Song Credits for "A Christmas To Cure Cancer 3 "

The Update

We started CD number three in November, 2005 by opening up the new studio that Cody designed and built in the building next to my Mom’s house out near Cadiz, Ohio.  The new studio is awesome and served us well.  Cody did an incredible job and I love spending time in there.  Which is good, because I do spend a multitude of hours there working on this project.  Dave Clo again played a huge role in this release with arrangements for many songs and pulling in some top notch Nashville talent into his studio with the likes of Matt Slocum from Six Pence, None the Richer and Shane McConnell and our mainstay on piano, Chris Dauphin.  I also have to recognize Mitch Fox, Jan Roll, Dan and Penny Allison as well as Corrina VanFossen for all the time they put into this project again.

It’s nearing six years now that Lorne has been cancer free.  And we continue to thank God for that.  He’s still touring with Mike Albert and the Big ‘E’ band as they play well over 50 shows a year.  Lorne also plays with Acoustic Grace and in his church praise band.  His son Sam, is becoming quite the musician himself.  He’s on here playing Sax, Piano, Drums, Guitar and Bass Guitar as well as singing.  Soon we’ll just let him do the whole CD and I can get back to doing many of the leisure things I gave up when I started this project…like more beach time.  Or as Jimmy Buffett would say “Back To The Beach”.

I will never be able to thank Cody enough for all he does for the project, for building the studio, the recording engineering and his unbelievable voice.  He is truly amazing and I am not only blessed to have him as part of the project but even more blessed to have him as a best friend.  
 
Cancer research and treatments continue to increase the chances of survival when discovered early.  It’s this progress that motivates us to work as hard as we can to help speed the discovery of a cure.

“For all my efforts in producing this CD, I dedicate it to my brother-in-law Claudio DiBartolomeo, and Heather Pick of Columbus, Ohio.  Claudio lost his battle with cancer on November 10, 2004 which left a huge void in the community of Hilton Head Island, SC where he was not only a great father and husband, but a beloved youth soccer coach.  Heather is fighting her second battle with cancer, which is diagnosed as incurable.  I hope and pray that with our efforts we can help change that prognosis for her”.  – Mark Puskarich

1. Dig That Crazy Santa Claus

Cody Romshak – Lead Vocal
Lorne VanFossen – Guitar, Lead Guitar
Dan Allison – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mitch Fox – Piano, Backing Vocals
Penny Allison – Backing Vocals
Corrina VanFossen – Backing Vocals
Sam VanFossen – Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Jan Roll - Drums

From the “Hipsters Holiday” CD, we took the version by The Marquees, added our own harmonies and threw in a guitar lead for good measure.  Sam got cookin’ with some great sax parts.

2. Santa Baby

Heather Pick – Lead Vocal
Dave Clo – Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar
Lorne VanFossen - Guitar
Mitch Fox – Piano
Cody Romshak – Backing Vocal
Shawn Behanna - Saxophone
Jan Roll - Drums

Heather spoke at our annual benefit dinner and concert in December 2005.  She is a breast cancer survivor and currently battling cancer a second time.  While addressing the dinner guests, Heather mentioned she grew up singing around the house and found it very fitting that our project was based on music.  Later that evening, I invited her to sing on this year’s release and she was happy to help.  Heather has been taking treatments all year but continues to work as a weekday morning anchor for 10TV Eyewitness News.   She also continues to be the most upbeat person you will ever meet.  And, as you will hear, she is a great singer.  Thanks Heather for all you do for your cause.  You inspire me to work that much harder to raise money.

3. White Christmas

Cody Romshak - Lead Vocals
Dave Clo – Guitar, Bass Guitar
Chris Dauphin – Piano
Brian Duress – Drums
Kenn Hughes – Trombone
Chris Gregg – Alto and Tenor Sax
David Shipp - Trumpet

Words and music by Irving Berlin (ASCAP).
Recorded at Tony’s Treasures Studio, Cadiz, OH.  Mark Linger recording engineer.
Piano and horns recorded at Camp David Studio, Nashville, TN.
Arrangement by Dave Clo.  Horn arrangement by David Shipp.

