Band of Merrymakers is a holiday music

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created by hit songwriters

Sam Hollander Sam Hollander is an American songwriter. He has collaborated with the likes of Panic! at the Disco, One Direction, Fitz and the Tantrums, Train, Weezer, Blink-182, Ringo Starr, Def Leppard, Katy Perry, Carole King, Jewel, Pentatonix, Daughtry, ...

and

Kevin Griffin Kevin Michael Griffin (born October 1, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra. His songs have been performed and recorded by artists such as Taylor ...

in 2014. The group was established with the

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

goal of raising awareness and donations for non-profit organizations and charities. The group's debut album, ''

Welcome to Our Christmas Party ''Welcome to Our Christmas Party'' is the debut full-length studio album of Christmas music by Band of Merrymakers, released on October 23, 2015, through Sony Masterworks. The album features seven original songs written by members of the group and ...

'', was released October 23, 2015, through

Sony Masterworks Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a record label, the result of a restructuring of Sony Music's classical music division. Before the acquisition of Bertelsmann's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterwor ...

Conception

Songwriters

and

were deep in a summer songwriting session in 2014 when they wandered into the topic of holiday music. They both suddenly wondered: where had all the holiday musical philanthropy gone? Where were all the original songs? They immediately set out to replicate the family holiday splendor of records like Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" & Lifebeat's A Very Special Christmas series.

Release and Promotion

Release

The group's debut album, ''

'', was released October 23, 2015, through

. The album features guest appearances from

Christina Perri Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. After her debut single "Jar of Hearts" was featured on the television series ''So You Think You Can Dance'' in 2010, Perri signed with Atlantic Records and releas ...

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(

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, Michael Fitzpatrick (

Fitz and the Tantrums Fitz and the Tantrums are an American indie pop and neo soul band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2008. The band consists of Michael Fitzpatrick (lead vocals), Noelle Scaggs (co-lead vocals and percussion), James King (saxophone, ...

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, Charity Daw,

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( Lifehouse),

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(

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), The Mowglis, Street Corner Symphony,

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, Dan Wilson (

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, an
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along with writer/producers

and

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Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana, and signed with The End Records. The band formed in 1988 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and consists of Kevin Griffin (vocals and guitar), Tom Drummond (bass g ...

Promotion

The band has performed on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lead ...

'' (ABC), Christmas in

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(NBC), ''

The TODAY Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'' (NBC), ''

Hollywood Christmas Parade The Hollywood Christmas Parade (formerly the Hollywood Santa Parade and Santa Claus Lane Parade) is an annual American parade held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It follows a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) route al ...

'' (CW), ''

The Home and Family Show ''Home & Family'' (formerly ''The Home and Family Show'') is an American daytime talk show. The series originally premiered on April 1, 1996, on The Family Channel, and was dropped by the network immediately prior to its 1998 relaunch as the Fox ...

'' (Hallmark), ''Pop Up Santa'' (ABC Family) and ''

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'' (NBC).

Charts

'' reached #9 on the iTunes Holiday Charts.

Reviews

- “Catchy? Undoubtedly. Anthemic? Yep. But even more important, despite coming from a handful of adults…it captures the childish delight of getting in the holiday spirit.” – Entertainment Weekly - “The irresistibly catchy song is bound to be stuck in your head all day, but in the good way – the chorus is fun and upbeat and will definitely get you into the holiday spirit.” – PopSugar - "Thankfully, we’re super into Holiday music and we’ve actually already started to find some new tunes to transition into Winter! One of our faves so far has to be Band of Merrymakers' debut album, Welcome to our Christmas Party — especially their lead single Snow Snow Snow!" - Perez Hilton

Charity

A portion of the proceeds went to the MusiCares Foundation.

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2014 2014 establishments in the United States