'Tis
the season for Christmas carols, festive parties and exchanging gifts,
and bestselling recording artist Jim Brickman is no stranger to any of
the three. Ever since his song “The Gift” became a huge holiday
hit, people have made his holiday music as much a part of their
Christmas celebration as Jingle Bells and boughs of holly. For over a
decade, his holiday concerts have been festive musical homecomings for
a growing number of fans of the dynamic composer, radio personality and
concert headliner.
But
it is in the sharing – the onstage exchanging of musical talent both
fresh and familiar – where the Gold and Platinum selling artist
captures the very essence of the significant role music plays in so
many lives. The warmth and intimacy of Brickman’s holiday concerts have
been compared to a gathering of friends and family that resonates with
true Christmas spirit. Listening is like coming home.
“We
celebrate the feeling of home and family by creating a warm, inviting
family environment onstage, then sharing that with our audience,”
Brickman says of the holiday tour.
Homecoming
is Jim’s aptly titled newest holiday album and also the theme for his
2007 holiday concert tour, where he shares the
spotlight with gifted
violinist David Klinkenberg, Emmy award-winning
songwriter Victoria Shaw, and Richie McDonald, the former lead singer
and songwriter behind one of America’s most successful country bands,
Lonestar. The three will perform with
Brickman on Wednesday, November 28, at the Washington Pavilion in Sioux
Falls, SD, before heading on to the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, WI,
on the 29th and the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, IN, November
30th.
As
the voice of Lonestar, McDonald launched such huge hits as “Amazed,”
“My Front Porch Looking In” and the song that’s become a special
favorite of the U.S. Military and their families at home, “I’m Already
There.”
McDonald
also is the voice behind “Coming Home for Christmas,” a beautiful song
on Brickman’s new Homecoming
CD. The CD is filled with “Brickmanized” holiday favorites as well as
other soon-to-be classics like “I Heard the Bells” (featuring Anne
Cochran and Peter White) and a very special holiday performance of the
late Gerald Levert’s “My Angel.” David Klinkenberg and Tracy Silverman
also make special guest appearances on the Homecoming
album.
"I’ve
always been a huge fan of Richie’s work,” said Brickman, who not only
invited McDonald to co-write the song, but also to kick off his solo
career by joining him on the holiday tour this year. “Our
audiences share a lot of joyful spirit with us, and it becomes such a
positive, rewarding family experience. It’s a return to the
simple traditions of the season, with great music and camaraderie.”
Each
year, as more and more people and fans have discovered the Jim Brickman
holiday magic, his name has become synonymous with new holiday classics
and brilliant interpretations of beloved carols. Another of his songs,
“Sending You A Little Christmas,” also has become a holiday standard.
All
of Jim Brickman’s Christmas concerts are special homecomings: for
himself, his musical guest artists, and the thousands of audience
members who return year after year to experience the spirit of the
season in an evening of magical music.
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