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Song Credits for "A Christmas To Cure Cancer"

1. Santa Claus Is Hangin' 'Round


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Lead Guitar Stereo Left, Acoustic Guitar, Vocal Harmony
Dave Clo - Lead Guitar Stereo Right, Vocal Harmony
Chris Dauphin - Piano
Mark Puskarich - Drums, Vocal Harmony
"Mystery Singer?" - Vocal Harmony
Arrangement - Dave Clo, Cody Romshak, Lorne VanFossen, Mark Puskarich

Recorded at Camp David Studio in Nashville, Tenn.

The original song is called "Santa Claus is Back in Town," but Cody took some artistic liberties with the lyrics and created the new title. This was one of the three songs we recorded in Nashville at Dave Clo's studio, Labor Day weekend 2001. We worked out the musical arrangement in April 2001, during one of Dave's visits to Ohio. This was shortly after Lorne returned home from the hospital following complications from radiation treatment. He was eating well and starting his climb back to health. The vocal harmonies have a strange mystery fifth harmony. There were only four of us harmonizing the "Christmas, Christmas, Christmas" lyrics at the end of the song. Somehow, Cody and Dave had a harmonic overtone between their vocals that resulted in a high harmony that became our "mystery singer."

2. A Candle In The Window


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony, Piano, Bass Guitar
Corrina VanFossen - Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars
Mark Puskarich - Drums

The first "Alabama" Christmas album has some really good songs on it and this is my favorite. The country style is right up Cody's alley, and I knew he would shine on the vocals as always.

3. Mary Did You Know?


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal
Cody Romshak - Pan Flute, Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars
Mark Puskarich - Congas and Percussion
Arrangement - Lorne VanFossen and Cody Romshak

We had fun being creative with the style, mood and arrangement of the song. Cody, Lorne and Corrina have been playing this song in their "Acoustic Grace" appearances.

4. Please Come Home For Christmas


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Piano, Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars, Special "chemo" Lead
Mark Puskarich - Drums

Cody's voice is showcased here. We hear the overall vocal and dynamic range of his voice. During Lorne's chemo treatments, he was in the studio playing the lead. He must have taken 30 shots at it. Lorne was tired and frail from the chemo. We joked with him about how his fingers might start bleeding from playing so much that evening. Cody and I weren't very sympathetic. It was our version of tough love. We pushed him knowing that he was talented enough to nail it regardless of his illness. We weren't going to allow Lorne to use that as an excuse. We kept one of the takes and decided we would use it on the CD for posterity's sake. The first half of the lead at the end of the song is known as the "chemo" lead.

5. Run Run Rudolph


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Lead Guitar Stereo Left, Vocal Harmony
Dave Clo - Lead Guitar Stereo Right, Vocal Harmony
Chris Dauphin - "Jerry Lee Lewis" Piano
Mark Puskarich - Drums, Vocal Harmony

Recorded at Camp David Studio in Nashville, Tenn.

Another of the Nashville recordings. Cody and I enjoyed watching the two lead guitar players battle it out for the "best" lead. As Lorne always says, "If you can't be good, be loud." They're all that, too! Cody finally conceded and laid down the vocals at 5 a.m. Labor Day morning. The laughing and commotion at the end of the song stemmed from Lorne and I doing the "we're not worthy" bowing and scraping after we watched in amazement as Cody nailed the vocals on the first try. We decided to keep it in the song as a memento of all the fun we had that weekend.

6. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Piano, Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Walking Whistle, Pan Flute, Strings
Lorne VanFossen - Guitar Mark Puskarich - Drums
Arrangement - Cody Romshak

Cody wanted to have a lazy feel to the song with a hint of western swing. This is really his song. He arranged and played or sequenced all of the instruments, except for the drums. What a talent!

