In early 2017, Scott McCaughey penned a few holiday numbers to submit to a well-known artist’s prospective holiday album. He became so inspired by the task that he wrote more than an album’s worth of material and decided to record that album with his group, The Minus 5, which for this project includes Minus 5 co-captain Peter Buck and drummer Joe Adragna as core members.
“I wanted to evoke the classic Christmas album feeling without leaning too heavily on sweet baby Jesus and good ol’ Little St. Nick,” says McCaughey. “Yet I also wanted to curb my cynical tendencies as well. I feel we succeeded on both counts, and the results are a holiday record that should work for any and all.”
The resulting album, Dear December, brings holiday cheer and a fresh batch of seasonal songs that include the generous talents of Benjamin Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), Mike Mills, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer of the Posies, Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), Chuck Prophet, M. Ward, Tammy Ealom (Dressy Bessy), Kurt Bloch, Kelly Hogan and Nora O’Connor.
We’ve got “Dear December” in-stock now, including a few copies of the special Black Friday editions that come with built-in advent calendars!