Hark The Herald Angel Sings

Having enjoyed Kith & Kin as the opener for the wonderful The Weather Station show at The Dakota, I decided to attend their annual Christmas wassail on Sunday night. It was at the Music Gallery, a more than appropriate venue since it was a church. The evening didn't start out great though, as the sold-out audience was crammed into the small reception area. With the doors not opened until 15 minutes before the 8 pm show, people were sweating and growing impatient, and several older couples seriously considered leaving. Some goodwill was restored when we finally walked through, to be serenaded with a "welcome song" by tonight's performers standing in two rows along the corridor.

The first set comprised of Kith & Kin, a trio of women who sang traditional Christmas carols (referred wryly as the "Jesus suite") as well as seasonal songs including a few drinking ballads. They were joined by some friends to add banjo, guitar, or other voices. Then we were treated to a troupe of young mummers. These children and teens acted out in rhyming couplets a story about the children of a hard-working couple who were tempted away from the "Green Knight" (who offered simple fun like playing outside) and a figure in red with horns and gold chains who supplied "better" toys such as action figures, dolls, and portable video games. Of course, everybody learned a valuable lesson at the end about the meaning of Christmas.

The second set had Kith & Kin as part of a larger 8-member choir. They followed a tradition of singing (or rather music notation) called shape-note. Perhaps to introduce the audience to this method, most songs began with the melody sung with musical notes (e.g., sol, fa, do) before the first verse. Since there isn't much arrangement in this vein anymore, the songs were older pieces, almost they did showcase two recent compositions. The music ranged from the British Isles (including Scotland and Ireland) to the Appalachians and the American Mid-West. I was particularly taken with a song based on an Armenian folk tune with its touch of Middle-East tones. The crowd was encouraged to join in on two wassails before the trio ended the night with Cool As Day as an encore.