Chris Hassett’s Blog

In the next several blogs, I’ll be sharing some background stories for the eleven original compositions on my new CD, This I Promise You. Although some of the songs date back quite a few years, many are quite new. Plus, I’ve revisited all of the songs and, with the assistance of my musical partner Drew Massicot, crafted new arrangements.

Other important contributors to the album include: Demetrios Christo (for his front and back cover photography, www.blueolivepress.com), Mike Collier (for mastering the CD), and John Katchur (for his blazing guitar solos on two of the tracks).

The new CD is our third release in just 30 months. And our second release in 6 months — all of you DO HAVE my holiday music CD, December, don’t you? And before that, there was Bring Love Home, released in November 2009. From the earlier two CDs, I’m sure you learned that I very much enjoy singing (and trying my best to do justice to) standards and pop classics. But even the first CD — while featuring classics like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and the Les Miz number, “Bring Him Home” — had lots of original compositions on it. Ten, to be exact. On December, even though the amount of holiday music to choose from seemed overwhelming, I managed to sneak in three of my own songs — most notably, “Little Yellow House.”

For This I Promise You, the entire song list consists of original compositions. But don’t worry — I still love singing well-known ballads and pop tunes. I just need to keep my own songs coming out, too. These 62 years have given me a lot to talk and sing about, after all. And it’s so important to just . . . get it out! I’ll give a quick run down on each track after the jump. And I’ll expand upon these comments in later posts. Read the rest of this entry »

Thank you for braving the storm and coming out to the CD Release party last night for my new collection of holiday music, DECEMBER.

We had a good crowd, some great munchies, and we even squeezed in some music. The good people at TWIGGS on Adams made sure everyone was well taken care of. Thanks, good people at TWIGGS.

A special thanks to all the Kickstarter supporters who showed up to claim their rewards. Kickstarter was a big part of the success of this project — it helped me secure sufficient funding so Drew and I could focus on the music.

I do hope you take the time to visit my music page for the new CD. You can hear 30-second clips for all 14 songs and even place an order. When you order, let me know if you want me to sign them or not.

I think you guys will really get a kick out of the back cover photo — check it out below:

So that’s it — I have a new CD out and would love for you to get a copy . . . or maybe several for friends and family. Check out the song clips, look over your holiday shopping list, and let me know how I can help you out this season. You can either go online and order from there or use the order form (below) and mail it in with your check or credit card info.

The order form gives you the option of having me send them to multiple addresses. Wow! Here’s the link . . .

Holiday Order Form, 11-21-11

Either way, I can’t wait to get this music into your hands and help you share it with others.

Happy Holidays!

YouTube - Roscoe’s Lullaby

I figured my song for Roscoe ought to show up in my blog sooner or later. And, as a bedtime song, it’ll work for any animal — two legged or otherwise.

Hope you enjoy it.

You always wonder — even as the last few minutes tick by before start time — will anyone really show up? We were taking care of the check list . . .

• Food, check.
• Sound system, check.
• Flyers and information, check.
• CDs, check
• Personnel, check.
• Friends and fans? Of course.

You showed up! And so many of you, too — ready to party, chat, have me sign your CDs, listen to music and enjoy a great evening. We had a blast and I want to thank you all for coming out. And . . . I sold a bunch of CDs! Hurray!

As I said, this is just the beginning. I intend to take my music as far as I can and, as you know, I can’t do it alone. I need your help. There were some flyers with a number of ideas on how you can help and I will repeat them here, briefly. For the full list, click here.