Good Friends in Lakewood Land:
Welcome back to Deck land.
Well, here it comes again, the silentest of your basic silent nights...and the guitar is very much a part of this occasion, believe it or not. Going back to 1818 in Austria, you probably remember the at times, disputed legend of those little mice eating into the bellows of that church organ, and the guitar being brought in to substitute, and the parishioners all singing that simple song along to guitar accompaniment.
Legend or not, the guitar tradition for “Silent Night” continues to this day.
When I play "Silent Night" on the guitar, it's as if that very song itself stands alone; to DEFY all that is evil and wrong in this world. A few years ago the Lakewood Observer paper and I did a special collaboration for the song, with me playing the guitar and musical saw together.
The musical saw hails from America’s past, when unique forms of unique entertainment like that were once ubiquitous to the musical stages across our land.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a special Silent Night wish to each and every one of you; whatever your particular religious or political persuasions might or might not be.
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHCnltfKmQ8
We'll get back to the banjo another time.
Gary Rice