An Ellijay singer and guitarist has fulfilled a longtime aspiration, and it’s something also done by several of his musical heroes including Merle Haggard and The Beatles.
Dwight Sanford recently wrapped up his first Christmas album, Merry Christmas Ellijay! which is Sanford’s seventh release to date.
“I’ve always wanted to make a Christmas album, and I’ve planned on doing it forever. I finally started on it in November of ‘20 and had been working on it ever since,” he said.
Sanford took up guitar as a child and has since become versatile with several other instruments.
“I started on guitar in ‘62. I began messing around with drums and bass in about ’72 or somewhere in there. I was just fascinated by (all the instruments), then got to playing around with it and there I went,” he said.
That versatility has come in handy for Sanford over the years. He sings and plays electric and acoustic guitar, bass and drums on the Christmas album. He also handled production duties at his own Oakleaf Studio.
That “wearing many hats” approach is nothing new as Sanford handled most or all the instrumentation and production on several of his previous releases.
“When it all starts to come together, it’s quite a challenge,” he said about the recording process.
The CD finds Sanford lending his love for good-time, old-school country and rock ‘n’ roll to such Christmas favorites as “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Blue Christmas.” Some of the holiday chestnuts have been tweaked to include references and shout-outs to Ellijay.
The title track, a Sanford original, was partly inspired by his time as an Ellijay police officer. In it, an officer and a homeless man, both without family, have a meaningful meeting on Christmas Eve.
“It was tough because there’s so many Christmas songs. I guess these are some of the ones I’m more fond of. It has some soft, slow songs and some upbeat rock ‘n’ roll, too,” he said
A couple of guests appear on Merry Christmas Ellijay! including Larry Stewart, steel guitarist for the Country Tonite Theater house band in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Astrid Hayes sings harmony on the album and shines when singing lead on “O Holy Night” to close out the festivities.
Sanford will have a full band in tow for his Country Christmas Concert at the George Link Jr. Gilmer Arts Playhouse Saturday, Dec. 18, at 7 p.m. Santa will also be there to visit with attendees starting at 6 p.m.
“It’s a Christmas concert, but not all Christmas songs. We will do a few, but it’s mainly about classic country music — Vern Gosdin, Gene Watson, Merle Haggard, people like that,” Sanford said.
For the concert, Sanford will be joined by drummer Jeff Welch, bassist Mitchell Aaron and steel guitarist Bill Cunningham, a longtime member of the Georgia Mountain Fair Band at Hiawassee’s Anderson Music Hall.
Sanford said this will be his first live outing with Cunningham, but he’s played music on and off again with Aaron and Welch for a long time.
“I haven’t played with Mitchell for several years, but we played a lot together in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I remember we played at Bill’s Roller Rink in Blairsville in 1982,” he added.
Sanford, Aaron and Welch were recently able to rock around the Christmas tree with the Ellijay Lions Club Special Friends, which provides a social outlet for adults with special mental and physical needs.
Sanford has performed several past Christmas shows for the Special Friends, at which he accompanied close friends and pickin’ partners Vic and Larry Davis.
“I’ve been doing that one every year since I don’t know when. We did it for this year last Thursday night, and everybody had a ball,” he said.