"O Little Town of Bethlehem" took me two or three months to make, and I did about eight versions that went nowhere and I had to shelve them over and over. It wasn’t until I embraced the idea of just setting the whole song in minor and putting in the Egyptian flute for the bridge that it came to life. And yes, that is a synthy sitar under the shakuhachi. Around 1:55 we hit a harder more distorted section, which I derived from a variation on “Tainted Love”.
credits
from Christmas and Glowsticks,
track released November 9, 2009
All instruments and arrangements by Joel Abbott
This vibrant cross-genre compilation of BIPOC musicians from New Orleans features Christelle Bofale, Delores Galore and more. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 23, 2021