It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Judith Owen and Harry Shearer’s Holiday Sing-Along is back. The Simpsons and This Is Spinal Tap star has again teamed up with his acclaimed singer-songwriter spouse, Judith Owen, for an evening of special guests, seasonal cheer and playful irreverence. Acting as the perfect hosts, Owen and Shearer both sing and play (piano and bass, respectively) and welcome an array of superbly talented guests to join in the festive fun.
The International tour touches down in four U.S. cities: New York (December 2, City Winery), Chicago (December 4, SPACE), Los Angeles (December 14, Largo) and New Orleans (December 19, Contemporary Arts Center).
This heartwarming and gut-busting evening of carols and comedy began as a cozy holiday gathering with family and friends in the couple’s Los Angeles home. In what has become an annual event, Owen and Shearer have successfully taken the wry and laidback charms of their holiday house party to the stage.
The sing along, with its impressive array of special guests, has become a perennial touring phenomenon in major U.S. cities. Past favorite drop-ins for the evening of music mirth include a who’s-who of talented guests including Jane Lynch, Richard Thompson, Julia Fordham, Jill Sobule, Christopher Guest, Jon Cleary, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
Multi-talented Harry Shearer is a comic personality who takes “hyphenate” to new levels —actor, author, director, satirist, musician, radio host, playwright and multi-media artist. He currently stars as former President, Richard M. Nixon, in Sky Arts TV comedy-drama, Nixon’s the One.
The multi-Grammy nominated Shearer’s latest CD release, Can’t Take a Hint, features Owen along with world-class collaborators Dr. John, Jamie Cullum, Glee’s Jane Lynch, and Fountains of Wayne. The album has been favorably received by Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times and Billboard, among many other outlets. American Songwriter magazine noted, “this is an album where you actually have to pay attention to the lyrics.”
Shearer reaches the homes of millions weekly via Le Show, his popular public-radio hour of satire and music now in its third decade. He’s played prominent roles in a broad range of films from The Right Stuff to This Is Spinal Tap, which he co-wrote, to the most recent For Your Consideration. Shearer directed The Big Uneasy, a film about the real cause of the 2005 New Orleans flood, and his first novel, Not Enough Indians, was on the Los Angeles Times’ Best Seller list.
Like Shearer, Judith Owen is known for her sharp wit as well as her singular artistry as a singer and songwriter. Her recordings on Courgette Records have captivated fans, fellow artists and the most discerning critics. Judith’s music combines pop, rock, jazz, classical, R&B and theatrical influences.
Owen is best known to U.K./U.S. audiences as the exquisite voice of Richard Thompson’s CD and live show 1000 Years of Popular Music and Cabaret of Souls. Jamie Cullum calls her “a female Randy Newman” and The New York Times states that she has “the kind of wailing folk-jazz voice that slices away surfaces to touch the vulnerable emotional nerve endings and leave you quivering.”
Her live performances are distinguished by brimming humor and theatrics. Owen’s most recent release, her eighth to date, is the beautifully vulnerable Some Kind of Comfort, an introspective collection of soulfully sophisticated pop. And her Christmas in July CD is filled with unabashed holiday gems, with a fresh twist.
Judith Owen & Harry Shearer’s Holiday Sing-Along is an evening of music and mirth for Christmas lovers and Scrooges of all ages. In fact, at last year’s performance one audience member was overheard gushing, “When my girlfriend told me we were going to a Xmas sing-a-long, I told her I'd rather stab my own eyes out. But now I'm going every year. It’s that much fun.”
