celtic Cross, Kenny was asked to share the stage with Eileen Ivers during her upcoming Christmas concert in Ramsey, NJ, this December. Wow...what a week!



So here it is, "Always Believe!"

Merry Christmas to you!
Cheers-Kathleen

For more information on how to play the card game 25, check-out: http://www.ehow.com/how_4523518_play-card-game-25.html 

No comments: