| Print |

Saturday, 26 November 2005 10:21

SKAGGS FAMILY: A SKAGGS FAMILY CHRISTMAS (Self-Released)

’Tis the season—yes, that season—which means that every soul nowadays exuding yuletide jollity may well find a (mis)match in some contemporary Grinch scowling down at Who-ville. In that respect, readers and potential listeners in the latter category should avoid with all their might A Skaggs Family Christmas.

A companion piece to a holiday TV special, the 13-track Skaggs Family Records release (duh) constitutes a family affair both literally and figuratively. Mainly motivating it, of course, is influential multi-instrumentalist Ricky Skaggs, joined here by his wife, Sharon, herself one of the core members of the musical Whites, and five of their kin of both genders, ranging in age from 16 to 75. Moreover, reflecting the disc’s origin in a family sing-along two years past, the septet avoids anything even approximating unorthodoxy—no covers here of the Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York,” for instance.

Rather, the Skaggs and White families present the listener with various traditionals, other standards, and similar songs, many of them reflecting the clan’s masterful background in bluegrass. If A Skaggs Family Christmas eschews iconoclasm, in that light, it by no means scants vivacity—some of these tracks, in fact, positively romp.

From that perspective, an instrumental version of the traditional “Deck the Halls” may mark the CD’s zenith; it opens with Skaggs’ impeccable mandolin, continues with solos by the members of Kentucky Thunder (his backing band), and concludes with all of the players joining in a bravura take on the theme. Otherwise included are fine interpretations of such chestnuts as “Little Drummer Boy,” “White Christmas,” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Especially memorable: clan patriarch Buck White’s jaunty “Hangin’ Round the Mistletoe,” a sweet flashback to the days when a kiss under the sprig could still make magic.