A Very Merry 12 Days of Kyle Moreland Christmas
A Very Merry Announcement
Now more than ever, we need a healthy dose of that Christmas Cheer... good thing my Band of Merrymakers are up to the task: A Very Merry 12 Days of Kyle Moreland Christmas is coming in hot…
Get those elf ears on!
12 Days ‘til Christmas: Deck the Halls
Grab the perfect amount of drums and enjoy the full on barrage of Christmas cheer as a A Very Merry 12 Days of Kyle Moreland Christmas blasts off! It's all festive, fun, holiday music from now until the big day!
Our little Christmas Concert has always tried to give a little back... and this year folks need a hand more than ever. If this video gave you a bit of joy please consider paying it forward if you have the means to donate.
This video was made possible by these amazing peeps… Thanks gang!
Here's a few orgs doing some good things in the world
11 Days ‘til Christmas: It’s Christmas! (We Just Can’t Contain It!)
Even in the worst of years… (Yes, I’m looking directly at you 2020) there is something magical about Christmastime that brings a bit of joy back into our lives. Join our merry little Christmasy Brady Bunch (AKA: The Can’t Containers) and don’t worry about holding it in… it feels good to smile for three minutes straight, doesn’t it?
Our little Christmas Concert has always tried to give something back... and this year, people need a hand more than ever. If this video gave you a bit of joy and you have the means to do so: please consider paying it forward!
Here’s the merry gang of elves that appeared in and made this video. I’m putting a humongous box of THANK YOU under each of their trees!
10 Days ‘til Christmas: Neighborhood Lightshow
One of the best traditions during the holidays is that nearly every block puts on its own little production. A million or so tiny twinkles fighting back the inevitable early dark of winter.
Grab your coat and keys and get your main squeeze next to you in the front seat (OK... pile the kids in the back as well!) The Neighborhood Lightshow is just out there waiting to put a twinkle in your eye and a warm glow in your heart!
Our little Christmas Concert has always tried to give something back... and this year, people need a hand more than ever. If this video gave you a bit of joy and you have the means to do so: please consider paying it forward!
One of the Morelands’ fave Christmas traditions is the Lightshow featured in this video. TARC's Winter Wonderland is the annual fundraiser for an organization that provides service, support and advocacy for people affected by intellectual, developmental and related disabilities.
A few of the neighbors that made this Lightshow happen! Thanks gang!
You can donate here: http://winterwonderlandtopeka.com
OR if you are in the Topeka area take your fam through a Winter Wonderland at Lake Shawnee. Open 6pm-10pm every evening through December 31!
9 Days ‘til Christmas: The 12 Instruments of Christmas
We couldn’t have a 12 Days of Christmas countdown without the 12 Days of Christmas… right?! Er… well, how bout a slight variation on the theme? Prepare yourself for a weird wacky ride!
One of the brightest silver linings to show up since having to cancel our in-person concert has been that the band is no longer limited to the folks who can be in town when it happens. In this tune, I’m thrilled to be making music (and shenanigans) with folks from the current iteration of the Christmas Concert band as well as a bunch of friends who have helped out throughout the past 15 years.
The 12 Instruments of Christmas comes to you from across the country and globe with musical gift-givers in Kansas, Texas, Florida, New York and the Netherlands!
Here’s the wackadoodles that joined in on the fun today!
Hopefully, we will be able to gather and perform together safely real soon. Check out what Save Our Stages is doing to ensure that all the great independent venues we love are still around once that happens:
Save Our Stages: https://www.saveourstages.com
8 Days ‘til Christmas: Bah Humbug!
Oof. Never has a year been SUCH a year… and perhaps you’re having a bit of a difficult time finding your Christmas spirit. Don’t sweat it! If ever there was a year in which we have collectively earned a right to let off a little grinchy steam and scrooge it up a bit… well, we are smack dab at the tail end of it.
So it’s ok to let it out: “Bah Humbug! to this year!”
Feels good, eh? Let’s add some fiery guitars and sing it together, shall we?
HUMBUGGERS! HIT IT!
Thanks to all these Humbuggers who made this video happen!
While it's all fine and good to be hostile towards this bad year... let's not be Scroogish towards our fellow humans. If you enjoyed this video please consider donating to some folks that need it this holiday season.