This one really swings.  Everyone’s been asking when we were going to have “White Christmas” on one of our CDs. Dave did a great job coming up with a Setzer-esque arrangement, and my neighbor Brian Duress covered the drums.  Mark Linger was up the weekend we recorded this and had the drums tuned and mic-ed to perfection.  This is the best sounding drum track on the CD.

4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Roger Hoard - Guitar

Roger’s performance was standard tuning on his L. Benito 132 Classic with a B Band Pickup and D'addario Strings.

“I want to dedicate this track to a couple of  Wheeling Jamboree friends who passed away recently:  Jimmy Stephens and Howard Hatcher.  Great musicians and good souls...they don't make them like those fellows anymore.” – Roger Hoard

5. It’s Christmas Time

Corrina VanFossen – Lead Vocal
Penny Allison – Vocal Harmony
Cody Romshak – Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen – Acoustic Guitar
Sam VanFossen – Piano
Matt Slocum - Cello
Tim Siedler – Drums
Andy Dodson – Electric Piano
Ben Miller – Suspended Cymbal, Triangle

This is a song Corrina really wanted to record. Sam, Lorne and Corrina created their own arrangement.  Dave Clo was able to secure Matt Slocum, of Six Pence, None The Richer fame, to play cello on the song. The cello really makes the song.  Thanks so much Matt for lending us your talents to further our project.

6. Why Can’t Every Day Be Like Christmas?

Mike Albert – Lead Vocal
Lorne VanFossen – Guitar
Mitch Fox – Piano
Jeff Mattevi – Bass
Linda Lawson – Vocal Harmony
Mary Sorensen – Vocal Harmony
Jan Roll – Drums
Better known as Mike Albert and the Big “E” Band.)

“I would like to dedicate this to one of my heroes, Karen Rugg-Klapheke.  Karen has been such an inspiration to me in being a fighter of this terrible disease.  Through all of her struggles, pain, surgeries and recovery times, she has always held her head high and been such a testimony of depending on God's strength to hold her up even in the most difficult of times. She continues to be a fighter and is even a part of a cancer survivor rowing team, a shining example of God's healing power and how there is vibrant life after cancer!  Thank you Karen and bless you!” – Linda Lawson

“I dedicate my performance to my father J.E. Roll, who is still fighting his battle day by day.  I am very honored to be involved with all of these
people who are working toward the goal of someday eliminating this disease.” – Jan Roll

7. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Penny Allison – Lead Vocal
Dan Allison – Bass Guitar, Harmony Vocal
Dave Clo – Guitar
Chris Dauphin - Piano
Sean Behanna - Saxophone
Tim Siedler – Drums

Penny chose this song and wanted to perform a duet with her husband Dan.  Dave composed a cool arrangement and worked with Chris Dauphin on a wonderful piano part.  Thanks to Tim Siedler for making time to come in and lay down a drum track to fit the mood.

8. Little Drummer (and Guitar) Boy

Lorne VanFossen – Electric Guitars
Dave Clo – 12-String Guitar
Jeff Mattevi – Bass
Mitch Fox – Synths
Jan Roll – Drums, Percussion

I talked with Jan about arranging a version of “Little Drummer Boy” that would feature drums.  What we ended up with featured the guitar as well.  This song turned out a little bizarre but really cool.  We went back and forth on whether to add vocals, but decided on recording the song with just the guitar and drums.

9. Santa Done Got Hip

Penny Allison – Lead Vocal
Corrina VanFossen – Vocal Harmony
Lorne VanFossen – Guitar, Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Dan Allison – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mitch Fox – Piano, Backing Vocals
Sam VanFossen – Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Mark Puskarich - Drums

From the “Hipsters Holiday” CD, we took the version by The Marquees, added our own harmonies and threw in a guitar lead.

