Doane's Fiddle, Verreault's Electric Guitar, and a Prayer:Canadian Pacific Railway's Holiday Train in Sturtevant, Wisconsin (December 9, 2008)

This is what people in the north do. We stand outside during the tail end of a snowstorm in the strong win and 25°F watching a 30-minute concert from a railroad boxcar. And we love it.

For the 10th year, Canadian Pacific Railway’s two Holiday Trains are making their way across Canada and the Upper Midwest, riding the CPR tracks all lit up in the night, bringing donations to 128 community food banks, raising awareness and good cheer in those towns, and sharing some great music at every whistle stop.

My family and I greeted the Holiday Train in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. And yes, Southeastern Wisconsin was just wrapping up another snow event that left about 5 inches of snow during the day, making the evening a little messy. The crowd was smaller than the packed depot area we had experienced in 2006, but still everyone was thrilled when the glowing outline of the CPR boxcars came out of the south from Illinois.

When they rolled back the doors of the specially-fitted stage boxcar and the show began after some preliminary greetings, Shaun Verreault, of the Canadian band Wide Mouth Mason, opened up his electric rockabilly, bluesy, country rock guitar, and it was clear that the same feeling I had in 2006 would be true for 2008: the band is here to get us hopping around the Holiday Train. Verreault was joined by co-star singer/fiddler Melanie Doane and a fine band to play Christmas favorites—jumped up for good effect—and some other tunes. In particular, Doane played a rousing fiddle tune backed by a wickedly good guitar line from Verreault. It was a slam door, hopping, beat the cold back kind of song.

Different entertainers are used on each leg of the trip. Some play on multiple legs—for instance, this Midwest leg featured Verreault solo but he was alson on a leg as part of Wide Mouth Mason. The show was fun, although relied a little too heavily on Christmas love songs, such as “Christmas Wish List,” recorded by Wide Mouth Mason for this year’s Holiday Train CD/DVD. It’s a little awkward to be there with the kids at this family event with the lyrics, “I don’t need no presents under the tree/I just need your physical presence closer to me.”

It’s the same complaint I’ve had for a long time about songs like “Santa Baby” and “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” It feels dirty to hear Christmas carols that are really just odd sexual fantasies. I understand that there’s this pressure around Christmas to have a girlfriend/boyfriend, to define the relationship so you know whether to give that certain someone a gift or not, the loneliness of not having someone, but it’s still a long way from a baby in the manger being born as Savior of the world.

I had appreciated how 2006’s principle artists—Willy Porter, Pat Flynn, Tracey Brown, and Kelly Prescott—had consciously turned the show much more towards Bethlehem and Christ without losing that hop and fun.

That said, Verreault definitely rocked the boxcar and brought his guitar skills to enliven the train platform. What he didn’t play was his song “Back to You” included on the CD (and also on his own disc, Two Steel Strings, recorded live while on a CPR train). While probably penned as another love song, it works as words spoken to God as well (with a middle verse as words from God to us).

So in this time of the year when many people want to get God back in their lives, I offer Verreault’s lyrics as a prayer and encourage you to contact buy the Holiday Train CD for this song:

From the brown into the blue
To the white and right on through,
I’ve come from far away to be with you.

From the sky, from over the seas,
Over the mountains, hill, and prairies,
It’s only you I’ve come to see.

Chorus
Through the distance, past the days,
On the railroad and freeways,
I’m coming back to you, whatever I have to go through,
I’m coming back to you always.

From my heart, out my lungs,
Out my throat, and off my tongue,
Through the ether, through the air,
To your ears, where you’re sitting there,
I’ve come to comfort you when you get scared.

Chorus

Through the tragedies and the fights,
The toughest days, the sleepless nights,
Through the temptation, lust, and greed,
Where our selfish, hungry egos feed,
I come truthfully to you for all I need.

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The other reason to pick up the Holiday Train CD is for the bonus track: Terry Tufts’ www.terrytufts.com instrumental “Holiday Cannonball.” Incredibly beautiful finger-style guitar moves along on a leisurely train pace—bells chiming in the background like road crossing signals in angelic voice.

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Click on the picture of our son, Jude (with Owen in the background), to see a video from Racine's The Journal Times about the train. It includes Jude explaining what everyone was waiting for.

Canadian Pacific Railway
CPR Holiday Train
Shawn Verreault
Shawn Verreault at CD Baby
Melanie Doane
Maple Music
Terry Tufts
Borealis Records