Here is an org committed to helping some of the world's most vulnerable populations:
7 Days ‘til Christmas: One Month A Year
In December of 2006, I worked in a coffee shop named World Cup. As a few friends and I prepped what would become the Very Merry (1st Annual) Kyle Moreland Christmas Concert it only made sense that the shop would be its home. For the first 9 years of my musical holiday tradition, World Cup is where it lived. The owners (Don and Glenda Leftwich) did anything and everything to allow it to flourish (which is the only reason the concert got big enough to need a new venue).
I'm incredibly thrilled that the Leftwichs welcomed my wife and me to record this tune after hours at World Cup.
It felt like coming home.
One Month A Year is 1 of 3 tunes I wrote for that very first Christmas Concert. Unlike the others (which became Christmas Concert fixtures) this one was only performed twice in the early years. As the concert grew, it became harder and harder for quiet little moments like this one to make their way onto the setlist.
So I'm happy to be playing this song in this place for y'all. It's a bit of a Christmas Concert walk down memory lane.
The song asks a simple question that many of us feel around this time: why can't these good parts of Christmas remain? Why do they fade so fast? What is it about cheer and goodwill that makes them so hard to sustain as the winter drags on?
After all these years I still don't have an answer to the question, but I feel like it's important to keep asking it. If only to remind myself that these good things are possible and that I'm responsible for carrying them into the cold dark months as best I can.
This winter is going to be brutal for everyone... but those of us suffering from mental health issues will be hit extra hard. The pandemic will amplify any existing problems as the cold and the isolation bears down. Please be extra aware of the folks in your life who may need you in the coming months.
If you enjoyed this video please consider making a donation to the National Alliance on Mental Health: NAMI: https://nami.org/Home
6 Days ‘til Christmas: Winter Wonderland
It doesn't look like there will be any snow for Christmas this year up in our neck of the woods... but this band of Merrymakers would never let a little technicality come between us and some wintery fun!
Grab every scarf in the house and a few indoor snowballs... oh, and prepare your loudest and most enthusiastic "Hey! Hey!"
Cause snow or no: We are gonna be walkin' in a Winter Wonderland!
If you've enjoyed any of our videos we hope that you will pay it forward and consider donating to an organization that is doing good work and helping out our fellow man. Here's one we support:
TARC's Winter Wonderland is the annual fundraiser for an organization that provides service, support and advocacy for people affected by intellectual, developmental and related disabilities in the Topeka area.
You can donate here: http://winterwonderlandtopeka.com OR if you are in the Topeka area take your fam through their annual lightshow: Winter Wonderland at Lake Shawnee. Open 6pm-10pm every evening through December 31!
5 Days ‘til Christmas: The Friendly Beasts
An annual highlight of the Kyle Moreland Christmas Concert has always been a gathering of the kind-hearted beasts from that lowly stable in Bethlehem so long ago.
I knew tracking down all these animals for our virtual Christmas Countdown was going to be a difficult task... BUT, thanks to my pal Casey and her magic foldable stable (and a little help from the good folks at the United States Postal Service) we were able to round up all these majestic creatures in one "spot" to serenade you with their lovely Christmas lullaby. Enjoy!
Look at all these fabulous critters!
If you've enjoyed our videos this holiday season, please consider passing some of that goodness along and donating something to an organization doing good things in the crazy mixed up world.
In honor of our Friendly Beasts, I'd like to shine a spotlight on the Helping Hands Humane Society. Check them out and consider helping them continue to find Topeka-area critters their perfect forever-home.
4 Days ‘til Christmas: We 3 Kings
Stop! Camel Time!
The whole Christmas Concert Band is back in full force bringing you our traditional 2nd act opener. (Which is anything but traditional!)
No need to make it weird... we went ahead and took care of that for ya! Would it really be a pandemic project without a healthy dose of weird?
So. Many. Camels.
If you enjoyed this video please consider donating to some folks that need it this holiday season. Here is an org committed to helping some of the world's most vulnerable populations:
International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org
3 Days ‘til Christmas: Joy To The World
Remember holiday parties? No? Me either… that seems like a lifetime ago.
Let’s take a time machine back to when we could safely get together and drink and be merry. We’ve dug into our archives and come across a rare gem. A couple of years ago, one of our side-bands was invited to fill in last minute as entertainment for the Christmas party of the prestigious (and somewhat stuffy) organization: S.K.C.A.T.
