Guitarist Josh Kimbrough picks on the holidays

Here's the scoop...

Josh Kimbrough is a guitarist and composer from Chapel Hill, NC. His 2020 Tompkins Square debut, Slither, Soar & Disappear, has been called “Utterly Moving” by Record Crates United, and “A Triumph” by Folk Radio UK. It’s also received glowing reviews from MOJO and UNCUT. 

With Yule Chime, Kimbrough offers five Christmas guitar soli in time for the holiday season. Two original compositions bookend three traditional tunes. “Sledding Down Spring Valley Hill” kicks the album off in a tuning borrowed from Michael Hedges’ “Admiral Rickover's Dream”. Spring Valley Hill was a favorite sledding spot from Kimbrough’s youth. “The hill was steep--if you made it to the bottom without tipping over, you could jump the curb and glide down into an open field.” 

The three traditional songs that follow are ones that Kimbrough’s dad would play on piano for the family when he was growing up. “Once in Royal David’s City” is a cross-continental duet with Johan Eriksson (Sweden) playing dobro and pedal steel. “Poor Little Jesus” is a minor-key affair. This tune is a spiritual that dates back to the 1800s. It’s published in the Episcopal Hymnal, which is where Kimbrough’s dad learned it. The album closes with “Out Getting Firewood”, an evocation of Christmases spent in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia--where Kimbrough’s in-laws live. They heat their house exclusively with a wood stove in the winter time. This calls for routine trips to the wood pile. These songs were recorded over three days at Jeff Crawford’s Arbor Ridge Studios--just three miles from Kimbrough’s house in Chatham County, NC. 

Spending time in the studio is a special privilege in 2020 – these five recordings represent a joyful release of pent-up energy. There’s room on the sled, there’s a log on the fire – catch the hopeful spirit and ring in your holiday season with Yule Chime. 

Grab a copy of Josh's Yule Chime album here. Listen to "Out Getting Firewood" below. Check out a special Christmas playlist put together by Tompkins Square for Spotify right over there.