Squamish musicians have come together this holiday season to make a uniquely 2020 Christmas song to remember.
鈥淥ur big primary push was that we wanted to bring some cheer and laughter and remind everybody that we鈥檙e all in this together and to stay the course,鈥� said Anne Bright, the concept creator and writer of Christmask.
Bright and her husband, John, a local businessman and musician, decided to collaborate for the first time to make the song Christmask. They were inspired by what other Sea to Sky Corridor musicians have been doing during the pandemic, so they got together a small team of collaborators to make the project happen.
Their friend, local musician and chair of the Squamish Arts Council, Brian Marchant helped put the song together. Marchant鈥檚 studio was used to record the vocals of John and Liesl Peterson, a local artist who previously worked with Marchant to create the dance-themed pandemic song and music video Alone Together.
Click the arrow below to listen to the song.
They also collaborated across the country with lead singer Don LaFrigo, a Squamish local now living in Quebec, who recorded his vocals in his home studio.
鈥淓very year I do a Christmas poem, and this particular year it was a little bit harder to get into the inspiration of it鈥� so I looked at my husband, and he鈥檚 a musician, and I said well maybe we should try and do a feel-good kind of humourous song,鈥� Bright said.
For 颅Marchant, 鈥渋t was to send a message, a hopeful message, to people and a friendly reminder to take care of each other over the Christmas season when we want to be socially gathering and [be] together and really can鈥檛 be because of requirements.鈥�
Bright said she hopes to use the song for future fundraising and has sent it out to the top medical advisors across the country, including to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and even to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
鈥淲e want everybody to be able to download it freely,鈥� she said.
The song, released on Friday on SoundCloud, has already got traction around town.
The song has been aired on Mountain FM, and she said that Whistler Live has caught wind of it and has reached out to them.
She said that the key elements in the song, just like in our lives now, are 鈥渢o be safe, to mask up, [and] just follow what we need to do to get through this together.鈥�
Find their song here:
