For my fourth recording, I decided to record my "seasonal" album. Although most people choose "Christmas" for their seasonal album, I decided to focus in on the season of Advent.

As a Catholic priest, I live on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church probably more than most. And according to the liturgical calendar, for most of the month of December, we spend in the season of Advent. Christmas doesn't really begin until the evening of December 24th (and doesn't end until the middle of January--or February 2nd, depending on how you're counting).

However, most people live on the secular calendar where the "Christmas season" is that time between Thanksgiving and December 25th (or for some stores, between Halloween and December 25th). Most people pull out their holiday albums during this time.

And so the intent of this Advent album is to make an album that "fits" both. The lyrics focus on the themes of Advent, where the tone attempts to match the "holiday" tone of other seasonal favorites.

What do I mean by that? Well, Christmas albums often include children's choirs, so this album has a "children's choir" featured on "On That Holy Mountain". Mannheim Steamroller has that kind of "classical instrument" sound on some of their songs and "O Come, Divine Messiah" and "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" are in that same lineage. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" (the first verse is my favorite to sing on Christmas eve morning, which is the end of Advent) features a lovely "music box" or "Celeste" sound, which to me captures that nostalgic, childlike wonder of the season. There's even a little bit of sleigh bells on "Mary Had No Y".

The album is also meant to take the listener on the journey of Advent. Again, on the liturgical calendar, the first part of Advent has a very different feel than the second part of Advent. But for that matter, I think this is true on the secular calendar as well. Since Advent begins, usually, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving (in the United States at least), that weekend has a very different feel for most people than do the final days of Advent. And so the first few songs on the album don't sound very "Christmas-y" or "seasonal" at all. This is by design. The album is meant to sound more like Christmas the further along that you go, in order to follow the same progression as the Advent season itself.

I am very pleased with the sound of the album. It was produced by the very talented David C. Smith who has worked with a number of artists, and particularly with Catholic artists to bring out the best in their music. I think that he has produced an excellent sound with this album.

And if you are curious about me... I am a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. I was ordained in 2003. For me, music is an extension of my ministry and I find that it can reach people in a unique way. If you would like to know more about me you can visit me on my website at frkent.com.