10. I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ For Christmas

Carley Clo – Lead Vocals – Age 5
Sam VanFossen – Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Piano – Age 13
Kristen Zehnal – Backing Vocals – Age 4
Claire Zehnal – Backing Vocals – Age 7
Alex Mirabal – Backing Vocals – Age 9
Justin Mirabal – Backing Vocals – Age 8
Gioia DiBartolomeo – Backing Vocals – Age 13

The kids are back and better than ever.  With Sam playing all the instruments and Dave Clo’s daughter Carley singing this when she was only 5 years old, we have some amazing young talent to look forward to for future CDs.  We always need a fun song for the kids and this fits the bill.

11. Christmas Is

John Kenney – Lead Vocal
Mitch Fox – Piano
Ted Snyder – Bass Guitar
Fred King – Pedal Steel Guitar
Ed Koran - Lead Guitar, Fiddle
Vince Carter - Drums
Cody Romshak- Backing Vocals

John and Mitch recorded this song on the 2004 CD but decided they wanted a more traditional country version of this song.  So, they got their old band “Shanghide” back together to play this track.  

12. The Gift

Corrina VanFossen – Vocals
Cody Romshak – Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Acoustic 12-string Guitar

We started on this one during our first CD.  We originally worked on a full band version, but this turned out absolutely beautiful and simple.  Corrina and Cody’s duets are nothing short of magic.  Lorne was supposed to get credit for one of the guitar parts, but his buddy Cody just didn’t think it was up to par so he re-tracked it.  We’ll let everyone know when the two of them are on speaking terms again.

13. O Holy Night

Sally Beske – Piano
Sarah Beske - Cello

Traditional/Public Domain

I worked with Bryan Beske at Worthington Industries and he has been a great supporter of our benefit concert in Columbus every year.  His wife Sally is a concert pianist, and his daughter Sarah is a scholarship musician attending Michigan University.  I hope I am able to secure them for more tracks in the future.

14. How Can This Be Christmas

Laura Darnell – Lead, Backing Vocals
Roark Jones – Lead. Backing Vocals
Scott Allen – Piano, Acoustic Guitar, Bass Guitar, Synth, Suspended Cymbal, Chime

Scott and Dave Clo attended college together. Dave had heard Scott’s song and asked if we could use it for our project.  Scott wrote this song for a Christmas program for his church (River Oaks Community Church) in 2004.  It’s about two completely different concepts of what Christmas is all about.  It is very special that we have Laura performing for our project as she is a breast cancer survivor.

15. Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Doug Smith – Guitar – tuned in DADGAD

Grammy winning guitarist Doug Smith has one of the most amazingly beautiful solo guitar Christmas CDs I’ve ever heard.  I got on his website and made a request to use one of his songs for this CD.  He was nice enough to respond right away and offer his support.  I highly recommend his CD “Christmas Guitar.” You can buy it online at www.dougsmithguitar.com.  Thanks Doug for making incredible music and sharing it with us to help raise money for cancer research.

16. The Man With The Bag

Mike Walker – Lead Vocal
Lorne VanFossen – Lead and Rhythm Guitar
Jeff Mattevi – Bass
Mitch Fox – Piano
Jan Roll – Drums
Shawn Behanna – Saxaphone
Jason Moore – Trombone
Martin Rippel - Trumpet
Recorded at Camp David Studio, Nashville, Tenn.  Horns recorded at Tony’s Heart Studio, Piedmont, OH.

This was another holdover from the 2004 CD.  We didn’t have it finished in time to make the cut the last time around, so we had Mike re-track the vocals, create another solo in the middle and took our turn at this Setzer style tune.

17. Santa Fuzz – The Jordanaires

Gordon Stoker -  First Tenor
Curtis Young -  Second Tenor
Louis Nunley - Baritone
Ray Walker – Bass
Claire and Kristen Zehnal - Additional children’s laughter

The Jordanaires come to Ohio every February to play with Mike Albert and the Big ‘E’ Band for Mike’s Valentine’s Day show.  It was there I was able to discuss with Ray Walker the possibility of using this track.  These four gentlemen are the nicest group of folks you’ll ever meet.  Thanks Ray for providing this track for our project.

18. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts)

Chris Logsdon – Vocal 
Chris Dauphin - Piano

Cody, Dave and I ran into Chris at the NAMM show in Indianapolis in 2005.  I told him of our project and asked if he would consider performing a song for our next CD.  This is the result of persistence on both our parts to make it happen.  Thanks Chris for your time and dedication to this recording and for supporting our project.

19. Have You Heard The News?

Penny Allison - Lead Vocal
Gus Lambros – Lead Guitar and Licks
Scott Smalley – Bass Guitar
Lorne VanFossen – Rhythm Guitar
Mitch Fox – Piano
Jan Roll – Drums

I heard this Koko Taylor song off the “Genuine Houserockin Christmas” CD and thought Gus Lambros and the Electric Mudd band was the right artists to cover this tune.  Penny jumped in and provided her usual strong vocals.

20. A Strange Way To Save The World

Shane McConnell – Lead and Backing Vocals
Corrina VanFossen – Backing Vocals
Julie Lucas – Backing Vocals
Mitch Fox – Piano, Strings
Lorne VanFossen – Acoustic Guitar
Don White – Bass Guitar

This is a truly great song that reminds us of Christ’s humble arrival into our world to save us all from Satan’s power.  Mary and Joseph and the hay in the manger.  God’s blessing are everywhere, even in the most ordinary places in our world.  Nothing is below us.  It’s all part of God’s creation.

21. What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

Kelly Delaveris – Lead Vocal
Nikolas Delaveris – Upright Bass
Sean Ferguson – Piano
Recorded at The PowerPlant, Westerville, OH. Rusty Yanok, Recording Engineer.

I heard Kelly sing at my friend Joe Stegmayer’s wedding years ago.  I’ve always loved her voice and made it a point to seek her out to perform on our CD this year.  I caught up with her at the Worthington Inn one Saturday night, and she accepted our invitation to be a part of our project.  It was there I learned her mother had battled three times with cancer.  During her recording session, I was so in love with her music I invited her to record her next CD at our studio free of charge.  She gave it some thought and accepted as she was excited to record with her son and also get some of her band Brasileira tracked.  Then she really surprised me and asked that we take her new release to support our efforts raising money for cancer research.  God truly blesses us when we sometimes least expect it.  Thank you Kelly.  I hope we continue to work together in the future as it has been all my pleasure.

“I want to dedicate my performance to my mother Miriam Crum.  She was a 15-year survivor of breast cancer and a 5-year survivor of colon cancer.  She did not survive lung cancer, but she fought it with everything she had left.  Mom would have been so proud, especially since her first grandbaby is on this recording, too.” – Kelly Delaveris

Liner notes by Mark Puskarich.

Except where stated otherwise, this CD was produced and engineered by Mark Puskarich and Cody Romshak with additional final mixing support from Mark Linger at Tony’s Treasures Studio in Cadiz, Ohio.

For additional pictures and videos, and the latest on fundraising and concert dates, please visit our website at www.achristmastocurecancer.org.  A Christmas To Cure Cancer, Inc. is an IRS registered 501(c)(3) non –profit corporation.

THANKS TO:

Tracy Moran and Jennifer McDonald at The James. Melinda Hill, Michelle Shepherd and Jeff Davis at the Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society. Jill Bookhout, Kathy Lucas, Devonie Bennett, Betsy Berlin and all who volunteer to organize the silent auctions. Jolene Thompson for donations and all her friendship and support. Andrew Schall, Mark Frizzell, Dave Marsh, Tami Jones and Glenn Gornall at West-Camp Press. Kim Worthington, Siobhan Blake and everyone who supports us at ICC.  Les Bond for running sound at our concerts.  Ruth Ann Shadwick and Melinda Warner for keeping all the money straight. Shellie Batton for the mailing list support. Kendra Smith, Jovanna Antonelli, Diane Englehart, Gayle Eiselt, Judi Bruce and everyone who volunteers at the benefit events. Mike Milarcik for handling the accounting work. Frank Fregiato for all our legal. Lisa Zehnal for your timely editing and Lois Puskarich for promotions and love and food for the recording sessions. Larry Rowe, Bob Clark and the folks at Merrill Lynch.   The many Columbus area corporations who support our annual benefit dinner, silent auction and concert.  And especially John P. McConnell and wonderful people at Worthington Industries who help every year.  Rick Green, Rusty Yanok and Andrea Koder for the recording time at the Powerplant in Westerville, OH.  Mark Linger for helping us get the new studio off the ground and helping with mixes and along with Dave Clo, helping us learn the recording software.  Andy Dotson at Guitar Center for hooking me up with all the good deals and awesome gear.

