ROBERT BURKE WARREN
Musician rocks the Colony in Woodstock on Christmas Eve.
WOODSTOCK, N.Y. » Robert Burke Warren hopes the community comes out and sings on Christmas Eve.
That night he’ll be at the Colony, where he’ll join the venue’s house band, the Colony Cats, starting at 6 p.m. to play two sets of rock ‘n’ roll Christmas favorites like “Rockin Around the Christmas Tree” and “Run Run Rudolph” along with other holiday classics like “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”
“I’m very excited about playing with the Colony Cats,” Burke Warren said.
He’ll also mix in some of his favorite holiday tracks from his popular Uncle Rock series of children’s albums, like “Santa’s Coming in a Whirlybird.”
“It’s a crazy Christmas song about Santa Claus coming in a helicopter,” Burke Warren said.
He also plans on playing “Season of Light.”
It celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah and the tradition of celebrations based on the coming of winter and the days starting to get longer, Burke Warren said.
Burke Warren said this show adds a new activity to a longstanding Woodstock tradition, the arrival of Santa Claus, which happens around 5:30 p.m. each Christmas Eve.
He added that the show won’t start until after Santa’s arrival, and if he arrives a bit late they’ll delay it a bit. And he wants the performance to be something that everyone can enjoy together.
“It’s a community event for everybody in the community, elders, families, kids — everybody,” Burke Warren said.
This is a perfect time to get away from social media and actually come together face-to-face, Burke Warren said.
“People still need to get together in real life,” Burke Warren said. “Christmas time — the holidays— is a really perfect time to actually be with people.”
Live music serves a powerful way to bring people together, he added.
“It’s an ancient tradition,” Burke Warren said. “People have been gathering together and singing at church, the synagogue, the mosque or in the streets.”
Burke Warren said the Colony, which was extensively renovated by its new owners Neil and Alexia Howard, is the perfect venue to celebrate Christmas Eve.
“They put in a new stage, a new sound system and lights,” Burke Warren said. “The sound system’s really good.
“As a musician, I’m really excited about that.
“It’s a fascinating building with a lot of history.”
According to the Colony’s website, that history dates back to 1929 when it opened as the Colony Hotel and served visitors on the way to the Overlook Mountain House.
It later closed during World War II, reopened for 15 years, and then was open and closed several times after that, the site said.
They revived the kitchen, which is perfect for families who don’t want to make dinner or go to another sitdown restaurant that evening, Burke Warren said.
“The food is great,” he said.
And it also gives people a chance to come inside where it’s warm and cozy, Burke Warren said.
“A lot of locals go there, and the vibe is just very friendly,” Burke Warren said. “I’m really happy about that.”
Burke Warren said he’s attended several sold-out shows there recently.
“They’ve turned it back into a really exciting venue,” Burke Warren said.
The Colony is all decked out for the holidays with plenty of lights and wreaths, Burke Warren said.
As for his own favorite Christmas tradition, Burke Warren said it is when he plays for Family of Woodstock
Christmas Day each year at the Mescal Hornbeck Community Center.
“My wife and son go with me,” Burke Warren said. “That’s really fun.”
And he loves seeing the kids get their presents.
“It’s a big deal,” Burke Warren said.
He added that his other favorite Christmas tradition is when he treks with his family from his home in Phoenicia up to Big Indian to pick out the family’s Christmas tree.
“That’s a tradition I really like,” Burke Warren said.
Music looms large in his life. His day job is teaching music to second and third graders at the Woodstock Day School.
And even in an age of tablets and video games, Burke Warren said his students are into their music classes as ever.
On top of that, he still plays for preschoolers at First Steps Preschool each week.
“That’s always a high point of my week to play for those kids,” Burke Warren said.
Burke Warren also finished up a novel, “Perfectly Broken,” which was released last year and is now available in paperback.
“That took a while to do,” Burke Warren said. “It’s something I always wanted to do.
“That happened and it’s still out there.”
A Georgia native, Burke Warren later moved up to Manhattan where he lived until 2002, when he moved up to the Hudson Valley with his wife to raise their son Jack who is now in his second year studying film at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.
Burke Warren admitted with their son off at college, it’s been kind of an adjustment.
“I started doing Uncle Rock as a father-son project,” Burke Warren said.
Looking ahead to Sunday night, he hopes people sing along.
“That’s when it’s the most fun,” Burke Warren said. “When people sing along, it’s powerful, it makes people feel good.
“I’d love to have it be a new tradition.”