String of Pearls, with Rhiannon Giddens and Laurelyn Dossett from Laurelyn Dossett on Vimeo.

We filmed this in my backyard on one of those warmer fall nights in North Carolina. You can still hear the cicadas in the background.

Special thanks to Harvey Robinson and Carolyn deBerry who came over for some gumbo that night, and brought their cameras and talent (psst … save the monkeywhale).

And please, join us for the last show of 2011 in New York City. Gather your friends and family and join us.

Saturday, December 17 in New York, NY
Roots/Americana Holiday Concert at the Winery with Laurelyn, Rhiannon, Joe, Mike and Jason for one night only.
New York, NY
citywinery.com
Order tickets and reserve your seat

Photo by Justin Catanoso

“Here was no bland, generic ‘happy holidays’ observance, but a full-throated celebration of the upcoming Christmas season.” Paul D. Williams

CVNC reviews “A Carolina Christmas” with “The Gathering” debut.

Album reviews are in for “The Gathering” recording of the string band featuring myself, Rhiannon, Joe, Mike, and Jason. And they’ve all got me seeing stars.

Purchase “The Gathering” online

“It’s what the holidays were before shopping and Irving Berlin.”
Wall Street Journal

“They bring a breath of fresh, pine-scented air to an intensely crowded field.”
3 stars
Los Angeles Times

“A goosebump inducing ‘O Holy Night,’ stripped down to just standup bass and voice, is alone worth the price, but this classy offering is a much needed alternative to the typically overwrought fare that clogs the season’s racks.”
4 stars
American Songwriter Magazine

“It’s a fresh approach to wintry music, with mountain-music instrumentation and crystalline harmonies.”
4 1/2 stars
San Antonio Express News

“Collections of Appalachian holiday tunes have come along before, but one of the finest is now ‘The Gathering,’”
4 1/2 stars
Chicago Sun-Times

Jason Sypher and Rhiannon Gidden’s “O Holy Night” featured in USA Today’s Holiday Playlist
USA Today

“This sublime folk quintet out of Raleigh, N.C., have created a holiday gem …’The Gathering’ is a must-hear for stringband aficionados.”
Press Citizen

“If it’s one and done, this quintet made it count for this Yuletide and for Yuletides yet to come.”
The Bluegrass Special

“Perfect with a glass of bourbon.”
Jazz Wax

photo by galessa

I heard an interview this morning on the Diane Rehm show. Guest Diane Keaton was talking about her love for music; how she couldn’t play music in her own house because the effect on her was often too intense, too overwhelming.

“Don’t you think?” Keaton asked Rehm, sounding more than ever like Annie Hall.

“I love to listen to it in my car,” Rehm answered.

Listen for songs from “The Gathering” CD on WUNC’s Backporch Music and WNCW’s This Old Porch.
Rhiannon and Laurelyn will be on WUNC’s The State of Things on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at noon.
Laurelyn’s interview with David Ford will air on WFDD on Wednesday, Nov. 23  at 8:50 am.

From a photoshoot with the NC Symphony.

I am laughing because the North Carolina Symphony conductor, Grant Llewellyn, has just joked that I am about to stand there and sing The Gathering with the orchestra for our first rehearsal.

He had the last laugh, he wasn’t joking!

It’s really happening. And tickets are going fast. So please, if you plan to come, order your tickets now. There will be sniffles and laughter, predominately.

Symphony world premier of “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs” November 25 and 26.
Order tickets online.

Triad Stage performance of music from Beautiful Star and The Gathering, featuring The Gathering string band December 6 at 8 pm.
Tickets available online.

The Gathering string band

It wasn’t too long ago that Rhiannon and I first worked together at Triad Stage. She was one of the holiday singers in “Beautiful Star,” one of the Appalachian music-with-play projects I co-wrote with Preston Lane. For me, her take on “O, Holy Night” changed that song forever.

We’ll share the stage together again when “The Gathering” string band performs there Tuesday, December 6 at 8 pm. This special show is a string-band only performance by “The Gathering” band featuring Rhiannon, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, Jason Sypher and myself.

We’ll play some songs from the record, which includes a special version of Rhiannon singing “O, Holy Night,” and I think we can reprise a version at Triad Stage … for old times sake.

Tickets are available now. And thank you sweetly, in advance. Just remember to unwrap that hard candy before you head into the theater.

A Winter Concert at Triad Stage
8 pm December 6 at Triad Stage, Greensboro NC
Buy Tickets

The Gathering record
Available now on CD Baby
Buy now

World premier of “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs”
November 25 and 26
Buy Tickets

Atlanta Metromix

Buy the record

Also available on: Amazon | CD Baby | iTunes

From my front porch, I can almost see the downtown pharmacy where William Sydney Porter (pen name, O. Henry) worked at his Uncle’s drug store.

The writer is among the most read authors in the world, after Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. Among his quotes:

“There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.”

This month the new arts magazine in the Piedmont – named after the Greensboro-born writer – featured a story on my new project, “The Gathering: A Winter’s Tale in Six Songs.”

If you see the free magazine around town, please pick up a copy. It’s put together by a talented group of writers, designers, and photographers in the Piedmont. It’s also a perfect sized-magazine; stays steady on your lap with a cup of coffee.

Read the article online, or pick up a copy around O. Henry’s hometown.

Saturday night was historic on a few fronts:

• One of the highest-attended PLC Land Jam benefits
• A seat buster for Carolina Theatre, too, on total number of tickets sold (around 750)
• Historic gathering of bluegrass players, including fiddler Bobby Hicks, who started playing with Bill Monroe at age 15
• East-West gathering of some of the best bluegrass players from the North Carolina and California constituencies

On a personal historic note, Scott Manring and I had a chance to open the show and preview some new songs from “The Gathering” recording. We were honored to share the stage with this group of players, singing for the Lands We Love.

Thank you to Brian Anderson for the pictures. For more information about the Piedmont Land Conservancy and upcoming events, visit the Web site.

Also, please visit “The Gathering” Kickstarter page, to learn more about the new songs we played last night, written for a special collaboration with the North Carolina Symphony.

Meantime, may you walk in the cool of the day.