“Rudolph’s Ranch” off eponymous three-song EP by Travels With Brindle.

The holidays are special. You see things, smell things, taste things, hear things that you never see at any other time of the year. It’s a good time to pull out those niche musical instruments too. Like glockenspiels, triangles, slide whistles – and especially the ukulele on our highlighted track “Rudolph’s Ranch.”

Rudolph's story was always the most angst-ridden of Christmas lore. Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Freak. Monster. Outcast. Pariah. The reindeer who craved acceptance but only received rejection. Derided by his peers. Even Santa looked askance at Rudolph until he finally found a temporary use for him. And recall how eager Rudolph is to prostitute his own body to wallow in the fleeting fantasy of shared community with those who will toss him aside at the first opportunity.

Travels With Brindle zeroes in on the acrimony of Rudolph’s plight in her version of the classic tale. The narrative is up for interpretation, but somebody at some point is shoveling “reindeer poop.” Sounds like a classic underdog tale to us!

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