Christmas Back Home
Scott Thompson is determined to give Rome and area residents a merry Christmas the best way he knows how — with beautiful music.
The local musician will take the stage, with a 10- piece band and other vocalists, for the fourth annual Christmas Back Home holiday musical event.
The concert will take place Dec. 11 and 12 at the Rome City Auditorium and will be filmed for release as a virtual show as well.
“This is a little piece of normal that we can offer the community,” he said. “We were really worried about whether or not we’d even do it this year but so many people asked for it. The kept telling us they need Christmas cheer now more than ever.”
Normally, Thompson, fellow musician Brent McDonald and the band would have been planning and rehearsing for the show in August. But they didn’t make a decision to put on the event till the fall and only started rehearsing at the beginning of November.
The concerts will be following all mandated protocols, Thompson said. Guests will be seated in every other row, and seating will be done in groups with space between groups.
“All seats will be fogged and cleaned after each show,” he added. “And people are required to wear a mask when entering the auditorium.”
The pandemic can’t dim the music, however. Thompson promised two sets of classic Christmas songs with a twist... and an intermission.
He and McDonald, as well as musicians on bass, drums, keyboard, horns and two female vocalists will perform all the beloved Christmas songs people know.
“There’s something for everyone,” he said.
“There will be songs that sound just like the classic Nat King Cole style people love. But there’s also songs that we put our own spin on such as a funkrock version of ‘ Silver Bells’ and a Latin jazz version of ‘ Feliz Navidad’. We go from traditional to upbeat to jazz to country.”
Santa will also make an appearance at this year’s show.
Thompson said one of the things he hears from people who have attended the hour and 45- minute show in the past is that it’s become a new family tradition.
“And that’s exactly what we had in mind when we created this,” he said. “We wanted to create something people can look forward to and plan for and make a art of their family holiday traditions.”
Tickets to the event range from $ 15-$ 30 and are available online at www. christmasbackhome. com. Virtual tickets are $ 19 and those who purchase the virtual show can watch anytime between Dec. 20 and Dec. 25 as many times as they like.
“This is my favorite show of the year. I absolutely love it,” Thompson said. “I love Christmas music anyway but this is such a fun show and the musicians are so good. We all rotate on and off stage during particular songs and even when I’m not on stage I’m still just sitting there listening like I’m in the audience. It’s so good. “People need something like this and we love doing it,” he added. “We will be as safe as we can possibly be.”