How Many Kings by Downhere & GIVEAWAY 5 Copies!!

Recently Downhere's How Many Kings has been playing often on the radio. It is such a powerful song! You can watch their video on YouTube or check it out with my review here:

http://wovenbywords.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-many-kings-by-downhere.html

Today I listened to their just release Christmas album, How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas. I played it over and over! I'm trying not to overdo it with their title song How Many Kings. Listen to the words and you will understand what I'm talking about.

With Christmas a mere 5 weeks away, the Christmas music is about to hit the airwaves. Wouldn't you love to have something new to listen to? Downhere's Christmas CD is IT! Do you have preteens/teens or young adults in your life who need a twist to their Christmas music? They're tired of all the Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith versions? Not that there's anything wrong with them! I think we just need Christmas music that crosses over and Downhere does that in spectacular fashion!

So, lets discuss the CD!! They have a blend of classic Christmas songs with their own take as well as new music. The first song is the title song. What better way to start off this awesome collection?

How Many Kings challenges us to look at what other gods the world offers to us and compare them to the God of our lives who gave up everything for us.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is a great remake with Downhere's rock element!

Angels From the Realm of Glory I've never heard it before and it is simply a beautiful song.

Christmas in Our Hearts makes me think of the Beatles with Marc Martel's unique sound.

Silent Night is done in absolute classic fashion! There is a very goose-bump inducing part with Marc Martel's "oooo"ing! They blend their voices in a gorgeous rendition.

What Child is This? I love the guitar in this song. I love how the guys voices blend. And an awesome part where they actually sing a bit in French. It's so cool!

Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella is a 16th Century carol! Wikipedia describes the song as a song about 2 milk maidens who go to the stable to milk their cows and find the baby Jesus! Jason Germain's husky voice is perfect for this song. Probably my favorite new carol!

5 Golden Rings all I can say is this isn't what you will expect.

Gift Carol speaks of the gift to all mankind, the doubting Thomas'.

Glory to God is a great contemporary Christmas song with their rock edge.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas is again another song that is done in a style that's unexpected! One you won't forget any time soon.

How Many Kings (Re-Imagined) The guys redid this song in a more mellow and quiet version. It's more peaceful and gentle than the original version.

This Christmas CD is NOT one of those "Oh the band just had to do what every other band does". It's totally unique and has songs that will stand on their own. Even the classic songs they sing are so originally done you don't feel like you could be listening to any Joe Schmoe. No, Downhere has a very unique sound and the entire compilation will be played year round!

After listening to How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas, I have a new favorite band! These 4 guys are seamless. I feel like if one of them was missing they just wouldn't be the same. Speaking of the guys, if you don't know about them, let me give you an insight to them.

Press Release

With a ten-year career under their belt, constant connectivity from the critics and the radio charts, plus trophies from the Dove, Juno and Covenant Awards, Downhere is among todays most celebrated and innovative modern rock acts. Each album has shown an artistic evolution that constantly finds the Canadian foursome at the top of its game and has resulted in a strong fan base.
Such is the case of the band’s first ever holiday collection, How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas (Centricity Music), which retains much of Downhere’s classic elements, but also stretches to previously uncharted realms capable of expanding the group’s audience more than ever before. Sure, there’s plenty of melodic vocal interplay from co-front men, guitarist Marc Martel and keyboardist Jason Germain, alongside the ultra-infectious rhythm section comprised of bassist Glenn Lavender and drummer Jeremy Thiessen, but there’s also a compelling experiment with organic instrumentation and ingenious holiday interpretations, alongside equally riveting originals.

“In some ways, we’ve always been resistant to anything that even resembles jumping on any kind of bandwagon, like putting out a greatest hits or a worship album,” reflects Germain. “But this came about naturally from the bonus track ‘How Many Kings’ on our last record and then going on the Bethlehem Skyline Tour with other Centricity artists.”

The genesis of Downhere’s Christmas affinity actually dates back several years earlier, when the band began a series of holiday concerts in Franklin, TN for their hometown fans. The shows combined regular hits with classic sounds of the season, which were incorporated into the debut Bethlehem Skyline Tour in 2008. If anything, fan response on those cozy outings, coupled with the unceasing success of “How Many Kings” at Christian radio, started the recording process for the group and led to Downhere’s first Christmas project done in their own unique style.

“Basically we made a giant list of Christmas songs and narrowed them down to our top choices, realizing that every one of them was at least a hundred years old,” muses Martel. “We all really resonate with a love for good lyrics -- the classic ones that are going to last -- so we do a lot of really old Christmas carols. However, we also tried to make the old stuff sound new.”

Though the band carefully preserved the integrity of timeless tunes like “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” “Bring a Torch,” “What Child Is This?,” “Silent Night,” among many others, each rendering has the group’s signature stamp and is firmly planted in the present. The group also hopes that in the midst of all the shopping insanity, brought on by today’s consumer society, people will truly utilize How Many Kings: Songs For Christmas as a soundtrack to slow down and plug into the true reason for the celebration.

“We didn’t want to pack a whole Christmas record with ‘Jingle Bells,’ ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ or anything that was considered all that fluffy,” admits Thiessen. “We were very selective in wanting to pick songs that actually said something than simply ‘it’s Christmas- let’s party!’ We’re just trying to get people to pay attention and unplug from all of the running around.”

But that’s not to say there aren’t any fun songs on the album, which in keeping with the foursome’s boisterous personalities, includes a handful of quirky interludes like “5 Golden Rings” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

“They’re just meant to be really fun tracks that we recorded at Jason’s house while sitting around the living room,” explains Lavender. “I was literally playing on his Juno Award and hitting everything else imaginable around the room and it made for a really fun afternoon. But it’s also very inviting to listen to and makes you feel like you’re with Downhere right there in the living room.”

The Giveaway

To learn more about Downhere and their Christmas CD that was released October 6, 2009 visit their site at http://www.downhere.com/

REQUIRED Entry: Watch the above video on YouTube and leave a comment there for them. Come back here and tell me what number commenter you are! You must be at least 18 yrs old to enter and a resident of the US. Giveaway will run through November 28, 2009, 10pm CST. Void where prohibited

Extra Entries (must leave a separate comment for each) To receive these extra opportunities for entries, you must fulfill the first REQUIRED entry above and please be sure your email is in your comment to be entered:

+1 Follow Downhere on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway (leaving me the link)

+1 Follow Downhere on Facebook

+3 Visit Centricity Music and tell me which of their other bands you'd like to learn more about

+3 Sign up for Centricity Music info on their homepage, bottom left sidebar

+2 Grab my button and let me know where I can find it

+3 Become a Follower of Woven by Words or if you already are, let me know

I would like to thank Janet & Penny at Centricity Music for providing me with my copy of this awesome CD! They've also provided the Giveaway copies of How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas. The opinions of this CD are completely mine and Centricity Music did not sponsor me for this review aside from sending me a copy.