It has been a tumultuous year for Great North. In a shocking act of monogamy, three of our members got married - two to each other. It was also the year our drummer Olly left for Hawaii about five times. The last time he left was in October. We don’t know when he’ll be back. We also recorded the skeleton of an album that we hope to release and tour sometime in the first third of 2012. If someone wants to drum for us.

We really want to do is say thank you for all those who supported us this year. When we haven’t been spending Friday nights sewing wedding bunting together, we’ve had some great times. Thank you for bearing with our ever-changing line ups. Thank you to the 12 people in Paraparaumu who came out on the cold night and still were one of our most supportive crowds of the year. Thanks to everyone else who came to a show - at the Kings Arms, a cafe, a lounge, in Wellington, in Raglan, but mostly in the safe fluid-filled womb of the Wine Cellar. 

Christmas is coming soon and we wanted to do something to reward your patience. So Rach and I took a break from recording this week to put together this cover of Angels We Have Heard On High with a lot of help from our remarkable producer/cider, baked goods and tea lover, Dave Parker. I think he has done a great job making it sound wistfully festive, or festively wistful. It is available for free on our bandcamp page. Merry Christmas. Gloria.