Documentary filmmaker Mitchell Kezin released the movie Jingle Bell Rocks! in 2013. In it, he focused on the human side of Christmas music, whether with the musicians who make the music--much the same way we do on 12 Songs--or by talking to collectors about the music they're passionate about. Last year, I talked to Kezin about the movie and his Christmas music collection, and ran part of the conversation during the holiday season.
This week, I'm running a longer, more complete version of that conversation, where we talk about collecting, the song that got him started on Christmas music, and the lengths he went to get one of the interviews for Jingle Bell Rocks.
Right now, Kezin is at work on his 2023 "Merry Mix," the name he gave to his series of Christmas music compilations. You can get a hold of Kezin and see the songs he has used on previous compilations dating back to 1998. It's a dizzying compendium of songs you don't know by artists you haven't heard of, but they're consistently entertaining.
Letters to Cleo
Kishi Bashi and The Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling"
Debbie Davis
Josh Rouse
An Encore Presentation of The Minus 5
Isaac Hanson of Hanson
Christmas Compilations with Joe Adragna of The Junior League
The 12 Songs of Christmas with Nelson
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" with The Ornaments and Joel Dinerstein
Erin McKeown
An Encore Presentation with Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini
JD McPherson
The All-Christmas Radio Format
Los Lobos' Steve Berlin
Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime"
An Encore Presentation with Jimbo Mathus of the Squrrel Nut Zippers
Can Christmas Songs Be Cool?
Jon Langford
Chuck Mead
Tav Falco of Panther Burns
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