Sunday, April 22, 2018

Der Bingle's Essentials: Everything by Found Wandering

Found Wandering, that trio/seasonal quintet from yon Pennsylvania way. They make the best Christmas music in the land, says I. Singer Sarah Comstock has the voice of an angel, perfectly sublime, created from the heavens to make Christmas music. Instrumentalists Colin Comstock and Jake L'Armand are supremely talented (and I won't leave out Sarah's talent on the mandolin). Found Wandering describes themselves as "a unique blend of gospel-folk, americana and indie rock", an apt description that is indisputable.They arrange classic Christmas carols and infuse them with new life, and they write and perform originals. Ah - pure Christmas music bliss.




Their three albums - "Christmas in Country Village" (2011), "On a Christmas Night" (2015), and "Pass the Peace" (2016 EP) are beautiful, with twenty-nine songs across the three records. When you hear "Angels We Have Heard on High" from "On a Christmas Night", you'll believe you've heard the best Christmas song ever. But then your song shuffle plays "In the Bleak Midwinter" from "Country Village", and you're awe-stricken at perhaps the best arrangement of all time of this, one of the oldest carols.

Found Wandering is now an annual selection on my yearly Christmas comp. I've featured a song of theirs each of the last two years on my DJ gigs on a local radio station, and I wrote a guest piece about them over at "200 Days of Christmas".

I can continue to gush on and on about Found Wandering, but I want you to visit their website and listen to their music. Click here: https://www.foundwandering.com/#albums-christmas
For me, Found Wandering defines "Essential Christmas Music" just as much as ol' Bing himself.

3 comments:

  1. I read your previous posts about this group, but hadn't taken the time to explore their music. I just listened to their first album - Christmas in Country Village - and was pleasantly surprised. What I really like is their unique take on some of the classics. I also liked the slightly "upbeat" rendition of In the Bleak Midwinter. Their style is one that I enjoy. It's soothing, calming, meaningful and original. Thanks for sharing and including their work among your Christmas Essentials series.

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