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Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

Every August, I Start Thinking About Winter

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Every August, usually right in the middle of the summer heat, I start thinking about winter.

It happens almost every year.

Maybe it’s because winter still feels far enough away in August that you can remember the best parts without having to scrape ice off anything. Or maybe I’m simply looking forward to that first unmistakable change in the air—the moment you realize another season is on its way.

I love what happens after that.

The evenings come earlier. Lights begin appearing around town. Windows glow against the cold. People who normally take the quickest way home sometimes find a reason to take the long way.

And familiar places become different.

There’s something about coming into a warm house when it’s cold outside. Something about the quiet after friends and family have gone home. Something about looking out a window late at night when there’s snow on the ground and wondering why the world seems so much quieter than it did a few hours earlier.

I’ve noticed that the holidays give us permission to feel things we might otherwise consider a little sentimental.

We remember people.

We miss people.

We gather.

We go home.

And maybe, somewhere underneath all of that, we allow ourselves to wonder again.

I like that part best.

The possibility that an ordinary evening might hold something extraordinary. That lights along a familiar street can still make us slow down. That despite everything we’ve learned and everything we think we know, there might still be a little mystery left in the world.

Those are the feelings that found their way into my new album, Love the Season.

Maybe that’s why I start looking forward to this every August. Winter is still months away, but for a little while I get to visit it early.

And remember why I love the season.

— Bill Leyden

You can listen to Love the Season on Bandcamp:

Love the Season — Bill Leyden on Bandcamp

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🎄 A Christmas Series in Song

Posted in Music, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »

That old feeling starts at about this time of year – when August becomes a memory and the air begins to chill in the mornings. I find myself anticipating the coming season.

Every Christmas tells a story. For me, those stories take shape through music — sometimes playful, sometimes bittersweet, always rooted in love, memory, and tradition. This year, I’ve gathered three albums together as a kind of Christmas series, each with its own voice, but all connected by a search for warmth and truth in the season.

The featured album, Christmas in Mascoutah, is a collection of eight original songs drawn straight from small-town Midwestern life. From the laughter of a parade to the reverence of a midnight service, from the mischief of a yard display war to the tenderness of an empty chair by the tree, it’s a blend of humor, nostalgia, and heart. It’s Americana storytelling with pedal steel, Telecasters, and close country harmonies — a reminder that even in life’s changes, Christmas traditions hold us steady.

Alongside it, A Pedal Steel Christmas shines the spotlight on the instrument that can make a guitar cry and a heart soar. It’s a pure celebration of sound — the pedal steel weaving through carols and originals alike, giving the season a voice as timeless as the instrument itself. I’ve always admired this instrument and the way it can evoke emotion.

And Carols at the Hearth brings things closer still — intimate, candlelit, and inspired by mid-century jazz harmonies. It’s music for gathering by the fire, where songs feel less like performance and more like presence. I guess the inspiration comes from my early introduction to the wonderful carols of Alfred S. Burt and knowing his surviving family. In their home, Christmas came alive with decor, gatherings of friends and plenty of food and cheer.

Now, the Americana genre may not be for everyone, but I’d like to think that Toby Keith would have enjoyed Christmas in Mascoutah— for its honesty, for its humor, and for the way it carries a sense of place.

Each of these albums approaches Christmas from a different angle, but together they form a series — three ways of telling the same story: that Christmas, wherever you find it, is about connection, gratitude, and the kind of memories that keep us warm long after the snow melts.

Note:

Mascoutah is a charming small town in southern Illinois surrounded by family farms where life still moves at the pace of the seasons. Main Street has just one traffic light, and every storefront feels like part of the family. When you shop at the grocery, the hardware store, or the diner, chances are you’ll run into lifelong friends — people who know your history as well as your name. It’s the kind of place where Christmas isn’t just a holiday on the calendar, but a gathering of memory, community, and belonging.

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