Inspiration comes from unlikely places.

I was in Tokyo last week on my way to see some friends who were visiting from Sweden.

At the bookstore, they were playing Christmas music, and a familiar song came on. It was a song by Low, a legendary, singular band from my home state of Minnesota. Low drummer/singer Mimi Parker sadly passed away last month, but here she was, coming through the speakers of a bookstore in Japan, singing about Stockholm, just as I was on my way to see some friends who had just come from there.

Here we are, our third pandemic Christmas. I’ve been sending little video presents to friends and family the last couple of years and had been working on a different Christmas cover song for this year, but after hearing this song and being reminded of how interconnected we all are, I knew I had to try and sing Low’s “Just Like Christmas.”

♡ Michael

2022-12-21 Tokyo

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JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS

by Low

Arranged, performed, and recorded by Michael Warren
at home in Towada (December 13, 2022)

Mixing and additional recording (pedal steel) by Mike Ries 
at home in Minneapolis (December 18, 2022)