Hello Everyone… Happy Holidays!

I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. I have honestly spent the last month or two struggling to get this year’s Christmas track completed. I worked on, and then scrapped several song ideas that just weren’t clicking for me. And then I decided to do something a little more traditional; I haven’t done that in several years.  Anyway, things were moving along nicely when out of the blue I started having all kinds of equipment issues. Microphones, audio interfaces, and effect modules (just to name a few) were all misbehaving… or breaking outright… and in no time flat things were not going very well at all. 

I started feeling like maybe I was losing my touch, growing deeply frustrated with the music… I considered if a person only has so many holiday tracks in them… 

and then I blink and It’s December!!  DECEMBER already?? And despite spending countless hours working around the clock, I had nothing to show for it.  Everything I did just sounded really bad to me… Sometimes creativity doesn’t show up when you want it to. 

Time was getting short and I thought seriously about giving up. I planned out the apology I would write for letting you all down.  But I am nothing if not tenacious, and my pride refused to admit defeat.  And I love all you CXS supporters and the weird criss-crossed demographics that makes up our gloriously diverse fanbase.  And so… I kept working, forgoing sleep and pretty much any reasonable semblance of normalcy…

And then yesterday… YESTERDAY… magically, miraculously… everything finally came together.  And I realized my stubbornness had paid off. I quickly completed the production and mastering on the song and was dumbstruck… I listened to it carefully… and you know what?  It’s really GOOD!  Holy Hand-grenade, ITS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!

And so dear friends, fans, and supporters, I AM PROUD TO PRESENT THIS YEARS  2025 HOLIDAY TRACK — THE FIRST NOEL — And I am happy to get this to you 10 days before Christmas, which is pretty much on par for me.

I think I did a reasonable job of staying true to the original, and yet somehow managing a fresh take on a song that’s literally hundreds of years old, and has been recorded thousands of times. There is something really exciting about overcoming real difficulty, when victory is not assured.  This song feels right… It fills me with hope and courage. The passion and fight that saw me all the way to the finish line are deeply ingrained in every note that you will hear.  Maybe this song will give you the inspiration to keep working for something you care about, and when hope is all but lost, find a way to snatch your own victory from the crushing jaws of failure.

In the beginning of the song you will hear a number of holiday greetings from the band members, as well as a few of the many individuals that help make Cruxshadows happen. I think it’s kind of a cool way for us to wish you a  wonderful holiday… and in some small way, be a part of your Christmas season.

I genuinely hope you love this track as much as I do. I don’t know how many more of these I will manage… but this year, I’m taking the win. Next year will take care of itself. Maybe in 2026 I will finally send this motley collection of holiday songs off to distribution as an album. Maybe we will print physical copies. Who knows?! 

To steal a line from last years message I have to say— making music matters. Christmas matters… and more than that, you matter. The things that bring us together are the things worth celebrating. 

So there you go, please download the song from our website, as well as any of the other annual releases from past years that you might have missed. (And we still have some of our non christmas songs available for download on the website too— explore the menu and you’ll find ‘em… just sayin’)  And don’t forget to spread the word… with this small window of timeliness, we are relying on YOU to help us get the word out quickly!

The CXS holiday songs are available for download to everyone as donation-ware (when acquired directly from our website)— meaning that the new song and past tracks are presented in a pay what you like, paywall-free, no strings attached arrangement. We simply trust you to pay us what it’s worth to you… In other words, most people download the song for FREE and a handful of our most loyal supporters actually make a donation, and help keep Cruxshadows moving forward. Whatever your situation may be, it is my sincerest wish that this song brings you and those you care about, some little piece of joy this holiday season. Happy Christmas, have a brilliant next few weeks, in whatever way you celebrate. Thank you for your enduring support. 

Live Love Be Believe.