In a just world, the name Ryan Hamilton would be one of those dropped into musical conversations often, but over the years, the US singer-songwriter has had to settle for achieving a Marshall Crenshaw-like cult status. Whether as a solo performer or as frontman of the Harlequin Ghosts, of course, he’ll be more than familiar to fans of retro sounding college rock, power pop and indie infused country rock.
For power pop fans, singer songwriter Donnie Vie will need no introduction. With Enuff Z’Nuff, he lent his vocal and songwriting chops to a string of great albums, released at a time when a blend of Cheap Trick obsessions crossed with a 60s inspired, flower power cool was decidedly uncool. Their first three albums (‘Enuff Z’Nuff’, ‘Strength’ and ‘Animals With Human Intelligence’) are cast iron classics which still play brilliantly, decades after the fact. During the second half of the nineties and beyond, the band’s tendency to take a cut ‘n’ paste approach to making albums could be frustrating, but for the more patient fan, there was always a little more gold to be mined, and an on-form Vie continued to show his very natural melodic gifts on tracks like ‘There Goes My Heart’, ‘Believe In Love’ and ‘What Can I Do?’
Despite being a prolific artist, singer songwriter Kurt Baker experienced a creative lull in 2025. Due to a change in personal circumstances – spearheaded by a massive change of location and a divorce – over the course of the year, he only released one digital single, before bowing out with a contribution to Wicked Cool Records’ Xmas compilation. Eventually buoyed by new writing partnership, his big return with ‘Undertow Afterglow’ puts the Kurt Baker stamp on a new year – and effectively a new beginning – in record time, appearing barely a week into 2026.
Love it or hate it, Christmas music is big business – especially in the US, where it seems that almost every great artist has recorded something festive for posterity. Apparently, if you’re a country artist, recording a Christmas album is the law. The amount of time and money invested in festive tunes is huge, and that becomes rather bewildering when you consider that the music basically has a shelf life of four or five weeks a year.
For this visit to the Singles Bar, everything has taken on a distinctly festive theme. We bring you eight Xmas recordings from different artists and genres – ranging from the well known to the genuinely cult – which hopefully will enrich your holiday time playlists for years to come. A much loved rock band offer a new cover tune; there’s a brilliantly ugly electronica themed Elvis tribute, and ‘Santa Baby’ as you’ve probably never heard it before. There’s also a touch of Americana, some great pop, and a nod to the mighty Slade along the way. We hope there’s something here for everyone who loves Christmas music… Pour yourself another eggnog and dive in!
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