Biography: Andrea Bocelli

Andrea Bocelli is an amazing Italian singer -- let's just get that out there first. His Christmas album is no exception! But first for today...a little about him. 

Andrea Bocelli was born on September 22, 1958. He started piano lessons when he was six, and always had a passion for music. Later, he also played many more instruments including (but not limited to) flute, harp, guitar, and drums. He always had poor eyesight, but became blind at 12, because of a football accident. 

He started to become well-known between 1992 and 1998, and started becoming popular in the United States around 1999. 

A lot went on in the music world for him during this time, but you'll have to go to Wikipedia yourself to read all about it.  

Andrea met his first wife, Enrica, early in his life...eventually, they married and had two children, Amos and Matteo. If I'm reading right, Andrea became estranged from his wife in 2002 and started living with his girl-friend, Veronica. They had a daughter (Virginia) and so far as I can tell, continue to live together. :( 

Andrea has produced numerous albums, and I've heard several of his songs. My favorite of his albums would definitely be the Christmas one, My Christmas. 
 

Biography: Michael Buble

Meet another one of my favorite singers, Michael Buble! I had listened to dozens of his songs before my family finally got his Christmas album -- it's different from anything else we have, but we love it. On to a short biography of Michael Steven Buble!

He was born on September 9, 1975 in Canada to a salmon fisherman and his wife. He started a love of jazz music when he was five and heard Bing Crosby's White Christmas album, and his family noticed his skill when he was 13. For years after that, Michael sang in small enterprises, everything from cruise ships and malls to singing telegrams.

In 2000, Michael met David Foster, a producer for many famous singers. Also in 2000, he appeared in several movies. He released It's Time in 2005.

That album includes a couple of my favorite songs (more coming later today) like Save the Last Dance for Me and Feeling Good. In 2007, Call Me Irresponsible came out, followed in Crazy Love in 2009. Now there's a CD worth getting!

It included awesome songs like Cry Me a River, Crazy Love, Haven't Met You Yet, All I Do is Dream of You, and You're Nobody Until Somebody Loves You. That CD made it big.

 Michael married Luisana Lopilato on March 31, 2011. In Christmas 2011, he released his Christmas album. More on that one later today! It's full of splendid songs.

Biography: Katherine Jenkins

Today will be great...Katherine Jenkins is an amazing singer!

 Katherine Jenkins was born on June 29, 1980, in Wales. For some years (1991 to 1996) she sang with the Royal School of Church Music Cathedral Singers. At 17, she won a scholarship for the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied. In 2000, age 20, she entered a modeling competition and became the Face of Wales.

She was obviously a little excited about that. :) After that, she signed on with Universal, and six of her seven albums between 2004 and 2008 hit the #1 spot on UK classical charts. In recent years, Katherine has had numerous concerts and appeared in several movies and/or TV shows. Now, about those albums..

Second Nature was her second album, and included songs like En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor and Time to Say Goodbye. 

Her fourth album was Serenade and it has quite a few songs I'm familiar with and love: O Mio Babbino Caro, Be My Love, The Prayer, Granada, and more.

 
The only album I own in CD form (other than her Christmas ones) is this, the fifth one, Rejoice. If you are looking to buy one, I would whole-heartedly recommend this one! It has such beautiful songs...my favorites are Rejoice, How Do You Leave the One You Love, Kiss From a Rose, ... and all the rest of the CD. :)

Sacred Arias included Abide with Me and Down to the River to Pray, along with Hallelujah and Panis Angelicus. 

Believe also has beautiful songs -- it was her 2009 album. And in 2011, she came out with Daydream, but I haven't heard any of those songs yet. This Christmas, This is Christmas came out -- beautiful. And also make sure you hear her other Christmas album as well. 

Guest Post by Miss Laurie: The Hands That Created The World

The Hands That Created The World
Christmas CD by Buddy David

Singer: Gifted by God in many ways, Buddy Davis is a speaker and singer/songwriter for Answers in Genesis (AiG). He is an adventurer and paleo-artist (his sculpted dinosaurs are featured at AiG's Creation Museum), and he leads the very popular “Creation Adventure” children’s workshop at AiG conferences. Buddy plays many acoustic instruments, and his music is enjoyed around the world.

Track Listing:
1. The Hands That Created The World - original song
2. Little Drummer Boy
3. We Three Kings
4. Go Tell It On The Mountain
5. What Child Is This
6. Joy To The World
7. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
8. They Heard The Good News First - original song
9. Away In The Manger
10. Oh Beautiful, Star Of Bethlehem
11. Angels We Have Heard On High


My Thoughts: My family and I have enjoyed Buddy Davis' music, especially his Bible based original songs, for many years and since my dad works for Answers in Genesis now we've had the privileged of meeting Buddy and his wife. His music style might be called a tad country or bluegrass, especially on tracks like Go Tell It On The Mountain, Joy To The World and They Heard The Good News First where mouth harp and guitar picking are featured. There are two instrumental tracks - Joy To The World and  Angels We Have Heard On High - which have a fun but relaxing sound. The two original songs on this CD contain truths that come straight from the Biblical account of the Christmas story and proclaim God's word and proclaim Christ very clearly as Creator and Lord. I gave this CD to my mom at the beginning of December and my family has already listened to it several times!

The Hands That Created The World by Buddy Davis

My Favorite Song: Buddy Davis' original song The Hands That Created The World (listen to song above  gives the story of Christ's birth and explains who He was and why He came to earth - Creator, Lamb of God and Savior. The melody is gentle and rather like a lullaby.  I also really like Oh Beautiful Star Of Bethlehem (listen to The Judds' version here) which is a newer Christmas song (compared to most of the carols) that has been covered by many gospel music singers.

I highly recommend this Christmas CD by Buddy Davis and think it will become as much a classic for your family as it has for mine. This CD is available for purchase at the Answers in Genesis online store and you can also listen to clips of all the songs there.

 Miss Laurie is a 20-something modern day girl who loves old-fashioned things and strives to live every day for the Lord Jesus Christ. Her blog Old-Fashioned Charm is dedicated to sharing her love of Jane Austen, period costume dramas, classic literature and everything old-fashioned.