A Twitter Xmas Single Thank You

Hello tweeps,

This is just a timely thank you to all who were involved in this year's Twitter Xmas Single - think of it like the movie credits at the end of a movie.

Directed by: Brenda Drumm
Twitter Xmas Single was an idea tweeted by Brenda Drumm in November 2011. Her tweet snowballed and a group of 140 went on to record the first ever Twitter Xmas Single. Holding on for Christmas is the Twitter Xmas Single 2 #TXS2

Writers: Holding on for Christmas is an original Irish Christmas song which was written by Ian Callanan, Brenda Drumm, Alan Chadwick and Gavin Byrne in 2012.

Producer and Arranger: Ian Callanan

Instrumentation: 

Guitar, percussion, synth and programming: Ian Callanan
Uileann Pipes, Whistles, Bodhran: Darragh Ó Héiligh
Electric Guitar: Derek Dunne
Guitar: David Byrne
Drums: Kevin McDonnell
Synth: Gavin Byrne
Strings: Christoph Demetriou, Roisin Magee, David Byrne, Sarah Doyle, Katie Higgs, Leah Nolan, Timothy Telford, Dearbháil Mc Donald, Davina Baker and Sophie Higgs

Engineered and recorded at:

Sonic Cottage Studio - Cathal Molloy www.soniccottage.com
Seinn Studios - Ian Callanan www.seinn.com
Retreat Recording Studio - Paul Keegan www.retreatrecordingstudio.com
Live recording at The Westin Hotel, Dublin - Darragh O'Reilly www.mixmatters.org
Mixed and arranged by Cathal Molloy & Ian Callanan at Sonic Cottage Studio
CD and iTunes artwork by Anthony Curtis @735songs


CD Production:
Special thanks to Kelly Consultants who sponsored the CD duplication

Photography:
Paul Sherwood
Shane Murphy
Emily Gallagher
Brenda Drumm

Official video: 
Video footage recorded by Brenda Drumm, Bryan Glennon, Padraig Meredith
Edited and produced: Ian Callanan

Venues:
The Westin Hotel, Westmoreland Street, Dublin

The Cake: 

Twitter Xmas Single launch cake: Halo Cafe Celbridge

Public Relations:
With thanks to Host PR and Caroline Kennedy PR

Visuals:
Pull up banners prepared and sponsored by RPD Limited

Singers:
A very special thanks to all the voices on this year's Twitter Xmas Single - you will find a list elsewhere on this blog. Without all the tweeps coming on board we would not have had anyone to bring the song to life. Special thanks to those who have now taken part on Twitter Xmas Single 1 and 2.

Charity:
A word of thanks to @consoleireland this year's charity. Hopefully we have raised awareness and some funds.

Star tweeter:
Our star tweeter award goes to two people Tynan Hooper and Seamus Kearney who gave their heart and soul to sharing the song and getting it out there into the twittersphere.

Availability of song:
The song is available to download from iTunes at the following link for 99 cent and all monies raised will go directly to Console: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/album/holding-on-for-christmas-single/id582788441

The song is also available on all other online music stores.

Copies of the song are available on CD but we do not have a distributor so they are being sent out via Console and directly to stockists who have asked for them. If you want copies to sell please contact Brenda on 087 233 7797.

A huge thank you to all who have downloaded the song or bought CDs.

And finally:

We apologise if we have left anyone out.

A special word of thanks from me to Ian Callanan for putting together such a fantastic finished product.

I loved every minute of it - there were so many laughs and so many great connections made from Twitter Xmas Single 1 to #TXS2 and these stories will find their way into a book some day.

I am immensly proud of what we produced in a celeb-free zone! It is a shame that the song did not get the airplay it deserved or the attention of those in television land - a little sad really for such a good news story and such a worthy cause.

But sometimes the interest is only there when there is a celebrity involved.........

I hope everyone is very proud of what we have achieved for a second year in a row....

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.... you are all stars in my twittersphere.

Brenda

xxxx

Twitter Xmas Single 2 to be launched on 9 Dec 2012

So we are finally ready for launch - or Go for launch as they would say in NASA. The song is ready, the |CDs have arrived, the venue is sorted and we have most of our 140 characters ready to attend the launch of Twitter Xmas Single 2012.

The song is Holding on for Christmas, an original song written especially for this year by Ian Callanan, Brenda Drumm, Gavin Byrne and Alan Chadwick.

At 2.00pm on Sunday next, 9 December we will be back in the Banking Hall in the Westin Hotel in Dublin for the launch.

This year the Twitter Xmas Single is being done for Console. This is what they do:

`Console was established in 2002 by Paul Kelly after he had experienced the grief of losing a loved one by Suicide. Through his loss, Paul recognised a need for a dedicated Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention Service here in Ireland.  

Since then Console has developed into a National Organisation supporting people in Suicidal Crisis and those Bereaved by Suicide through Professional Counselling, Support and Helpline Services.

Console is a National Service with Centres in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Athlone, Wexford and Kildare.

When we asked Twitter what charity should benefit from this year's song, one of the most common answers was something for suicide or something for young people. We have all read about the many tragedies this year of people young and old taking their own lives. Console is doing life-saving work and we are thrilled to be working with them for TwitterXmasSingle this year.

Now at this stage you all probably know how this all started! You don't? Well back on 19 November 2011 @BrendaDrumm a mum of two from Newbridge in Co Kildare and someone who is living with an incurable form of bone marrow cancer, tweeted a tweet. The tweet suggested that the people of Twitter come together to do a song and that is exactly what happened last year. The song was a beautiful cover of Winter Song and it went to number one on iTunes and number 8 in the Irish charts.

So Twitter Xmas Single was born and when it came to deciding if there should be a Twitter Xmas Single 2, Brenda tweeted a tweet to see who would respond this year. There was another great response and so #TSX2 was born.

The song was recorded on Sunday 11 November last in the Westin Hotel in Dublin. All the voices you will hear on the song are amateur singers. All the musicians and technicians gave their time to the track for free. In fact everyone involved - 200 people - gave their time and talents for free.

Holding on for Christmas is an upbeat original Irish Christmas song and it will be available for download from iTunes from Sunday 9 December and on all online music stores. CDs are also available  and stockist information will be posted at a later stage.

This is the best of people's goodwill on Twitter coming together in real life for a wonderful cause and it is a real story of Christmas joy and hope.

Join in on Twitter by tweeting @brendadrumm or following the hashtags #TXS2 and #TwitterXmasSingle

Ends
5 December 2012