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Love Came Down at Christmas is a rugged little folk gem for the holidays. Liz McGeachy and Tim Marema (Liz & Tim) have been singing together for over 20 years, and they've been married about as long. This Appalachian valentine to the holidays is a sweet set of homespun harmonies and delicate guitar instrumentals (Tim on guitar). The liner notes advise that "It's simple music for a season that sometimes gets too complicated." Amen to that!

This gentle, poetic mountain music refreshed me in the early hours of a cold Saturday in late November. Although the offering is far too short (under 31 minutes), it was a warm embrace as the gray skies lightened at dawn.

I could listen to Liz & Tim for hours. Their comfortably intertwined voices are like your favorite slippers, providing soft warmth and a relaxing ambiance. I truly enjoyed every track on the album, although I particularly enjoyed the rustic elegance of Coventry Carol, the uplifting and intensely beautiful title track, and the spirited Children, Go Where I Send Thee, which closes the album in fine style.

Enjoy the simpler side of life, particularly in musical terms? Liz & Tim offer a thin slice of comfort food for the holidays--grab Love Came Down at Christmas; you'll not regret it!

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2009)

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From the liner notes:

This is a collection of Christmas folk songs, carols, and instrumentals featuring just our voices and a guitar. It's simple music for a season that sometimes gets too complicated.

Produced and recorded by Liz & Tim
Tim Marema: Guitar, Vocals
Liz McGeachy: Vocals


From the artist's Website:

With haunting two-part harmony and arresting arrangements, Liz&Tim's musical style gives a fresh perspective to the lasting themes of traditional mountain music: longing for home, love of people and place, the power of stories, and the need to laugh even in the face of troubles.

Liz McGeachy and Tim Marema both grew up in homes where music was a central focus of family and community life. They began singing together in 1986 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where they were both in the graduate program in journalism. They were married in 1989 and in 1992 moved to Letcher County, Kentucky, where Tim worked at Appalshop and Liz worked with a variety of community development organizations and as a free-lance writer. They moved to the small east Tennessee town of Norris in 2000, where Tim works for the Center for Rural Strategies and Liz is a freelance writer and poet and works at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center. They have a son, Walker Marema, and a daughter, Graham Marema.

Liz & Tim

Love Came Down at Christmas

Artist link

Track List