by Jaz Bowens
The holiday season is in full swing in the tri-state area; an area filled with talents of all genres. This year, over 20 local musicians and bands came together to create Not Just Another Christmas CD, an album in honor of the holiday spirit, all because of a kind-hearted request by a woman named Christy.
According to the project’s organizer and promoter Eric Miozzi, Christy had the amazing idea to contact some of their friends who are musicians and ask them if they would like to help her make a Christmas CD. “She [wanted to] give it to me as a gift on Christmas. That way we would have music to hear over the holidays from our friends!”
Immediately after Christy told Miozzi about the project, it began to take on a life of its own. Many of their artist friends wanted to be involved. “Here’s the thing, we never considered when we started that everyone we asked, just about, would say yes,” Miozzi emphasizes. “But they did, and quickly, I might add. We asked a lot of people and the positive response was amazing.”
They soon realized that this idea was a good one, so they started asking for help. Thankfully, a lot of friends and family stepped up to guide, teach, and help them. “Studios, producers, production people, and more,” says Miozzi. “Everyone wanted to help us out and we took it all in. We learned all we could and from there, well, magic happened.”
That magic went from an idea, to the drawing board, and into production and distribution. It took a lot of dedicated people and resources to complete the project. “This isn’t for profit in any way shape or form,” Miozzi says. “From day one, it is and always will be, about the music. We wanted to share an ‘effort’ amongst friends. But that idea grew larger than we expected. Every time it got bigger we figured out a way to pay for it through donations, more effort, and more people getting involved (over 100 now).”
There came a time where costs started to be incurred and unfortunately, Miozzi and his crew couldn’t get around them. “So, after much talk, we decided that that’s exactly right- it can’t be done by one. We decided to set up a page where everyone can contribute what they can, if they wanted to, and then see what happens. We set up the GoFundMe and within a week we had enough to cover the costs of studio time, and production of all the double CDs with full graphics custom designed just for us.”
Because of the large outpouring of support the project has gone from a CD to a full on upcoming concert. “We have officially booked a venue in Philadelphia called 2300 Arena,” Miozzi explains. “We wanted a place to all gather and celebrate what we accomplished together. A place where we ‘end’ this project; sort of a place where we can all say ‘we did it’ all together at the same time.”
2300 Arena is located at 2300 S. Swanson Street. Head there on January 9th from 6PM to midnight to celebrate with the artist and organizers who made the CD possible. There is already a lineup of 15 acts from the CD on two stages. People of all ages are welcome as well. To continue to make this all possible and complete the amazing journey so far they need to get to reach their GoFund goal of $2,000, sell the remainder of the CDs, and collect a $10 donation at the door. Most of all, they need to pack the 2300 Arena.
The sense of community and collective energy for bringing cheer to all through music is only right for this time of year, but it’s much more than that to Miozzi and his musician friends. “Look at the way things are out there right now,” he says. “We believe that the ‘spirit’ of people has been lost in a sense, with all the current events, war and fear and tragedies that are going on, with no sign of ending. We think people are needing something to believe in right now, something positive, and why not believe in something that creates happiness?”
Miozzi and his friends saw an opportunity to not only get the music they wanted for the holidays, but also a way to draw attention to the talented people who make it. “These are our friends and family out there, giving this magic to us, most times for free or little to no payment at all. This community we have here is amazing and we wanted to tell everyone about it and try to get more support for the people who make it happen on a weekly basis. I mean, this started out as a gift from us to them and from them to us, but since we started, it has become so much more than just that.”
If you want to be a part of something great go to Not Just Another Christmas CD’s GoFund page and donate for your very own CD. Then, make sure you’re first in line at the concert on January 9th. Make sure you share, share, share by word of mouth and social media about this awesome endeavor during the holiday season. See you on the 9th.
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Thank you so much for writing this and believing in the project, it is amazing what you can achieve with support! #spreadthehappy