A few of our guests from this year want to share their Christmas song favorites with all of you. I'll be featuring each one from today through Christmas Eve.
I asked the question -
What is
the one Christmas song... that when you hear it, you know the holiday season is
officially here?
I've tried to locate a video for each one.
From Craig Cummings -
Have Yourself A Merry Little
Christmas is my favorite Christmas song. It’s a beautiful song and there are so
many wonderful versions of it. Two of my favorite versions are by Etta James
and Nat King Cole. Nat is so smooth and gives that traditional feel to the song.
Etta James’ version is so bluesy and visceral…man, I love Etta James.
You can find out more about Craig Cummings by clicking on the following links:
I introduced you to Craig Cummings yesterday. Today, we're giving his new album a listen. THE GULF BETWEEN US is Craig's fifth album and if this is any indication of what the previou four were like, we are in for a real treat down the road.
Here's what Craig told us yesterday about how this album came together:
When I wrote the title song, I knew right away that the subject matter of that song was going to be the theme for an album. A light just went off! Subsequent to that I was in AZ and took a trip to the border wall to see for myself what it was about…to get a feel for it. That and some reading I did spawned the songs Momma and Me, The Southern Wall, and Like Thieves. The remaining songs were written as I asked myself, “What are some of the other things that keep people apart.” I decided failed relationships and the passing of loved ones were also major factors. All of that went into the songs on the album.
I love how a spark of an idea can ignite an inferno of possibilities.
I'm not breaking this album down by track like I normally do. What I do hope you'll hear is the amazing flow in the melody. with the gulf breeze as a backdrop, Craig takes us down to the wall, giving us a visual of what is really going on there. While I try not to get political, I am heartbroken by the single phrase in track 2- The Southern Wall, 'innocents running from the law'.
Our ancestors were once innocents just like those people looking for a better life. We are a diverse nation, we love ethnic foods - even those we think are American foods are steeping in other traditions and flavors.
Because Craig Cummings made me FEEL and to soul search, I'm tipping my hat:
You can catch up with him via the following social media links:
This week, I'm bringing an East Coast artist. Craig Cummings hails from Washington D.C.
Thanks for joining us in Kelly's Country, Craig!
Let's open the chute -
When I first saw you on the
website, I thought sure you were straight out of Texas! So how does a guy from
Baltimore come to be an artist that could have walked out of a honky tonk? Do
you have those in Baltimore?
Well, there aren’t too many
honky-tonks in Baltimore, but there are more venues you might describe that way
in the DC/Virginia area. Throughout my career I’ve played all different kinds
of music, and I have a broad palette of musical genres that I enjoy. I started
playing country/country rock music back in the 70s. Even though I dabbled in
other genres, this is where I just feel right. I took a couple of years away
from performing in the early 2000s, while my kids were growing and I was very
busy with my day job. In 2007 or so, I decided to recommit to writing and
performing and I told myself that I would move forward without any preconceived
notions about what style of music I would write. As I began furiously writing
songs at that time, it was easy to see that the country/Americana style was
what came naturally to me. Five albums later, I’m right where I want to be
stylistically. I’ve lived on the east coast my whole life, but I would have fit
right in somewhere out west. IN fact, my wife and I spend a month every year in
Tucson, AZ and I do a lot of writing there.
I love that you do songwriter
showcases and are heavily involved in songwriting organizations. When did that
start for you and why is it important to you to be a part of those avenues?
I think there is a lot to be
learned from working with and spending time with other songwriters. In these
parts, we don’t have the history and cache that Austin, Nashville, and other
centers of songwriting goodness boast. So, songwriters have to stick together
and work to be heard and seen and acknowledged for what we bring to the music
scene. These songwriting groups are a good way to do that. Plus, I love
bringing people together to make music
Both your musical influences
and your ‘Favorite CDs’ cover a wide scope of music genres. Of them, what would
you say were your three main take-aways that became a part of who you are as a
songwriter, musician and performer?
Well, I think I’d have to break
this down into 3 time periods in my life. In the 70s, I was strongly influenced
by songwriting performers like Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Gram
Parsons, and The Beatles. Through the 80s and 90s, I listened and learned a lot
from writer/performers like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Springsteen, and Tom
Petty. From about 2000 on, my influences moved to songwriters from Nashville
and Texas… writers such as Guy Clark, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Rodney
Crowell, and Townes Van Zandt. Each of these periods of influence gave a
slightly different imprint on my songwriting style. Generally, I want to write
songs that have strong lyrics, often with a first-person approach, since this
makes songs more personal for the listener. I also want to write songs that you
want to sing along with…songs that stick in your mind long after you’ve heard
them. And I want to write in an upbeat style even when I’m writing about
difficult things. I love sad, slow ballads, but I don’t record too many of
them.
You mention you began playing
in your teens. I also find you very articulate. Would you share a bit about
your education journey?
Well, I majored in education at
the University of MD because back then, if you wanted to major in music, it had
to be classical or jazz performance and composition – there were no songwriting
or music production majors like there are now in some universities. When I
graduated, I got a job immediately and just started working as a teacher while
playing music at night. I went back to school at night to get a Master’s degree
because in teaching you must continue to take classes and develop
professionally, and if I was gonna take classes I figured I might as well get
another degree. So, I got my Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.
Right before I finished my advisor convinced me to apply to the doctoral
program, assuring me I’d get in. I did, and seven years later I had my
doctorate – all while still playing music. I was a teacher for about 15 years
and an administrator for about 21 years.
Your bio mentions a love for
language. Do you speak any others besides English?
In high school I won the
Spanish award for being the best student of Spanish in the senior class. I used
to read books in Spanish and converse pretty well. These days, I can read it
fairly well, but I don’t speak it very well. I wish I was better at it.
If I’m reading your
discography correctly, The Gulf Between Us is your fifth album. How did this
album come about?
When I wrote the title song, I
knew right away that the subject matter of that song was going to be the theme
for an album. A light just went off! Subsequent to that I was in AZ and took a
trip to the border wall to see for myself what it was about…to get a feel for
it. That and some reading I did spawned the songs Momma and Me, The Southern
Wall, and Like Thieves. The remaining
songs were written as I asked myself, “What are some of the other things that
keep people apart.” I decided failed relationships and the passing of loved
ones were also major factors. All of that went into the songs on the album.
Since Road Trips and
Relationships, how do you think you’ve grown as an artist across the album
releases?
Well, most importantly, I think
I’ve become a better songwriter. I spend much more time fine-tuning my songs,
and when I write I begin with more of a purpose. I pay much more attention to
small details that can move a song from being good to great. And, I am better
at bringing the right people together to make the music I want to make, and I
have a greater understanding of what works and does not work in a recording
studio.
When fans listen to your
music, what do you hope they glean from the experience?
I hope that they find some truths in the music
that speak to them. Maybe it’s just one line in a song, maybe it’s the theme or
topic…but I just want listeners to feel something, and to appreciate the power
of music to be a positive force in their lives. In the best of all worlds,
there would be a Craig Cummings song
Tomorrow, I'll be reviewing Craig's new album. You can catch up with him via the following social media links:
