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Angels Sing
''Angels Sing'' is a 2012 Christmas family drama film directed by Tim McCanlies and starring Harry Connick Jr., Connie Britton, Chandler Canterbury, Fionnula Flanagan, Lyle Lovett, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson. It is an adaptation of Turk Pipkin's 1999 novel '' When Angels Sing''. Plot History professor Michael ( Harry Connick Jr.) as a child loved Christmas, but as an adult is less than enthused about it. His family tries to get him, his wife and ten year old to also do Christmas with them at Thanksgiving, but he refuses. Upset, his son David goes outside. There, Michael tells him the story of how he had his holiday spirit crushed. He and his brother David snuck out to go skating at the lake near their grandfather's. They suffered a tragic accident when they started racing. His brother realised the ice started to crack near the center, and he flung Michael to the edge, falling through himself. Right after Michael and his wife are told the house they are renting has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim McCanlies
Tim McCanlies (born 1953) is a film director and screenwriter. He is best known for writing and directing ''Secondhand Lions'', and for writing the screenplay for ''The Iron Giant''. Biography Tim McCanlies is a fifth-generation Texan, but rarely called one place home for long. McCanlies’ father was in the Air Force and the family traveled extensively. In his early years he was interested in both acting and the technical processes that took place behind the scenes, along with the process of filming scenes. By second grade he was writing his own novels. While he was in high school he did not participate in the school's theatre program, but instead went to the local movie theatre and learned how to run the projector. McCanlies attended high school in Bryan, Texas and took some college-level courses at nearby Texas A&M University. In 1971, he moved to Austin and enrolled at the University of Texas majoring in Radio-Television-Film. After a couple of years, McCanlies transferr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (born October 9, 1960) is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in the films '' Fletch'' (1985), '' Tombstone'' (1993), ''Fast Food Nation'' (2006) and '' Parkland'' (2013). She is also known for her roles on television series such as '' Friday Night Lights'', '' Seinfeld'' and '' Nashville''. Personal life Wheeler-Nicholson was born in New York City, the daughter of Joan (née Weitemeyer) and Douglas Wheeler-Nicholson. She is the granddaughter of pioneering American comic book publisher Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, who founded DC Comics under the original company name National Allied Publications. Wheeler-Nicholson has been married to film director Alex Smith since 2011 and lives in Austin, Texas. Career Sometimes credited as Dana Wheeler Nicholson, she has appeared in numerous feature films, but is perhaps best known for her role in '' Fletch'' (1985) as Gail Stanwyk, the love interest of the title character. She is well known for her pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. Newton wrote the words from personal experience; he grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by others' reactions to what they took as his recalcitrant insubordination. He was pressed (navally conscripted) into service with the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy. While this moment marked his spiritual conversion, he continued slave trading until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether. Newton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Night
"Silent Night" (german: "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht", links=no, italic=no) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorded in 1905 and has remained a popular success, appearing in films and multiple successful recordings, as well as being quoted in other musical compositions. History "" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, he had written the poem "" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as an assistant priest. The melody was composed by Franz Xaver Gruber, schoolmaster ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carolyn Wonderland
Carolyn Wonderland (born Carolyn Bradford, November 9, 1972) is an American blues singer-songwriter and musician. She is married to comedian and writer A. Whitney Brown. Early life and education Carolyn Wonderland was born Carolyn Bradford in 1972 in Houston, Texas, United States. Wonderland dropped out of Houston's Langham Creek High School to pursue her music ambitions. Career In 1999, Wonderland moved to Austin, Texas; in 2001, she lost her apartment lease after her landlord became ill, and decided to live out of her van since she was spending more than 300 days a year on the road performing. Wonderland's instrumental abilities include guitar, slide guitar, mandolin, trumpet, and piano. Although primarily a blues artist, Wonderland likes to incorporate elements of country, swing, zydeco, surf, gospel, soul, and cumbia into her musical mix. She usually performs with Cole El-Saleh on keyboards and Kevin Lance on drums. In February 2008, Wonderland released the CD, ''M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Forsyth
Guy Forsyth (born November 30, 1968) is an American blues rock singer and songwriter. He has toured in the U.S. and Europe and has been the opening act for Ray Charles, Robert Cray, Dr. John, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, and Lucinda Williams. Forsyth's repertoire primarily incorporates elements of blues and Americana traditions, with the requisite traces of rock, R&B, folk, jazz and pop. As a songwriter, many of his albums contain his own work and songs he co-composed with other musicians. Forsyth has won several Austin Music Awards, including one for "best male vocalist" in 2005. Life and career Forsyth was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. With an airline employee as a father, Forsyth's formative years were interspersed with frequent moves to New York, Connecticut, and California before the family returned to Kansas City. By the age of 16 he began playing harmonica, in addition to singing, and was influenced by the work of Robert Johnson to lear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sahara Smith
Sahara Smith (born September 26, 1988) is an American singer-songwriter who released her debut album in 2010. Early life Sahara (her father hiccuped while suggesting "Sara," and both parties liked the mistake) Smith was born in Austin, Texas and spent her youth in Wimberley, Texas. She began writing poetry at age 3, with a poem published in the "Anthology of Poetry for Young Americans" while in the second grade, music at age twelve and at age fifteen took second place in A Prairie Home Companion's 'Talent from 12-20' contest on May 8, 2004, performing "It Don't Rain Much" and "Twilight Red".(August 27, 2010Sahara Smith; Oliver Twist in AtlantaWall Street Journal, Retrieved Feb 27 2012 A studio recording of "Twilight Red" would be included on her debut album. Career Producer T-Bone Burnett noticed Smith and took her into the studio to record her debut album, ''Myth of the Heart'', which was released in 2010 and described as a "hybrid of folk, Americana, country and bluegrass". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobbie Nelson
Bobbie Lee Nelson (January 1, 1931 – March 10, 2022) was an American pianist and singer, the elder sister of Willie Nelson, and a member of his band, Willie Nelson and Family. When she was five, her grandmother taught her to play keyboards with a pump organ, and after successful appearances at gospel conventions held in Hillsboro, Texas, her grandfather bought her a piano. Nelson married Bud Fletcher when she was sixteen. He established a band called ''The Texans'', which she and her brother joined. The group later dissolved in 1955 after she divorced Fletcher. His death six years later resulted in her suffering a breakdown and briefly losing custody of their children. In 1965 she moved to Nashville, Tennessee, after her third marriage failed. She played in restaurants and different venues until she was called by her brother from New York in 1973 for a session. She joined Willie Nelson on the piano during his sessions with Atlantic Records, that produced '' The Troublemaker'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family Bible (Willie Nelson Album)
''Family Bible'' is the 25th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. He plays guitar and is accompanied by Bobbie Nelson on piano. The album was dedicated to Mama Nelson. Track listing # "By the Rivers of Babylon" (0:50) # "Stand by Me" (3:03) # "It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)" ( Stuart Hamblen) (5:00) # " There Shall Be Showers of Blessings" (3:40) # "Softly and Tenderly" (4:34) # "Tell It to Jesus" (3:22) # "Family Bible" (Claude Gray, Paul Buskirk, Walter Breeland) (2:52) # "In God's Eyes" (Willie Nelson) (3:27) # "Revive Us Again" (2:23) # "An Evening Prayer" (C. Maude Battersby, Charles Hutchison Gabriel) (1:40) # "Kneel at the Feet of Jesus" (Willie Nelson) (3:00) Personnel * Willie Nelson - guitar, vocals * Bobbie Nelson - Bösendorfer piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kat Edmonson
Kat Edmonson (born August 3, 1983) is an American singer and songwriter who calls her music vintage pop. Biography Early life and career Born and raised in Houston, Edmonson is the only child of a single mother who enjoyed songs from the Great American Songbook and traditional pop from the 1940s and '50s. She wrote her first song at age nine while riding the school bus. In 2002, after a year at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, she moved to Austin, Texas, to pursue a music career. In 2002 Edmonson auditioned for the second season of ''American Idol'' and was one of the Top 48 contestants invited to Hollywood. She returned to Austin from Los Angeles and spent several years as a regular in the Austin club scene. She worked briefly in real estate but quit her day job in 2005 making the decision to pursue music full time. Albums In March 2009, her self-released debut album, ''Take to the Sky'', reached the Top 20 on the '' Billboard'' magazine jazz chart. ''Way Down Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Time Is Here
"Christmas Time Is Here" is a popular Christmas standard written by Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson for the 1965 television special ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'', one of the first animated Christmas specials produced for network television in the United States. Two versions were included on the album ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'': an instrumental version by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and a vocal version by choristers from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in San Rafael, California, who had previously performed with Guaraldi on '' At Grace Cathedral'' (1965). Background "Christmas Time Is Here" was composed by jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi to accompany the opening of the 1965 television special ''A Charlie Brown Christmas''. It was originally written as an instrumental, but producer Lee Mendelson decided that the song needed lyrics. Mendelson recalled, "When we looked at the show about a month before it was to go on the air, I said, 'That's such a pretty melody; maybe we should try and find ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deck The Halls
"Deck the Hall” is a traditional Christmas carol. The melody is Welsh, dating back to the sixteenth century, and belongs to a winter carol, "Nos Galan", while the English lyrics, written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant, date to 1862. Lyrics The English-language lyrics were written by the Scottish musician Thomas Oliphant. They first appeared in 1862, in volume 2 of ''Welsh Melodies'', a set of four volumes authored by John Thomas, including Welsh words by John Jones (Talhaiarn) and English words by Oliphant. The original English lyrics, as published in 1862, run as follows (later variants are discussed below): The phrase " 'Tis the season", from the lyrics, has become synonymous with the Christmas and holiday season, 'tis being an archaic contraction of "it is". Variants A variation of the lyrics appears in the December 1877 issue of the ''Pennsylvania School Journal''. This version, in which there is no longer any reference to drinking, runs as follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
