Advent Calendar, Door One - Dave Hughes

It's December 1st, barely. That means it is time for the annual Aye Tunes advent calendar.

One free download of a Christmassy song, every day between now and Christmas. Extra posts with stuff that isn't free. Or at least that's the plan.

First off we have the only person so far to respond to my plea for Christmas songs, and in the proces what I think is an Aye Tunes exclusive.

Dave Hughes, with and without his Renegade Folk Punk Band, has been a long time supporter of the blog. I've not been nearly as good to Dave, consistently forgetting to plug or review his releases beyond the perfunctory mention in the old gig guide.

Pleasing then that Dave hasn't given up on me, and still pays enough attention to submit something for the advent calendar.

Dave's entry gave me pause for breath for a minute, as he chose to cover Fairytale of New York. As a massive fan of the song, and The Pogues in general, there's always a feeling of "Oh God, please don't murder it" when someone says they are going to do a Pogues cover. Very few people get away with it. Wounded Knee is one, now Dave Hughes is another.

Dave Hughes - Fairytale of New York

Dave Hughes and the Renegae Folk Punk Band play their first full band Glasgow gig in ages on December 4th at The 13th Note, with support from Mark McCabe, who may well turn up in the Christmas songs soon too. Tickets and more details are available here.