New York, NY (Top40 Charts) On November 13th, husband and wife duo Jon &
Valerie Guerra will release their first-ever full length holiday album It's
Almost Christmas via Descendent Records (The Lone Bellow, Colony House).
Today, Elmore Magazine premiered "It's Beginning To Feel Like Christmas" and said, "Jon and Valerie's new song is likely to find its way into your Christmas tradition... For everyone who has skipped right on past witches and ghosts, is looking beyond the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce and already has peppermint, tinsel and pine on the brain, Jon and
Valerie Guerra will fill that happy, Christmas-ready part of your heart."
Stream the track here:
In November 2011, the newlywed couple realized buying gifts for family and friends would practically be impossible due to their starving artist status. This Chicago-based couple recorded an EP that they posted online in hopes to raise funds to purchase gifts. As the EP was so well received, it became a tradition for the couple. After four years, they had collected enough songs to create It's
Almost Christmas, a lovely collection of 11 holiday songs.
"Ultimately, we wanted a sense of 'home' to come across in the music and something for our family outside
Chicago and our friends who moved away after college," recalls singer/guitar/piano player Jon of the couple's first ever cut, "It's
Almost Christmas, Chicago," complete with references to the howl of passing trains, Macy's world famous windows, and the Christkindlmarket. "We left all the idiosyncratic sound from our apartment in the recording, from creaking floors and a barking dog, and the concept kind of developed from that. I think the holidays can also be a lonely time for people, but there's something about holiday music that is very heartwarming. If we can invite people into our living room for a song sing-a-long, then mission accomplished."
Jon and
Valerie Guerra's It's
Almost Christmas throws a hat in the ring of old-meets-new, heartwarming Christmas tunes with sentimental original and traditional songs, all recorded in the living room of that same one-bedroom
Chicago apartment where it began.
Valerie explains, "The project took on a life of its own, and it's literally been me, Jon and a couple of close friends - no session players or producers - which adds to the sentimental, homespun feeling."
The couple will be joining
Amy Grant and hubby
Vince Gill at the historic Ryman in Nashville this December to perform their songs from It's
Almost Christmas.
"We're not trying to make new Christmas music… we're trying to make something that makes Christmas music feel new," concludes Jon.
Tour Dates:
12/2: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/3: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/9: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/10: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/16: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/17: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/22: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
12/23: Nashville, TN - The Ryman Auditorium
www.facebook.com/jonandvalerieguerra
www.jonguerramusic.com
