Last weekend, Mrs. Bingle and I went out to San Diego for a 4-day weekend, to enjoy the sand, surf, and seafood. While we were there, we had the pleasure of meeting Ken and Lisa Kessler for breakfast at the Old Townhouse Restaurant in Ocean Beach.
I'm sure that all the readers of Merry and Bright know of Ken Kessler. Ken is the Merry Mastermind behind Sounds of Christmas , the exquisite Christmas music internet radio station. Ken also has released two superb Christmas compilations on the SOCMusic label, aptly named "The Sounds of Christmas" and "The Sounds of Christmas Volume 2". Seriously folks, these are two of the best comps around.
Ken and Lisa (who, by the way, performs "Christmas Vacation" on the first comp CD) joined us for breakfast and great conversation, until the waitress politely pointed out the line waiting to be seated :-) Ken and I chatted about Christmas music (of course), and I gained some insight into how he gets the rights to the songs, some of the highs and lows of the business, and some of the great music out there that can't be released (yet). Ken also related some great stories about the Huey Lewis and the News and Stephen Bishop tracks from SOC Vol. 1. I really enjoyed the Christmas tunes talk.
I have to mention that Lisa, in addition to being a fine singer, is also an author. An, officially, award-winning author. Saturday night, after starting the day with us in Ocean Beach and then a trip to Redondo beach for a book signing, Lisa's "Night Walker" won an award at the San Diego Book Awards, as best Fantasy/Horror/SciFi book. Check out Lisa's website, Lisa's Lair.
We had a really great time getting to know Ken and Lisa. I can't wait to see what Ken will bring us this season on Sounds of Christmas. If you have never listened to SOC during the holidays, make sure to tune in, er, click and connect, this year. You'll hear the best variety of Christmas music, new and old, that you'll find anywhere on the airwaves or on the web.
