The story behind the song, by Naomi LaViolette

One of the holiday traditions in my family is singing Christmas carols around the dinner table. I usually use the guitar to accompany us, because it's much easier to bring up to the table than a piano! My husband told me how much he enjoyed my guitar playing, and he encouraged me to write and record more songs using the guitar. Piano is my primary instrument, and I’ve never thought of myself as much of a guitar player… more campfire-style than professional. But I decided to take him up on it, and for this Christmas, recorded our family’s favorite Advent carol to sing at the table, "O Come, O Come Emmanuel." There's something special about this historic antiphon - the haunting minor key, the yearning, the expectation. It's important to me that my recordings are spiritually inclusive, and I believe this one fits the bill. The lyrics show a connection between Judaism and Christianity, but also a universal desire for peace, life, renewal, and hope.

“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” releases on December 21, 2019, the night of the winter solstice. It’s our darkest, longest night of the year, and the days that follow reveal more light. I hope this recording inspires us all to become more comfortable with darkness, and reflect on the joy and hope of the holiday season.

The artwork to accompany “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” features a photograph taken at Trillium Lake in Oregon by Loyd Towe, a nature photographer living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

This nighttime photo was captured during a new moon. Check out those stars! Stargazing always makes me feel connected to the ancients and wonderfully small. I believe it’s one of the few things that humans of all generations, origins and walks of life can connect on - the stars are amazing.

Although “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is a Christmas song, I didn’t want to use overtly Christmas-y artwork. Instead, I wanted an image that conveyed both darkness AND hope, and this photo fits the bill perfectly. And I just LOVE that it focuses on a Portland landmark, Mt. Hood. I’m a true Oregonian.

See more of Loyd’s beautiful photography at loydtowe.com.

It brings me so much joy to feature talented visual artists alongside my songs. Thank you, thank you, to Loyd!

Finally, for any of you curious about my creative process, I thought I’d share a few notes about the composition of this song and musical choices in the writing, arrangement, and recording.

At the recording studio, guitar in hand, I played through the carol in 6/8 time (it’s usually in 4/4). I added some unexpected pauses in the vocal line, and adapted the lyrics to be as gender and spiritually inclusive as I could make them, while still honoring the original carol. My good friend and guitarist Tim Karplus went along with my ideas, and we worked together to create the track. It’s a combination of acoustic instruments - guitar, tambourine, glockenspiel, shaker and drums - with a very present electric guitar, both with finger-picking and ambient swells, and electric bass. My hope is that the electronic elements make it dark, spacey and other-worldly, but sounds like the tambourine keep it Christmas-y.

Thank you for your interest in my musical work. It means so much to me to share it with you. May music and the holiday season help us all feel more connected.