7. Hard Candy Christmas


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony
Cody Romshak - Vocal Harmony, Strings, Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Guitar
Mark Puskarich - Drums

Corrina felt this song had a special message that needed to be included on this project. "It will be all right"

8. Christmas Beach


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony, Guitars, Instrument Sequencing
Julie Lucas - Vocal Harmony
Michele Clay - Vocal Harmony
Corrina VanFossen - Vocal Harmony
Mark Puskarich - Drums, Cabasa, Congas, Bongos, Vibraslap, Sleigh Bells, Steel Drums.. anything I could bang, slap, or hit.

Music and words by Cody Romshak and Mark Puskarich

This is our original ala Jimmy Buffett. The words came from the heart. Once winter rolls around in Ohio, it's not long before I need to get away to a tropical beach somewhere. Christmas Beach is a fictitious place like Margaritaville. However, I did find an actual Christmas Beach in New Zealand, but that might be a little far to fly from Ohio for a long weekend. My beach is in Naples, Fla., where I visit quite often. It's how I recharge my batteries. Cody had an old tape lying around that he recorded some years ago. The music didn't contain any words at the time. I'm not sure Cody ever thought his little tune would end up being a Christmas song. He still won't let me forget I buried his big guitar leads with steel drums. I hope everyone enjoys it for what it is...a fun song.

9. The Grinch


Lorne VanFossen - Guitars (Five, uh... make that eight of them buzzin' like a chainsaw), Bass Guitar, Distortion Padded Vocals
Mark Puskarich - Drums
Arrangement - Lorne VanFossen and Mark Puskarich

"Just a bunch of noisy guitars," Cody would say time and time again. Yes, that's the idea! The Grinch is a nasty character, so the song and Lorne's vocals were made to match. We had great fun making this one and being creative with the arrangement...if that's what you call it. It's like "Metallica meets Marilyn Manson."

10. Too Fat Santa Polka


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars, Bass Guitar, 1st Gastronomical Utterance
Cody Romshak - Tuba, Accordion
Mark Linger - Burps and Belches Stereo Left
John Burton - Burps and Belches Stereo Right
Mark Puskarich - Drums, Sleigh Bells
Children's Vocals - Quincy and Sam VanFossen, Justin and Alex Mirabal, Claire Zehnal, Julia, John and Meredith Burton
Arrangement - Cody Romshak, Mark Puskarich, Lorne VanFossen

Burton Children vocals recorded in Camp David Studio, Nashville

This is a song for the kids. Originally titled "Santa Claus You Are Much Too Fat," we gave it a polka feel and renamed it. It's a Weird Al Yankovic meets "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." Justin, Alex and Claire are my nephews and niece. Sam and Quincy are Lorne and Corrina's children. Philip and Kay Burton are the proud parents of Julia, John and Meredith. John gets credit for the belches in the right speaker. Mark Linger, of Nashville, burps for us stereo left. The Burton family comes to us from Tuscumbia, Ala. They are some of the best kids I've ever met. Corrina brought this song to us. We needed to have one for comic relief. The kids had a great time performing. Make sure you check out the video on the CD to see them at "work."

11. Winter Wonderland


Julie Lucas - Vocals
Michele Clay - Vocals
Corrina VanFossen - Vocals
Lorne VanFossen - Acoustic Guitar

This is a song "Sweet Harmony" sings during the holidays.

12. Still Her Little Child


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen - Guitar
Cody Romshak - Bass, Strings, Bells
Mark Puskarich - Percussion, Thunder, Chimes

This is a song played regularly by "Acoustic Grace." We took the base song and got creative by adding strings, thunder, tympani rolls and bells. We changed the mood of the music to fit the lyrics.

13. Christmas Letter


Cody Romshak - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony, Bass Guitar
Corrina VanFossen - Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars
Rob Ragsdale - Piano
Mark Puskarich - Drums

This was the first song we completed for the project. This has always been one of Cody 's favorites from the time I gave him a tape of the "McGuffey Lane" version years ago. I think this is one of Cody's best vocal performances on the whole CD. I really like the "up close" sound of his voice on this recording. Cody added a pretty tasty bass guitar part on this song as well.

