Austin, Texas-based singer-songwriter Terry Klein draws inspiration from musical heroes like Hank Williams, John Prine, and Lightnin Hopkins, but also from literature, film, and painting. His debut record, Great Northern, was produced by Walt Wilkins. Great Northern appeared on multiple 2017 Top Ten lists and garnered praise from Rodney Crowell and Mary Gauthier. Klein and Wilkins teamed up again for the follow up to Great Northern, Tex, which is out now. Tex has been the subject of international critical acclaim and reached the Top-20 of US Folk DJ Chart and the Top-15 of the EuroAmericana chart. He tours extensively throughout North America and Europe.
Glide is proud to premiere “The Last Great Christmas” (below) a family heirloom meets composition that reverberates with an eerie homespun overtone. Klein took a story written by his wife’s grandmother (Marion Norswing Phillips) about Christmas in 1917 for her family and adapted it into song. Klein sings with a trusted gravitas and polished reflection reminiscent of Guy Clark and Steve Earle.
“Every year on Christmas Eve we sit down as a family and read a story my wife’s grandmother wrote about Christmas in rural North Dakota in 1917,” says Klein. “The writing in the story is impeccable. A few years ago I took a crack at turning it into a song and though people said nice things about the tune, I had doubts. It occurred to me recently that the song has special pertinence these days so I went back and revised it. I’m happy with how it turned out. It might even help take some of the sting out of the fact that we can’t get together as a family and read the story this Christmas,” says Klein.
Photo Credit : Valerie Fremin
The Last Great Christmas (lyrics)
(Terry Klein & Marion Norswing Phillips)
Outside Fargo, North Dakota Papa loosed the reins
December twenty third, nineteen seventeen
Two girls wrapped in cashmere set upon a sled
Snow spread far as the eye could see
And just when it felt like the ride would never end
A farmhouse and a barn came into view
Now the horses halted and shawls were thrown aside
Into Grandma’s arms the girls they fairly flew
You know the past is a distant mirror
And history repeats
Pulled apart and stuck together
Misfit refugees
Mother, fathers, sons, and daughters
Pray the Lord their souls to keep
Farmhouse kitchen all abustle roasted turkey rhubarb pie
Bland lutefisk and lefse too of course
Then Christmas Eve together all did brave the cold
To visit Kate the calico pony and Dan the old gray horse
Then came time for supper, king and commoner fared the same
But no one lingered at the table on that night
All gathered in the parlor, hugs and kisses and gifts exchanged
The candles on the Christmas tree burned fleeting, warm, and bright CHORUS
It was the last great Christmas but no one knew it then
The laughter and the joy soon left behind
War and influenza raged all through the next year
It was the last great Christmas for all time
CHORUS
