I've always loved Christmas music. I can remember, as a child, a house filled with Holiday songs by Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, Guy Lombardo, The Carpenters, and the Time-Life Treasury of Christmas Classics, just to name a few. But who wrote these songs? How did they become "Classics?" Will there ever be new classics? If so, who will write them? Why not me? And this was the beginning of the Lords a Leaping project

So in the summer of 2002, I began writing Christmas songs. The first one I wrote was "Christmas Without You." By Fall of 2002, I had a handful of songs to record.

We've got a wonderful circle of musician friends here in Central PA. All of us have played in cover bands and other projects over the years. The Lords a Leaping project brought us all together at just the right time. Adam and Jennifer Bell provided beautiful vocals. Brett Albert, one of my childhood friends, is a gifted pianist. Michael Hughes is an insightful, intelligent drummer and an inspired musician. Each brought their unique perspectives and talents to the project, making a diverse and wonderful meshing of styles.

We came together several times to write, bounce ideas, and shape the songs before recording. We recorded Lords a Leaping, Volume I during several very cold sessions in an auditorium in October, 2002. The songs were then sent to our friend, John Wagoner, a talented engineer, for mix-down. Thus, Volume I was done.

Volume II followed in 2004. With a full 12 tracks, (10 of them original), Volume II was even more diverse than Volume I.

Now we’ve finished Volume III. I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done so far, and we’re just getting started. Soon we’ll begin writing songs for next year’s Volume IV.

Thank you for listening to Lords a Leaping. God bless you, and have a very merry Christmas!

Check out John’s original rock band, Thunderbox, at www.thunderboxmusic.com.