Lennie Gallant will be offering a taste of an Innkeeper’s Christmas on Friday, Dec. 14, 8 p.m., at the Trinity United Church, Charlottetown.
The concert is named after Gallant’s much-loved Christmas song, “The Innkeeper” which is a bit of a redemption nativity story that seems to have taken on a life of its own every holiday season.
“I get so many letters and emails from people who say they play the song at Christmas services and events with various choirs and gatherings,” says Gallant.
“It really touches me deeply to hear how the song lives on and seems to move people during this time of year.’
This holiday season, Gallant has chosen to start his own Christmas tradition based on the title of his popular song.
“I really hope this will be a yearly concert and I can mix it up every time around with different guest artists showing up.”
This debut concert will see Gallant and his stellar band, comprised of Patricia Richard, Jeremy Gallant, and Sean Kemp, joined by members of the Atlantic String Machine, nephew Rowan Gallant from Ten Strings and a Goat Skin and nephew Jonathan Gallant adding their talents to the show.
Gallant has been receiving a great deal of attention lately due to his new release “Christmas Day on Planet Earth” that he recorded with Black Umfolosi, the internationally acclaimed accapella group from Zimbabwe. The band was passing through P.E.I. while on tour and hooked up with Gallant to record the song that he wrote specifically with them in mind. They also made a video the same day, directed by award winning Island director John Hopkins, which has been getting much attention lately on YouTube.
Gallant says he is very much looking forward to sharing this song, some traditional tunes, and other originals he penned celebrating the season including one he wrote for and sang with John Dunsworth, also known as Mr. Lahey on the Trailer Park Boys. He wrote the song, “I Still Believe in Santa” for a movie starring Dunsworth.
“We had a lot of fun with that one, and even made a crazy video for it’ says Gallant.
“John was amazing to work with and was a tremendous talent. We miss him dearly!’
At the Trinity show, Gallant will also be featuring songs from his new album, Time Travel”. Tickets are available through eastlinkcentrepei.com and at the door.
