Battle of the Bands

This Endris Night BoTB Showdown

December 1, 2022 /

Last December, I stumbled on Dan Fogelberg’s This Endris Night.  You probably recognize the Christmas carol.  The English tune dates back to the 15th century.  Fogelberg’s cover reminds me of a lullaby beautifully soothing. 

In today’s battle I’m turning your ear to two instrumental renditions of the song. Listen to decide which cover you like the best.

First is a Log Cabin Christmas.

Over the years I’ve come to appreciate and enjoy the sound of bluegrass, especially instrumental melodies. I have a couple of CDs in my Christmas music collection to prove it.

The second arrangement is an Irish Christmas.

I didn’t realize until after I pulled these two videos into my post that both arrangements feature some of the same musicians. Alisa Jones (both), Ron Wall (first version), Mark Howard (both) John Mock (second version) and Stuart Duncan (second version).

Appalachian bluegrass and Irish folk music is quite similar. I love both of these renditions but are the differences enough to make for an interesting showdown? With that nagging me, I found another instrumental arrangement on YouTube’s sparse collection.

The third entry in this battle is the contribution produced and arranged by Craig Duncan featuring authentic Celtic instruments in a traditional Irish Christmas style.

I’m curious, is Stuart Duncan from the second entry and Craig Duncan from the last video related, if not what a coincidence with using two fellas with the same last name.

Now comes the hard part, which cover version gets your vote, a Log Cabin Christmas, an Irish Christmas or the traditional Irish Christmas arrangement? In my opinion all three are winners. I truly love each version!

I invite you to visit BoTBers with showdowns going on today.

*Unless noted, all other participants will present two battles per month on the 1st & 15th

Polls close noon (EST) on Dec 6th.

Next week, same time slot I’ll be back to announce the winner in this round, so be sure to mark your calendar to see if your favorite artist wins in this showdown. BEEP…BEEP… the following section needs correcting. “Next time on CAAC, beginning this Sunday, I’ll be sharing blog posts from Decembers long ago in a new mini series just for this month, Visiting Christmases Past.” That was my plan originally but I’m not in Blogosphere on the weekends much so I felt that would be a poor decision cutting into my already full schedule. Instead, I set this mini series to launch on Wednesdays this month, so if you’re on the cyberblock, then I hope you’ll hop this way. Meanwhile, you will find me boogieing on the 4M dance floor on Monday all month to Christmas music. Have a bandtastic day, my friends. X💋X💋, Cathy 

Leave your vote in comments!



22 Comments

    • Cathy Kennedy

      December 5, 2022 at 1:41 pm

      No worries, Ellen. American bluegrass is a bit more country sound and there’s a lot of people that it doesn’t appeal to. I have you down for IRISH CHRISTMAS. Thanks for voting, dear friend!

  • John Holton

    December 1, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    A lot of Appalachian music has its roots in Scottish and Irish music, because a lot of people who settled in those areas were from Scotland and Ireland. Anyway, I’m with Arlee: I liked the Log Cabin Christmas version the best. I felt like the other two covers were too slow.

    • Cathy Kennedy

      December 5, 2022 at 1:38 pm

      John,

      Oh goody so happy to see you liked LOG CABIN CHRISTMAS well enough to give them your vote. I think if I were voting in my showdown then they would get mine. Really all three are fine renditions are quite similar but instrumental bluegrass has that down to earth country sound from my youth. I guess, you can’t take the mountains out of the girl. 🙂

  • Sandee

    December 1, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    I like all three but the last one is my favorite. Beautiful. So my vote goes to Irish Christmas.

    Have a fabulous day. Enjoy your time with hubby. Love and hugs. ♥

  • Stephen T. McCarthy

    December 1, 2022 at 2:42 pm

    Merry CHRISTmas, CAThy (if it’s that you)! ~

    This song was a new one on me. Hard to believe there was an old Christmas tune out there that I was unaware of, since I’ve always been a MASSIVE fan of Christmas music!

    This was a very pretty melody which actually, at certain moments, slightly reminded me of a couple of other more famous Christmas carol melodies.

    I really liked ALL THREE of these recordings and could have joyfully voted for any one of them. But since I’m forced to narrow it down to just one, I shall cast my BOTB “bote” for the second recording, ‘IRISH CHRISTMAS’. I’ve got a good amount of Irish blood in me, and now I’m feeling I could use a good amount of Irish whiskey in me, too. [;^D}

    Thanks for a very nice Battle Of The Bands installment! I truly enjoyed every minute of it.

    ~ D-FensDogG
    STMcC Presents BATTLE OF THE BANDS

    • Cathy Kennedy

      December 5, 2022 at 1:34 pm

      Stephen,

      I’m a huge fan of Christmas music, too. I’m one of these people who never tire of it and literally will plan it almost non-stop most of every day throughout December. I appreciate you taking time to weigh your thoughts in with this battle with your bote for IRISH CHRISTMAS. Thanks for stopping by, my friend!

  • Arlee Bird

    December 1, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    I’m going with the Log Cabin Christmas version. My family origins are from Ireland, but my heart is in Appalachia. I prefer the instrumentation of the first version so Log Cabin music is the one for me.

    Lee

    • Cathy Kennedy

      December 5, 2022 at 1:33 pm

      Lee,

      Folks born and raised in Appalachian community most often have Irish/Scottish roots. Although Kennedy is my married name, one or both of my parents have ancestors from Ireland or Scotland.

      Thanks for voting. I have yours logged for LOG CABIN CHRISTMAS, my friend!

  • diedre Knight

    December 1, 2022 at 11:26 am

    Hi Cathy!
    Lovely renditions, soothing. I really liked the second one, but was absolutely charmed by the traditional Irish Christmas arrangement. A vote for the third!
    Interesting battle 😉

  • Thomas Anderson

    December 1, 2022 at 8:31 am

    Hi, Cathy!

    Forgive me for being late, dear friend. On Wednesday, you said your next post was Friday, so I wasn’t expecting anything. I should have checked the calendar and realized that December has sneaked up on you and on me. 🙂

    I like your idea of presenting three instrumentals in your band battle. The holidays are the time when lovely instrumental tunes fill the air along with songs with lyrics sung and sometimes spoken. All three instrumental versions of “This Endris Night (Nyght)” are a welcome change from synth and boogie beats. All three cleanse the palate and restore the soul. Like you, I have developed an appreciation of bluegrass in recent years. Therefore, the selection from Log Cabin Christmas appealed to my ears. Entry #3, the Traditional Irish Christmas featuring Celtic instruments, was AOK, but I feel a little overdosed on Celtic music in recent years. Contestant #2, the Irish Christmas version of “The Endris Nyght,” was my favorite of the three. I appreciate the combination of instruments used, especially the Uilleann piping. The piece is evocative and touched me deep down. So, please give my vote to #2 – Irish Christmas.

    Howdy to my good buddy Foghorn Leghorn! Looks like he got a brand new Ajax Corporation mallet for Christmas. 🙂

    Looks like you have a special Sunday post coming up. You know I’ll be here. Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend, dear friend Cathy!

    • Cathy Kennedy

      December 5, 2022 at 1:27 pm

      Hello Tom,

      You’re the early bird and first voter in this battle round. I sure do appreciate you loyalty to CAAC. 🙂

      Yeah, Foghorn Leghorn got a brand new Ajax Corp mallet for Christmas. He had to because he knew Santa wouldn’t bring it to him since he worn the other one out bonking Dog on the noggin’ all the time. 🤣

      The first vote goes to contender #2 IRISH CHRISTMAS!

      Thanks again for playing along. Take care, dear friend!

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