Christmas Jam CD Returns
Bands contribute holiday songs to benefit to NourishNC
Aiming to feed low-income schoolchildren one music track at a time, the PORT CITY CHRISTMAS JAM collaborated with NourishNC to create an album that helps to provide daily meals for several hundred New Hanover County students during the upcoming winter break.
For the second year in a row, PAIGE SNOW, executive producer of the Jam, put together an eighteen-track Christmas album showcasing local artists. The tracks were recorded at Low Tide Studio in Wrightsville Beach.
Profits from the CD, which was released late last month, go to Wilmington-based NourishNC.
“Last year, I came up with the idea to do a Christmas album, and the goal was to feed families for Christmas,” Snow says. “With two kids of my own, I know how important daily nutrition is … NourishNC was a great recipient of my idea.”
Paige Blair, community liaison for NourishNC, said the nonprofit organization’s goal is provide food for 500 children by the end of December. Through a contract with the New Hanover County school system, NourishNC works with social workers to get food to kids living in conditions where there is little to no access to meals apart from school.
“We provide three meals and two snacks to our kids each day they are away from school,” Blair says. “We are covering kids for sixteen consecutive days this holiday season. We are able to do this for just $25 per child.”
Snow added six new artists to the 2014 Port City Music Jam Album and printed 1,000 CDs in preparation for the November release date. The 2013 album sold 550 copies during the first two and a half weeks of its release, which helped to feed 103 kids during Christmas break. As more people are aware of the project this year, Snow hopes both numbers increase significantly.
“The Penguin (98.3 FM) played many of the tracks on the radio,” Snow says of last year’s CD. “People really grabbed onto it. Also, social media was huge.”
Some of the artists featured on the 2014 album are Jesse Stockton and Moonlight Company, The Phantom Playboys, The Midatlantic, Mac and Juice Quartet, Junk Yard Mama and the late flamenco guitarist William “Paco” Strickland, who lost his battle with cancer last year. His widow, Connie Nelson, donated one of Strickland’s
personal recordings, an instrumental version of “Silent Night,” to this year’s CD.
The CD is on sale at fifteen to twenty spots across town, including Catch, Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn, and Atlanta Bread Company. Each CD costs $12, or two copies for $20. If purchased online via portcitychristmasjam.com, the CD is $15, which includes shipping costs.
“We get to make a cool project that lasts a lifetime,” Snow says about the CD. “It’s a handmade gift.”
For more information about the album, go to Port City Christmas Jam’s Facebook page or its website. NourishNC is also accepting donations for the CD at nourishnc.org.
To view more of photographer Katherine Clark's work, go to www.katherineclarkphotography.com
