Rick Diaz
A Song For All Seasons
My Memories of Christmas
Rick Diaz and His Band of Thieves Christmas Medley:
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! God bless each, and everyone, of you! Love, Rick December, 2017 
My Memories of Christmas Wow! It’s still summer and I’m writing liner notes for a Christmas CD. Lol! Anyone, that knows me would tell you that this is my favorite time of the year! Coming from a multicultural background, Christmas would mean plenty of homemade tamales, lasagna, cherry cobbler, mountain berry pies, and of late the roasted pine nuts that was a staple of the Washoe tribe in Lake Tahoe. Either way you look it, it’s a time of celebration! Christmas to me is so much more than receiving gifts. It’s more of putting a smile on a loved one’s face, let’s go beyond that a complete stranger! We are all related in the eyes of God our creator. I can remember going to midnight mass at St. Michaels Catholic church in Paradise Hills in San Diego. As the years would pass I have celebrated Christmas in California, Maryland, Tucson, Arizona, Julian, California, and finally my favorite place to be for Christmas beautiful Lake Tahoe. Once I got involved in music, I would sing in folk groups at various parishes. Advent was always a very special time for the music group. This would occasionally lead to Christmas caroling in the neighborhood. On one particular trip, I was coming back from Tahoe after a few concerts. I stopped by to visit my Aunt Millie and Uncle Sonny Chase, on their farm in Bakersfield, CA. Thanks to my Aunt Mille’s urging, I wrote my first Christmas song “I’m Gonna Shake the Decorations Right Off Your Christmas Tree”! “Lord have mercy! What was he thinking when he wrote that?” you must be saying to yourself. Actually, the inspiration came from the Country Bears Christmas show at Disneyland. It’s no longer there, but you can watch it on you tube. I was on my way or so I thought! I wrote another holiday tune “My Christmas Wish For You”. It’s the first time I have ever heard one of my recordings being played on the radio,it was KRLT 93.9 FM. I was in the Safeway parking lot in Tahoe City. I thought I was going to dance in the snow I was so happy. I remember sharing this with Thurley Burnett who at the time was Glen Campbell’s personal secretary. She told me” This is why you record Rick, never forget this memory!” She was kind enough one Christmas to set it up for me to watch Glen’s Christmas show at Harrah’s Reno. Glen put on one beautiful show and we had the most wonderful visit afterwards. There are no words to describe the joy I felt after his words of encouragement he gave me” You go out there and make me proud son!” My version of Blue Christmas is my homage to Glen and Elvis. The string arrangements are right out of the Al De Lory/ Campbell classic Christmas recordings. The electric guitar solo, well that’s James Burton all the way. I would eventually write more Christmas songs and knew that my first ever Christmas album was inevitable. Having received favorable air play with the first songs, I felt that there was a chance something would click here. I had seven originals and narrowed it down to my five favorite standards to round out the CD. I have had the opportunity to perform a Christmas show here and there, and was encouraged by the response the group and I received. It has been a real labor of love, working on a limited budget. I knew I could not afford the type of arrangements, I was hearing in my head. Thanks to my dear friend, co- producer, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, and little brother Jon Hasz, we put our creative hats on and came up with a sound, that we felt did the songs justice. This has been done over the course of several years and remixes, etc. The cast is stellar what can I say. Tripp Sprague, Jon Hasz, Ethan Brown, Sharon Whyte, Ashley Foster, Danielle Tucker, Don Wiseman, Steve Baker, Rex Havoc, Jenny and Steven Flynn, Samantha Moroney, Chris Vitas, JR Guernsey. This is some serious talent here! My Christmas experiences in Tahoe, have certainly influenced many of the songs on this recording. Someday soon I would love to do a Christmas special from Lake Tahoe. I fondly remember those John Denver specials in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I could go on writing forever, but I think I will let you listen to the album and let it tell the story for you. Glen, Thurley, my Mom and Aunt Mille, Bob Matchinske, and others are no longer with us. I know that they are listening up in heaven. These are memories I will always treasure as I go on with my journey. Of all these memories the most important being, this is the birth of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want to wish you all good health, peace, happiness, and prosperity. On behalf of the gang and myself we wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, a safe and a Happy New Year! God bless you all! Love, Rick December, 2017