I sincerely appreciate the time and talents of the musicians who made this a memorable CD. They took time away from work, some without pay, made sacrifices of their nights and weekends in order to record.  – Mark Puskarich

“I would like to thank the many, many people who have donated so much of their time, talents and just plain hard work. I couldn't say enough good things about Cody Romshak. What an incredible talent and an incredible friend. Another incredible friend is Mark Puskarich. Without all his hard work, financial support, PR work, and on and on, this project would never have gotten started”.

“ Unfortunately, everyone has been touched by cancer in some way.  Fortunately for us, everyone is anxious to help find a cure, so no one else will have to go through this horrible disease.  The Bible says very clearly the good Lord won't give you more than you can handle, at least not without His help. Philippians 4:13 says, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It's been almost six years since my battle with cancer, and while I had a lot of help from family and friends, had it not been for my personal relationship with Jesus I would not have made it.  I pray that everyone who reads this knows or comes to know Jesus.  It may sound corny, but Jesus loves you right where you are. If you'll open your heart to him, you'll never ever regret it.”
God bless everyone! – Lorne VanFossen

CD graphic design by Carol Brown and Andrew Schall
CD cover tree Photo by Jeff Schultz/AlaskaStock.com © 2006

Song List:

• Dig That Crazy Santa Claus -  3:05
• Santa Baby – 2:56
• White Christmas – 3:03
• Santa Claus Is Coming To Town – 3:02
• It’s Christmas Time – 3:52
• Why Can’t Every Day Be Like Christmas? – 3:02
• Let It Snow – 2:25
• Little Drummer (and Guitar) Boy – 5:14
• Santa Done Got Hip – 2:41
• I’m Gettin’ Nuthin’ For Christmas – 3:18
• Christmas Is – 4:24
• The Gift – 3:43
• O Holy Night – 2:22
• How Can This Be Christmas? – 4:28
• Hark, The Herald Angels Sing – 3:02
• Man With The Bag – 2:47
• Santa Fuzz – 2:26
• The Christmas Song – 3:18
• Have You Heard The News? – 3:55
• A Strange Way To Save The World – 4:32
• What Are You Doing New Years Eve? – 5:20

Appearing on CD:

1. Lorne VanFossen
2. Sam VanFossen
3. Corrina VanFossen
4. Cody Romshak
5. Dave Clo
6. Mark Puskarich
7. Jan Roll
8. Jeff Mattevi
9. Mitch Fox
10. Mike Albert
11. Linda Lawson
12. Mary Sorensen
13. Penny Allison
14. Dan Allison
15. Gus Lambros
16. Scott Smalley
17. Andy Dotson
18. Ben Miller
19. Nikolas Delaveris
20. Sean Ferguson
21. Kelly Delaveris
22. Heather Pick
23. Chris Logsdon
24. Tim Seidler
25. Shane McConnell
26. Matt Slocum
27. Julie Lucas
28. Don White
29. Chris Dauphin
30. Laura Darnell
31. Roark Jones
32. Scott Allen
33. John Kenney
34. Ted Snyder
35. Fred King
36. Ed Koran
37. Vince Carter
38. Brian Duress
39. Carley Clo
40. Mike Walker
41. Kenn Hughes
42. Chris Gregg
43. David Shipp
44. Shawn Behanna
45. Martin Rippel
46. Jason Moore
47. Doug Smith
48. Roger Hoard
49. Ray Walker
50. Gordon Stoker
51. Curtis Young
52. Louis Nunley
53. Sarah Beske
54. Sally Beske