An Indie Rock Christmas with Gareth Jones

The British Cherryade Records has been indie in concept and practice for more than 15 years. For much of that time, it has released a yearly Christmas compilation, A Very Cherry Christmas, which is only released in limited quantities and predominantly as physical objects. Cherryade's Bandcamp page features links to their Christmas comps dating back to 2005, but the CDs have long since sold out and only a few tracks from each one are available to stream or download. 

In 2020, Cherryade released an EP, not a full album, because they weren't sure they could get the CDs made, much less that artists could record songs during the pandemic. It is available for download in its entirety with proceeds going to The Music Venue Trust, a non-profit helping indie music venues survive the shutdown that accompanied the pandemic. 

Christmas music collector and DJ Gareth Jones talks today about the story behind the 2020 EP, the series, and the way indie rock does (or doesn't) sound like Christmas. Jones also posted a three-hour mix of indie rock Christmas music on Mixcloud.

This week, we also highlight one of our favorite Christmas albums, Christmas Cookin' by organ player Jimmy Smith.  

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