Music Road: Almost Christmas: Del Suggs and friends

It’s almost Christmas -- and in north Florida that means the continuation of two decades of music making by Del Suggs and friends. Those talented friends include songwriters, singers, and players Mimi Hearn, Pierce Pettis, Danica Winter, Jerry Thigpen, David Murphy, and Pete Winter, and often a guest or two as well. Suggs is known for his Jimmy Buffet meets James Taylor style of laid back music, infused with a tang of Gulf Coast flavor, and that runs through the carols and new and old holiday songs shared at the concert, too.

This year, the trou

pe gathered at the Warehouse in Tallahassee over two evenings in early December to share We Three Kings reinvented with rockin’ rhythm and ukulele, a handful of Pettis originals including Miriam, his song about Mary as a saint and as a young Hebrew girl, Danica Winter’s classy pop ballad Santa Bring Me Love, and Hearn’s powerful take on Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. The musicians had good seasonal fun through a whole evening of carols and seasonal standards, and closed things out with that southern roots rock classic of a holiday song, Cadillac of a Woman.