Two years ago, Jeremy Porter discovered a hidden Christmas classic in a collection of 7-inch vinyl singles.
The Detroit singer-songwriter and guitarist flipped over a “Mr. Bojangles” single for the Nitty Gritty Dirty Band and found “Colorado Christmas” on the B-side.
“Their version is solid, of course, but it was the B-side, ‘Colorado Christmas,’ that really caught my ear,” said Porter, who also fronts The Tucos. “I’m always looking for a good Christmas song to cover. I actually spent a Christmas in Colorado as a kid, so it just seemed like a natural choice.”
Porter decided to record a rendition of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Colorado Christmas” during the studio sessions for his latest alt-country album, Dynamite Alley, via GTG Records.
On “Colorado Christmas,” the protagonist longs to escape Los Angeles for a snow-filled Christmas in Colorado.
Surrounded by somber banjo and pedal steel, Porter sings, “Now the sun is setting in the California sky / And I can’t find the spirit anywhere / So I think it’s time for me to tell Los Angeles goodbye / I’m going back home to look for Christmas there.”
“The lyrics exploring the contradiction between winter in the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles traffic and palm trees was the icing on the cake,” Porter said.
The Stratton Setlist 