Americana Highways brings you this video premiere of Emily Zuzik and Ted Russell Kamp’s “The Christmas Star.” “The Christmas Star” was produced by Ted Russell Kamp in The Den, Los Angeles, CA; mixed by Fernando Perdomo and mastered by Duncan Stanbury of Groove Mastering.
This collaboration comes hot on the heels of the new Emily Zuzik record Torch & Trouble which Ted produced and played bass on. As Zuzik says: “the writing process, musical energy and friendship that helped create that record led really naturally and easily to this Christmas collaboration.”
“The Christmas Star” is Emily Zuzik on vocals, Ted Russell Kamp on bass, acoustic guitars, Wurlitzer, Hammond, toy piano, trumpet, percussion; and David Raven on drums. The video was shot, directed and edited by Emily Zuzik. Throw your cares away with this one, it’s jubilance and everything else a Christmas song should be. You just might legitimately forget the traumas of the past year, just for a moment. “We got mistletoe, right from the start I know in my heart you’re my Christmas star.” The vignettes on the video are cute, celebratory, and festive too, with the pair dancing and playing in glittery holiday merriment.
This is a great, brand-new Christmas song we wrote and recorded together. Emily had the idea to do a Christmas song. She also had the idea for the initial chord progression and verse melody. Then, we got together and wrote the rest of the music very quickly and worked up the lyrics over the next few days. This song was itself a Christmas gift to us because it came so fast and flowed so freely and naturally. We got right in the Christmas spirit and got right in the zone with this one. The biggest argument we had through the whole process was deciding if the bridge should go to C# major or C# minor (not that big a conflict) Enjoy!
We decided to make a fun, dancy, cheesy holiday song. It’s been a tough year for everyone on the planet. Maybe it’s time to have a little levity at this time of the year. The Christmas Star hit stores everywhere on Friday, November 27, 2020. — Emily Zuzik
Ted is a talented bassist and producer who plays with a number of greats including Shooter Jennings, Tanya Tucker and Duff McKagan (Guns N Roses) and has his own recent release Down in the Den.
Emily is a singer/songwriter who has recorded with Moby, Blue Man Group and Solid Stone, as well as sung on TV and films. She has over 14 recordings to her credit and continues to work in session singing, voiceover and commercial music, as well as her artistic releases. Her latest album, Torch & Trouble, came out Aug. 28 and received much praise in the press including Americana Highways, Relix, Twangville, Girl Guitar Magazine, The Alternate Root and more.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NK87BXRApple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-christmas-star-single/1540184260Bandcamp: https://emilyzuzik.bandcamp.com/