Louisville, Ky., Band Releases Murder Ballad Cover of Christmas Classic

Dec. 7, 2012 - PRLog -- LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dec. 7, 2012 – Just in time for the holiday season – or the end of the world as we know it, if the Mayans are correct – Louisville, Ky., band the Uncommon Houseflies has released a slightly demented version of the Christmas classic “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

The shortened and much darker version of the long-standing perennial hit looks at the story as a tragedy rather than as a comedy, with the narrator vowing revenge against Santa for his murderous deed. It’s as if a holiday favorite ran head-first into Clint Eastwood’s foul temper.

Whereas the original, written by Randy Brooks and made famous by Patsy & Elmo in the late 1970s, was crafted as a fun, family-style sing-along, the Uncommon Houseflies employ minor keys and mournful crooning.

“I actually came up with this idea about a year ago,” said Kevin Gibson, who plays bass and sings lead vocals on the track, “but at that point it was too late to pull it together in the studio, so we sat on it.”

Gibson said he told his bandmate, guitarist Butch Bays, about his idea for the song during a post-rehearsal beer-drinking session, and Bays loved the idea.

“About a week later, he had already arranged it,” Gibson said. “It was as if he climbed inside my head, because it was exactly what I had imagined – only better.”

“As soon as he mentioned the idea to me, the arrangement was finished,” Bays added. “I knew immediately what he was after.”

Recorded and mastered by Jeff Carpenter at Al Fresco’s Place Recording Studios in Louisville, the track will be released as part of a Christmas EP titled A Very Houseflies Christmas. The EP also includes Gibson’s original rock ballad “Doghouse for the Holidays” and Bays’s original rockabilly stomper “Credit Card Christmas.” John Hayes (Shannon Lawson, Hambone) played drums on the tracks.

Two of the songs were debuted on WHAS-11’s “Great Day Live” program on Nov. 30: http://www.whas11.com/great-day-live/video/Christmas-music-by-The-Uncommon-Houseflies-181538981.html

The songs are now available at CDBaby.com (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/theuncommonhouseflies3), and will be soon at iTunes, Amazon.com and a variety of other sites. The band will sell limited-edition CD copies Dec. 15 at Gerstle’s Place Tavern in Louisville. Local mainstay Digby headlines the bill.

Find out more at http://uncommonhouseflies.com. Follow the ‘Flies at http://www.facebook.com/theuncommonhouseflies.