Let’s just say… it didn’t go as well as it could have. BUT the band sounded great. Enjoy this unique arrangement of the classic Christmas tune: Joy to the World.
They love us! They really love us!
If you’d enjoyed our videos we hope that you consider giving a little something back to an organization that is doing good things for the world. Like this one:
The Topeka Doula Project is amazing. Founded and run by Juliet Swedlund (a long-time uber-friend of our little Christmas Concert). Check out the good work they are doing to support Topeka mothers throughout pregnancy and childbirth.
2 Days ‘til Christmas: Best Time of the Year
Get ready for a visit from the Ghosts of Christmas Concerts Past!
It's hard to deny that nostalgia and tradition play a big part of making Christmastime the magical season that it is.
In 2015, I begrudgingly sought out a new venue for the Christmas Concert. I had kept it at World Cup several years after we had outgrown the space (Traditions! Nostalgia!) and it was time to open it up and let more people experience it... without feeling packed in like a sardine.
I remember stammering through a meeting with Jenny Torrence to discuss using Serendipity for our new concert space. I have always had trouble truly putting the right words to this Concert. It's always felt like it's own special thing and I feel like I do a poor job of getting that across. Nevertheless, she welcomed my rag tag elf crew with open arms into her world and gave our little event a new home with room to grow. (And we started making new traditions and memories).
Thank you to Jenny and her team for everything!
I'm happy we got to come out and shoot this video in the Concert's current home. Though it was sad to see Serendipity and know that for almost a year, it (along with thousands of other similar venues) has stood empty waiting for a safer time.
Waiting for a safer time... just like all of us.
Nevertheless, this season is still the Best Time of the Year... even in a year where nothing is good. Hold onto that notion and let some of that patented Christmas nostalgia do what it does best...
If you've enjoyed these videos please consider passing the spark along and donating to an organization that's doing good things in this world
For over a decade, our little concert has given all proceeds to the Topeka Rescue Mission. They are on the front lines of helping people when they need it most. Consider giving a donation to support the work they do.
1 Day ‘til Christmas: Christmas Glow
Countdowns always reach their end…
And (with this one anyhow) that’s a very good thing: it means that big special day is knockin’ on the front door ready to come in…
But it’s arrival is undoubtedly a little bittersweet.
Christmas will feel quite a bit different this year. (Hopefully) you are choosing to be safe even though that means having less of the ones you love near you. It will hurt in the short term but the risks are far worse.
And Christmas is still Christmas even when it feels a bit weird and different. You will find ways to make the holiday feel right. It’s what we did with this project. Our Concert didn’t happen this year (atleast not how we are used to) but that Christmas Magic that I feel every year at the show was still here and very much alive.
In a year where finding the Christmas Spirit was bound to be difficult (if not next to impossible!), I hope our little videos helped you out. I hope they were a little bit of light in the darkness, some warmth in the cold and a spot of hope in all this chaos and uncertainty.
Cause, what is Christmas if not that little light in the dark. Whether for you it’s the twinkley lights on your neighbor’s eaves or the Great Conjunction shining far out in the night sky…
What is Christmas if not the sustaining thought of a toasty fireplace and a mug of something warm as you trudge through the coldest and longest nights of the year…
What is Christmas if it’s not the hope that remains even in the worst of situations…
From the bottom of my heart… THANK YOU
Christmas is that little Glow that we embrace every year. Usually it’s gone as soon as it happens… but this year we need it more than ever. Grab it. Hold it. Take it with you into this new year. We’re headed out of the dark but we aren’t there yet.
We will need plenty of Christmas Glow before this is finished.
If you’ve enjoyed our videos please find an organization doing good things for the world and give them some support. Here are all the orgs that we have spotlighted during this project.
Center for Safety & Empowerment - YWCA NE Kansas: https://www.ywcaneks.org/get-involved/donate/
Helping Hands Humane Society: http://www.hhhstopeka.org/donate/donate-online/
International Rescue Committee: https://www.rescue.org
National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://nami.org/Home
Save Our Stages: https://www.saveourstages.com
TARC’s Winter Wonderland: http://winterwonderlandtopeka.com
Topeka Doula Project: https://www.topekadoula.org/donate
Topeka Rescue Mission: https://www.trmonline.org/about/ways-to-give