One new local Christmas track mixes nostalgic holiday R&B with the massed harmonies of a caroling glee club. “Bing Crosby,” by Chapel Hill teenage vocal group The Chorus Project, was penned by Seamus Kenney of SNMNMNM and Trepak and co-produced by local audio engineer and dB’s member Chris Stamey. Yet an all-star studio cast takes a backseat to the rich lead vocal of Durham School of the Arts student Wilson Plonk, not to mention the depth and texture of this 25-strong pop choir. Kenney’s songwriting inverts the eternally suave (and occasionally disturbing) “This Christmas,” preferring instead the optimistic heartbreak of “if you didn’t get me before/ why would you get me anything for Christmas?”
Right on the heels of a Chorus Project Cat’s Cradle benefit concert this past Monday, sales of this track will benefit KidZNotes, a Durham nonprofit which provides children’s classical music instruction and organizes youth orchestras in low-performance school districts.
The track, again, is here.
