A Nanaimo musician is getting ready for the holidays with a new album featuring a pair of songs he released 35 years ago.
Glen Foster recently released his first Christmas album, The Spirit of Christmas. Along with a number of new recordings are remastered versions of The Spirit of Christmas and The 12 Guitars of Christmas, Side A and B of a 45 Foster released back in 1986.
“I think they sound just as good today as they did back then,” he said of the recordings. “I really enjoy them. I think we did such a good job of it back then that it’s one of those songs that I think stands the test of time.”
Aside from the two singles from the ’80s, the album includes a collaboration between Foster and local keyboardist Marty Steele called Christmas in Vancouver, as well as Foster’s own instrumental arrangements of Christmas carols.
The instrumental pieces feature Foster on all instruments. He recorded those tracks at home using equipment he describes as “the most basic thing that you could imagine short of just having a tape recorder.”
“It’s not high-tech. I’m not even recording on a computer,” he said. “I can’t cut and paste on it so I had to be very good and practise really hard so I could get good takes all the way through.”
Foster said originally he didn’t even set out to make a CD. At first the idea was only to record some songs to give to family and friends for Christmas.
“That was the whole concept behind doing an album: just record enough songs that I could share some joy at Christmastime and share my music with people and it just grew from there,” he said. “And I realized that it had potential for something greater.”
With the Christmas season approaching, Foster is taking part in a pair of fundraisers for the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank. The first takes place at the Wheatsheaf Pub in Cedar on Dec. 4, the other happens at the Queen’s in Nanaimo on Dec. 22.
The Spirit of Christmas and the original vinyl 45s are available at Fascinating Rhythm, 51 Commercial St., The album can also be purchased from Foster’s website.
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