A musicians’ life is one of a road warrior. The time it takes to get from show to show
can be a lot more than some musicians bargain for. Traveling from gig to gig
entertaining fans is amazing, but it comes at a price. The price is the travel. Finding the
headspace in all that travel to create and write new music can be daunting. Nashville
musician Ben Danaher seems to have found a formula for success. Behind the wheel
of his 2007 Chevy Express, with over 250,000 miles on it, Ben travels the states
playing his music and using the time on the road to create the songs he sings.

Originally from Huffman, Texas, Ben comes from a musical family and grew up knowing
the road. The open road creates the calm and focus that can bring a great song to life.
For Ben, the 2007 Chevy Express is the best of all worlds. The van is a way to get form
gig to gig, a place to work on music, and can double as a make-shift hotel room when
travel does not allow the luxury. Danaher’s says that the van has taken on a life and
persona of its own. The van has been feature in Danaher’s press, music videos and
social media posts. Having successfully toured in the Chevy for so long, fans recognize
it at shows and pay homage to the van that moves the man.

Drawing on the influences of legendary songwriter/musicians like Guy Clark, Rodney
Crowell, and Townes Van Zandt, Danaher came to the music scene as a songwriter in
his home state of Texas before pulling stakes and moving north to Nashville,
Tennessee. Danaher released his debut album “Still Feel Lucky” in September 2018 to
critical acclaim. “Still Feel Lucky” is being described as a soulful, heartfelt and
memorable country rock album. This is Danaher’s roots and it comes out clearly in the
well constructed songs. Danaher has been featured in Rolling Stone and continues to
sell out shows around the nation.

The unsung heroes of the music world are the thousands of musicians and vans that
are packed up, beat down, and brave the open road to pursue the dream. Ben Danaher
shows no signs of wear or tear but admittedly the van does have a few blemishes. Visit
www.bendanaher.com to see tour dates and locations and Ben’s newest videos.

Fall is here and you know what that means—Christmas is coming soon.

Now if you love the holiday, that’s great! Why? Because you’ll probably enjoy it when your favorite stores start blasting the Christmas carols you love in November. Oh yes. For you, this definitely is the most wonderful time of the year. As for all of the retail workers out there, we wish you the best of luck since you might have to listen to all of that holiday cheer for two months straight! Hang in there, and thanks in advance for your service.

Whether you love them or hate them, Christmas songs aren’t going away any time soon. That’s been made evident by folks who listen to their holiday playlists year round. (We all know a couple of folks who do.)

According to Wikipedia, Christmas music originated during the 4th century in Rome. By the 13th century, under the influence of Francis of Assisi, the tradition of popular Christmas songs in regional native languages developed. Christmas carols in the English language first appeared in a 1426 work of John Awdlay, an English chaplain, who lists twenty five “caroles of Cristemas”, probably sung by groups of ‘wassailers’ who would travel from house to house. The 16th century gave birth to a few Christmas carols that we still sing today. Songs like “The 12 Days of Christmas”, “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen”, and “O Christmas Tree”.

The 1930s gave us a stream of non-religious Christmas songs. They included christmas songs for children like “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, as well as sentimental ballads such as “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “White Christmas” which remains the best-selling single of all time as of 2018.

For instance, Night is Alive is offering three unique flavors of christmas music. With “A Very Saxy Christmas”, your guests can enjoy the smooth sounds of saxophonist, Jeff Rupert and a guest vocalist. You can get the season in full swing with “Christmas Jazz” from dynamic jazz drummer, Willie Jones III and his WJ3 All-Stars. Or jazz pianist and Grammy Award-winning arranger, Bill Cunliffe can tickle the ivories during “That Time of the Year” for you and your guests. These are just a few examples of performers who are available for your holiday gatherings. Visit Gig Monster to book Night is Alive artists or other independent performers for Christmas.