BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A cold breeze
flowed over the streets of downtown Bay Minette recently. Luckily
for Christmas Fest goers, warm, bluesy notes from guitars, drums
and violin wafted from an outdoor stage — seeming to take a bit …
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"font-family:">BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A cold breeze flowed over the streets of downtown Bay Minette recently. Luckily for Christmas Fest goers, warm, bluesy notes from guitars, drums and violin wafted from an outdoor stage — seeming to take a bit of chill out of the air.
"font-family:">Familiar holiday songs took on new twists as embellishments on melodies rang from shining instruments. Audiences swayed and musicians moved heads and arms in unison as they added ambiance to the night.
"font-family:">Roman Street delighted audiences with their gypsy jazz sound — a sort of island aura with conga drums, classical guitar and violin; some pieces have a slow, relaxing beauty while others build to a quick, invigorating tempo of Latin notes. In both cases, the sexy sound seems to romance ears and ensnare minds.
"font-family:">The band played from their new album, “Christmas Rhumba,” as audience members wrapped in jackets, scarves and hats applauded and tapped their feet. Songs included “The First Noel,” “Feliz Navidad” and “Carol of the Bells.”
"font-family:">“I love Christmas because people seem to be in a good mood,” Noah Thompson, the group’s classical guitarist, said. “They seem to enjoy the music more. It’s something you can bring the family around, and fortunately we live in a place where you can do outdoor concerts in December.
"font-family:">He continued, saying, “It’s awesome to get down here together and share the night with a lot of family and friends and to sort of kick off the Christmas season.
"font-family:">Noah’s brother and classical guitarist, Josh Thompson, agreed and added that they were happy to perform with Mark Harris — formerly of 4H1M, a Christian group and winner of eight Dove awards and author of 24 No. 1 hits.
"font-family:">“We are old friends of Mark’s — we’ve known him for a long time,” he said.
"font-family:">Harris replied, “They're great guys and I’ve known them since they were in diapers; these are my sons in many ways — they’re extremely talented and I’m so proud of them and I love their new Christmas album.”
"font-family:">“Mark taught me how to change guitar strings,” Noah chimed in.
"font-family:">Harris’ portion of the concert followed where he wowed the audience with his powerful voice and conviction. He performed songs like “Silent Night” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” then his daughter, Madison, joined him in “Christmas Is.”
"font-family:">“I wanted to do this event because of the environment; we’re in the county seat and it’s a neat thing for us to do on this night,” he said.
"font-family:">Melanie Sikes, the North Baldwin Chamber of Commerce executive assistant, said she was thrilled to have Mark Harris and Roman Street perform at Christmas Fest.
"font-family:">“The event definitely set off the season in the right direction, opening up with Christmas music,” she explained. “It was a cool night and that also got everyone in the Christmas spirit.
"font-family:">“The music was just incredible; everyone I talked to said they were happy that we did something different this year with the music. It was an outdoor concert and everyone wanted to see more of it.”
"font-family:">She added that whether it was the music, the weather, or the draw of seasonal festivities, this year’s event went very right.
"font-family:">“Friday night was one of the biggest attendee nights in recent history. There were thousands of people out there that night,” she exclaimed. “The crowds were a lot larger, and that was definitely a bonus.
"font-family:">“I took a moment and went and stood in the street and took a picture. I looked one way, then I looked the other way and it was sea of heads. I was very pleased.”
