You could say that Francine Honey is like a female David Francey.
I don’t mean musically. Where David is as straight-ahead folk as they come, Francine is warm roots Americana through and through.
What I mean is that she too is what you might call a late bloomer in music.
Where David wrote songs all his life while working manual labour jobs but never performed them until age 45, Francine also wrote songs all her life while studying math and computer science, getting married, having kids and working as a project manager. And she might never have performed them either were it not for a near-simultaneous breakup and job loss – and a pair of teenagers who kept telling her to get a life.
- More new holiday music: Q&A (Quarrington and Adams) – “C’mon Midnight”
- More new holiday music: Silent Winters – Christmas Morning
- More new holiday music: Còig’s new holiday album just came out yesterday – and they’re touring!
She left her federal government job in 2013 to pursue music full-time and even graduated from the Berklee College of Music Professional Singer-Songwriter Certificate Program.
And now she has a brand new holiday album to share.
Is it just me or is there a relative shortage of good Americana Christmas music?
Anyway, it’s called Take me to the North Pole, and it features eight songs and a really original vibe that I have to say I’m quite digging.
A particular stand-out is the original tune “Christmas Round My Tree,” a bittersweet ode to those feeling grief or loneliness during the most social time of the year.
“When I was in my teens, I would go to nursing homes and sing Christmas carols for the elderly,” Francine recalled in a news release, of her inspiration behind the tune. “My heart always sank when I would see some of them there with no family.”
“As I got older and saw my own family members deal with their first Christmas alone after a loved one passing away, I witnessed the determination to still find a sense of the Christmas tradition and the knowledge that what truly matters is being together and not the gifts you buy.”
The single from the new album, if you could call it that, is the decidedly more sprightly title track, “Take me to the North Pole,” Have a listen here.
Take me to the North Pole song and video is so great. Francine Honey. All songs and videos are so great and from the heart. Love love all her originals and more. Her music can make us want to dance , smile , cry bring us up and dance more. Thank you for your music. Beautiful Lady.