14. Greensleeves


Cody Romshak - Guitars, Bass Guitar, Strings, Synths
Lorne VanFossen - Bass Guitar
Mark Puskarich - Wind Chimes
Arrangement - Cody Romshak

Cody surprises and amazes again. His arrangement and incredible guitar work is showcased here in this classical guitar rendition. Even our band member Dave Clo couldn't believe Cody was playing it until he saw him perform it in person.

15. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal
Cody Romshak - Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Lead Guitar Stereo Left
Dave Clo - Lead Guitar Stereo Right
Chris Dauphin - Piano
Mark Puskarich - Drums
Arrangement - Dave Clo, Lorne VanFossen, Cody Romshak, Mark Puskarich

Recorded at Camp David Studio in Nashville, Tenn.

I knew this one had to be on the CD from the first time we talked about making a Christmas recording. Corrina had been singing this song at Christmas parties for years. This song was also recorded in Nashville. We completed the music down there and had Corrina add the vocals later at Cody's studio. We cheesed up the guitars and added some tape delay effects to give it a sound from the '60s. Chris did a great job of adding just the right piano style to cap things off.

16. Silent Night


Corrina VanFossen - Lead Vocal, Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen - Guitars

This song is simple but elegant. Corrina harmonizes with herself and it's beautiful. She had to re-record all her vocal tracks, as we had some technical difficulty during her first session and ended up scrapping her tracks. As talented as she is, it was no problem to lay down another set of perfect vocals.

17. Not That Far From Bethlehem


Julie Lucas - Lead Vocals
Michele Clay - Vocal Harmony
Corrina VanFossen - Vocal Harmony
Chris Dauphin - Piano, Strings
Cody Romshak - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Low Strings, Bells
Lorne VanFossen - Acoustic Guitar
Mark Puskarich - Drums, Percussion, Chimes
Lois Puskarich - Vocal Harmony
Janet Gallucci - Vocal Harmony

I would never have believed this song would end up this awesome. I heard it on the "Point of Grace" Christmas CD and wanted to do it as our last track. The musical tracks started out with Chris Dauphin recording the piano and high string parts into his Mac laptop in Nashville and e-mailing them to me to import into our system. It's great what technology can do to transcend distance and facilitate collaboration. Julie, Michele and Corrina did an amazing job on the vocals. I asked my Mother and her friend Janet to sing on the last chorus. I grew up listening to them sing duets in church and wanted them involved in the project.
Thanks Mom ... for everything.


The musical groups appearing on this CD:


Aereon Now

Aereon (Left)
This was the name of our former band from 1978 to 1982 consisting of Lorne VanFossen, Dave Clo, Cody Romshak and Mark Puskarich. We played around the Ohio Valley area at weddings, school dances and nightclubs. We recorded two original tunes in 1981 that were pressed into a 45 record and played on the local radio stations. Cool.

Acoustic Grace (Right)
Consists of Lorne and Corrina VanFossen and Cody Romshak. They perform around the Harrison and Tuscarawas county areas for churches, weddings and special occasions.

Acoustic Grace
Acoustic Grace

Sweet Harmony (Left)
A vocal trio made up of Corrina VanFossen, Julie Lucas and (appearing for this project) Michele Clay. They perform at churches and other Christian events in the Harrison and Tuscarawas county areas.



Purchase CD
A Christmas To Cure Cancer 6
Christmas Island
Last Christmas
Happy Christmas
Liz & Ralph & Calvin
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Guitar)
Grown Up Christmas List
Christmas Drive
Three Hundred Sixty Four
Merry Christmas Baby
Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight)
It's Christmas
Baby It's Cold Outside
Starbright
Dance Of The Elves
Silent Night
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Piano)
The Secret Of Christmas
Fireside
O Holy Night
Believe
 
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