Christmas album and artwork from April Verch and Joe Newberry

Photo by Thomas Beck; artwork by Martha Kelly

April Verch (CAN) and Joe Newberry (USA) have played separately in Ireland in the past - April touring several times with her own band, and Joe as a member of Big Medicine - but not yet as a duo, though they have been performing together in this format for a long time. The chemistry of this combination can be felt from the twenty-eight videos on their YouTube playlist. Their first album together, Going home, was warmly received.

April and Joe have now completed an eleven-track Christmas album, On this Christmas day, scheduled for release on 3 December 2021 on Slab Town Records. April describes it as a 'holiday folk album [...] full of heartwarming originals, fiddle & banjo duets, and deeply rooted traditional material Joe and I have been performing live on holiday tours for a number of years.' A live performance of the title track can be seen on YouTube.

From today (3 Nov.) the album can be pre-ordered/ pre-saved.
Note: April and Joe decided that it should not take the form of a physical CD; instead, they worked with Memphis artist Martha Kelly to create the beautiful, frameable winter scene shown above, with information about the project and a download code on the back. Frames will be available for sale, so that fans can have a framed piece of art for their own walls or to give as a present.

© Richard Hawkins