Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Santa Cruz, CA's Father/Daughter Alt-Country Duo WILD & BLUE String Up Some “Holiday Lights”

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Santa Cruz, CA's Father/Daughter Alt-Country Duo WILD & BLUE String Up Some “Holiday Lights”
Steve and April Bennett
Fri Dec 18, 2020
Cashbox Canada

Father/Daughter duo that is Steve and April Bennett string up some “Holiday Lights” this season with their newly released Christmas song — available now!

As Wild & Blue, the Bennett’s take the time-honoured tradition of family harmony into inspirational and new territory; theirs is a musical partnership deeply rooted in country music’s tradition, yet firmly contemporary in its emotionally charged lyrical offerings and genre-blending approach.

There’s a debut full-length on the horizon; Restless is set for release in early 2021. In the meantime, “Holiday Lights” radiates with exuberant joy thanks to April’s timeless take-notice vox and the song’s decidedly uplifting vibe.

Check out “Holidays Lights” here:

“The song and arrangement were inspired by the great Sam Cooke, who is one of our heroes, and also the spirit of the many vintage holiday classics,” the pair share. “It’s also inspired by the years that Wild & Blue have played 42 one-hour shows a season on a vintage and actually-moving train — the Santa Cruz Holiday Lights Train for Roaring Camp Railroads and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.”

“I wrote this song while stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic,” Steve recalls, who also arranged and produced the single. “And we recorded the song in the Fall of 2019 while we were tracking our album.”

“My dad originally sang the lead on it but caught a bad cold, so I took over,” April recalls.

“And I was happy to pass the baton,” Steve shares of April’s take on the track. “We recorded the piano part on location with Max Bennett-Parker, and used a $100,000 Steinway Concert Grand in the music department of the Monterey Peninsula Community College where one of our engineers, Richard Bryant, is a Recording Arts Professor.”

With Steve known for penning insightful, personal lyrics and April singing them with an arresting urgency that signals “classic-in-the-making,” the California-based father and daughter duo dubbed themselves Wild & Blue in honour of John Scott Sherrill’s long-lauded song of the same name.

They’ve been singing together for live audiences since April was a toddler, and their collaborative efforts prove well-pursued on the forthcoming release.

“I think we’re rooted in vintage soul and R&B as much as we’re rooted in country,” Steve offers. “That feeling, like the vibe of Elvis’ 60s Memphis recordings, or Dobie Gray’s country records, is something we really love and work really hard to convey.”

“We’re both musical history buffs,” April adds. “I’ve always been in love with music that was created before I was born; the music I listened to as a kid were artists like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, and Roger Miller… It spoke to me.

“We’re both very emotional people, and I personally can’t sing anything I don’t feel. Ready for the sentiment to be shared, audiences can now feel it too with “Holiday Lights.

For more visit:
wildandblueband.com/
instagram.com/thewildandblue/
facebook.com/wildandblueband
twitter.com/thewildandblue
open.spotify.com/album/5YirVgH4ShSSMLywjbAQn3

Reviews
Album
Steve and April Bennett
Month: Feb 2021
Speech A Different World MC & Leader of Arrested Development SPEECH Releases Anthemic Call-to-…
Angel Baribeau Releases New Video Off Debut EP “Wish We Were Older” Angel Baribeau Releases New Video Off Debut EP
MISTER K Is Prepared 'In Event of Moon Disaster' Cosmic Lorette West, Balladeer MISTER K Is Prepared 'In Event of Moon Disaster…
Taming Sari Release Emotional & Raw New Ballad: “Gone and Run Away” Taming Sari Release Emotional & Raw New Ballad: “Gone and Run Away”
PEOPLE OF THE SUN Shine with EP, Last Day of Summer 8-Piece Hip Hop/R&B Big Band PEOPLE OF THE SUN Shine with EP, Last Day of Summer
N i G H T S Have You Covered N i G H T S Have You Covered This Month o' Love with a New Double-Single, “Magic…
Katelyn Biehn Sits Mellow with New Single, “Daydreamin’” Pop Singer Katelyn Biehn Sits Mellow with New Single, “Daydreamin’”
Month: Mar 2021
Cigar Club Canadian Rockers Cigar Club Release Heavy Hitting Double Single, “...Aliens”…
CHRIS BIRKETT Award Winning Producer, Composer, Songwriter CHRIS BIRKETT Releases New…
Delyn Grey Indie Alt Rock Breakout Artist Delyn Grey Observes Life’s New Normal in “…
Mattmac Mattmac Continues to Inspire with New Dream Chasing Hit, “Break Me Down”
Meneely Brant Rock Duo Meneely Brant Serve Up Groovy New Single, “Coming Days”
Apricity Alt-Rocker Apricity Releases Smashing New Single, “All My Lies”
ATR It’s “Now or Later” for Saint Paul, Minnesota's Hip Hop Artist ATR
Brandon Child Brandon Child Reflects on Lost Love in New Single, “Time”

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 31
  • Page 32
  • Page 33
  • Page 34
  • Current page 35
  • Page 36
  • Page 37
  • Page 38
  • Page 39
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers