Another Fine Winter's Night: Matt & Shannon Heaton

Music from the 12th century to the 21st filled the air as Matt and Shannon Heaton brought their mix of new and traditional holiday music to Club Passim in Cambridge, Massachusetts last week. Opening with the familiar carol It Came Upon the Midnight Clear and closing with a set that mixed Irish music and Elvis, it was a seasonal celebration well enjoyed by performers and audience alike.









The pair offered music from their holiday album Fine Winter’s Night, including the title track, an original by Shannon which invited thinking about the meditative quality of the season. First Snowfall of December is a song Matt wrote, painting a picture of a Christmas encounter in Boston in an earlier time. There were jigs and reels as well, including a set enlivened by the addition of dancer Nick Gariess. The gentle Julius the Christmas Cat paid tribute to an often unsung Christmas hero, while Fisherman’s Lullaby was an uplifting song of hope mixing African American and Irish traditions. The Wexford Carol reaches across time to Ireland in the twelfth century. Scottish songwriter Emily Smith’s Winter Song paired with an instrumental take on In the Bleak Midwinter proved a fine addition to this year’s concert. Then there was the Elvis connection -- Blue Christmas reinvented --as a lively closer



A fine winter’s night indeed. The Heatons are home from their holiday concert tour now, but if you couldn’t make one of the shows, there’s still the recording. It’s one of those seasonal albums that holds resonance long beyond the holiday, too.

more about the album here
Music Road: Matt & Shannon Heaton: Fine Winter's Night



and here is a video of another new song added this year, Matt's Christmas Eve with You which you will find on Matt's children's album Snow Day



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Music Road: 6 of the best Christmas Songs

Music Road: Shannon Heaton: Oil for the Chain

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