Sometimes you just have to go for it. Admittedly motivated by ticketed friends who decided to bag it, we took the wintry ride to Ashland Friday night to savor a John Cowan Christmas. "The Voice" has just released his first seasonal CD Comfort and Joy and the band had braved I-40, 81 and 64 from Nashville to make the gig. Although they started an hour late, the intrepid crowd was treated to one extended set of what we'd come for...tasteful new arrangements of "The Christmas Song," Stevie Wonder's "Christmas Everyday," and even "Ave Maria" with reverence and power. And they offered other non-seasonal treats too, like Tim O'Brien's "Hold To A Dream" and Jeff Autry's cool "East Meets Wes," an instrumental tribute to jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery. Those of us who love this music are indebted to the players who sacrifice the comforts of home and family, especially at this time of year to take on the challenges of making it to the next show, whatever the weather, uncertain of their paychecks dependent on who shows up, but still making the scene and giving it their all. It's not all glitz and glamour. It takes lots of guts too. And we're grateful.
Just a few acknowledgments of recent magic moments, in reverse order...back to Thursday night at the magnificently reborn Carpenter Theatre at CenterStage where the 
Monday was my last black tie night of the year, for which I'm always relieved, but for good purpose as host of the Richmond Pops Band's annual holiday concert at the Landmark with the perfectly polished harmonies of the Richmond Choral Society. Joe Simpkins rehearses the band and my friend Markus Compton directs the choir to such a stirring result that the nearly full house erupted in multiple standing ovations including one of the longest I've ever witnessed for guest soloists Sgts. 1st Class Stephen Cramer and Leigh Ann Hinton from the U.S. Army Chorus and their medley from Phantom of the Opera. A stunningly beautiful show stopper.
The day before, Saturday the 12th, started with a delightful session at Bruce and Adrian Olsen's northside SounDog studios which for a few magical hours became Page Wilson's Chickahominy Swamp kitchen for some around-the-table live tunes from singer-songwriter Chip Taylor (who penned "Angel of the Morning" and the Troggs' "Wild Thing") with longtime guitarist friend John Platania (who toured with Van Morrison and Randy Newman) and the young and gifted 
And we topped off that Saturday with a moving Christmas concert with the combined choirs of St. Giles Presbyterian and the Good Shepherd and Trinity Baptist Churches with guest saxophonist James "Saxsmo" Gates. There were many highlights over the two-plus hours including Dr. Mel Dowdy's Lightfoot-like take on James Taylor's "In the Bleak Mid-Winter" and Audrey Brown Burton's soaring "Rockin' in Jerusalem." It got the Christmas season off on the proper foot for me and proved symbolic of the ongoing effort to find the common ground we all yearn for. Again, shared music is the key. As another Tim famously said in old London town many years ago, "God bless us, every one."
TT
