Tommy Prine Hosts Another Contrary Christmas with Arlo McKinley & Tré Burt | CONTRARY WESTERN

Tommy Prine walks into a bar and finds himself standing in front of a bartender a few clicks from someone he thinks he knows. He was invited to a holiday shindig along with songwriters, singers, and other folks from Nashville's country and Americana community. But the Germantown haunt is dead. It’s empty save for a bartender who can't pour a Guinness to save either of their lives.

All alone, Tommy finds a spot to wait it out, eventually reflecting on 2023, a year that saw the release of his debut album “This Far South,” touring the UK and USA, and continuing to hone his songwriting—even when that meant finding a guitar in the middle of the night to get an idea down. Following a Contrary Christmas tradition, Tommy talks artmaking and André 3000, whose experimental flute album “New Blue Sun” inspires Tommy to stay true to himself. “He does such a good job of following his heart and his gut,” Tommy tells us a year after the first annual Contrary Christmas. “He makes the things he wants to make.”

Finally, with nothing left to do or drink, Tommy plays “Gandalf,” singing, “Don’t feel bad, I’ll find myself eventually.” The new song’s about ditching drugs for different kinds of magic and it suits the strange room and mood, and it helps us all deal with the thought of an oncoming year. He finishes and continues to strum some, when Oh Boy Records artists Tré Burt and Arlo McKinley blow into the bar to find their buddy lost in his thoughts, picking on some Martin acoustic next to an unopened Pabst Blue Ribbon passed to him by a bartender who doesn’t seem to know jack.

Whether celebrating Tré’s 2023 record “Traffic Fiction,” congratulating Arlo on the ten-year anniversary of his first record, “Arlo McKinley & the Lonesome Sound,” or playing an impromptu cover of Blaze Foley’s “Clay Pigeons,” it’s clear that wherever and whenever Tommy, Arlo, and Tré are gathered in one place, there is a party—there is the heartfelt and the hijinks, the hallowed, and in this case, during this holiday season, the haunted.

CAST

★ Tommy Prine as Tommy Prine and the Ghost of Christmas Pabst
★ Arlo McKinley as Arlo McKinley
★ Tré Burt as Tré Burt
★ Introducing TOMMARLO | Tomm(y Prine) & Arlo (McKinley)

MUSIC

“GANDALF”
Written and performed by Tommy Prine

“THIS YEAR FOR CHRISTMAS”
Written and performed by Tommy Prine

“HERE’S TO THE DYING”
By Arlo McKinley from “This Mess We’re In”

“WINGS FOR A BUTTERFLY”
By Tré Burt from “Traffic Fiction”

“CLAY PIGEONS”
Written by Blaze Foley
Performed by Tommy Prine and Arlo McKinley

“YO FACE”
By Tré Burt from “Traffic Fiction”

WRITTEN, DIRECTED, & PRODUCED BY CONTRARY WESTERN

Director of Photography: Jacob Bauman
Gaffer and Set Audio: Dustin Hyer
Color: Austin Lott
Photography and Design: Arlie Birket

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