Gretta Ray has shared a special Christmas recording of her song ‘It’s Almost Christmas In Philly’. The stripped-down re-recording of the track from Ray’s ARIA-nominated album, Begin To Look Around, is accompanied by a version of Joni Mitchell’s low-key Christmas classic, ‘River’.
“I wanted to give a nod to the Christmas-themed song on my album,” said Ray. “It’s a song about driving through North America with my dear friend Sam while I was opening for Gang of Youths in 2018. It’s the most folky sounding song on Begin To Look Around, and with this version I wanted to hone in on that even more.”
‘River’ mightn’t be a mainstay of Christmas radio programming, but it fits the criteria. The first verse goes, “It’s coming on Christmas / They’re cutting down trees / They’re putting up reindeer / And singing songs of joy and peace.”
“Joni Mitchell has always been one of my biggest inspirations” said Ray. “With this cover of her song ‘River’, I wanted to acknowledge how much her songwriting means to me. It was such a joy to put my own twist on this song.”
Ray has shared a live performance video of ‘River’ filmed at The Dale Studio in inner Sydney. Find that below.
