Day 8 of the Essential Advent Calendar opens to reveal Titus Andronicus and their holiday single, ‘Drummer Boy’. The track cranks the festive mood up a notch, and comes with a fab lyric video.
Having released one of the year’s most celebrated rock albums, ‘The Will To Live‘, and dazzled ecstatic fans across America, Titus Andronicus have much to celebrate. With the release of their first-ever standalone holiday single, ‘Drummer Boy’ the band have also shared their plans to ring in the new year with additional tour dates across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
‘Drummer Boy’ sees Titus Andronicus take the music of Billy Joel’s classic, ‘Piano Man’, and use it to tell the story of the nativity from the perspective of “The Little Drummer Boy,” made famous in the 1958 Christmas classic of the same name by the Harry Simeone Chorale. The result is an instantly memorable new addition to the winter holiday canon, sure to please not only fans of Titus Andronicus and Billy Joel, but also “Weird Al” Yankovic and even the ‘Peanuts’ gang, as bassist R.J. Gordon recites the passage from The Gospel of Luke which was immortalized by Linus in ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’, to stirring effect.
“I first connected the dots between the great Billy Joel song and the beloved Christmas standard several years ago, but it got tossed onto the pile with so many of my other crazy ideas,” singer-songwriter Patrick Stickles explains. “Things being how they are, though, I may not have the luxury of time to execute all those crazy ideas, so when we had two days off in Montreal on our recent tour, we figured we’d grab the reindeer by the antlers and cross this one off the list, so as to avoid the pain of eternal regret. Also, I’ve noticed a lot of discourse recently about what constitutes a legitimate ‘parody’ lately, and I’d like to get a piece of that action.”
To create this sterling new addition to the Christmas canon, Titus Andronicus reunited with ‘The Will to Live’ producer Howard Bilerman at his Hotel 2 Tango recording studio in Montreal, QC, adding a dash of jingling cheer to the “Ultimate Rock” sound which earned ‘The Will to Live such acclaim’.
Also contributing to the wholesome fun are members of the Canadian rock band Partner, as well as once-and-future Titus Andronicus tour companions Country Westerns.
To make things even cosier, ‘Drummer Boy’ comes packaged in an official lyric video that doubles as a “fireplace for the home,” ensuring that no listener will go without a proper hearth this holiday.
The celebration does not end once the wrapping paper and pine needles are swept away, however, as Titus Andronicus will resume their rigorous touring schedule in February, undertaking an already-announced run of concerts in the UK and Ireland (beginning February 3rd at Pharmacia in Limerick, followed by a show at the Grand Social in Dublin), and a brand-new heap of North American concert appearances which will carry the Rock Fan’s Rock Band from sea to shining sea (beginning February 28th in Pittsburgh).
Tickets for all these dates are on sale here. You can watch the lyric video for ‘Drummer Boy’ below. Find out more about Titus Andronicus and their music online on their official website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
