The forthcoming James Casey Christmas EP has A Little Something For Everyone. The debut solo release from the Trey Anastasio Band saxophonist/vocalist will raise money to fight colon cancer.
The album’s first single, “Christmasfunk”, will arrive on November 14th. Casey will follow that release with weekly singles leading up to the arrival of the EP on December 5th via 12/23 Records. Proceeds from the four-track 7″ vinyl will benefit the Colorectal Cancer Alliance and Eastern Virginia Medical School’s HOPES Clinic‘s efforts to help provide free colon cancer screenings for the uninsured.
The project is about as personal as it gets for Casey, who announced his colon cancer diagnosis last September. Casey sat out TAB’s 2021 fall tour to undergo chemotherapy, only to make a jovial sit-in with the band at Radio City Music Hall during the tour closer. He has since made his full-time return to the Phish guitarist’s solo band and performed with Billy & The Kids and Phil Lesh & Friends, lending his voice to a cathartic “Touch of Grey” with the Grateful Dead bassist last month.
“When I was approached with the opportunity to record, I jumped at the chance,” Casey said of the EP. “Although we had a lot of setbacks while recording due to chemotherapy, being able to make a fun, holiday record with my friends to help people get access to screening for something that I am currently battling was a no-brainer. The fact that it’s the first music released under my own name is definitely an added bonus!”
A Little Something For Everyone opens with an original funky Christmas tune fittingly titled “Christmafunk”. The collection also includes the A Charlie Brown Christmas favorite “Christmas Time Is Here”, “Joy To The World”, and the gospel hymn “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”. Casey produced the EP and recorded it at Creamery Studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with New York session musicians Randy Runyon (guitar), Ian Faquini (guitar), Matt Owens (trumpet), Steve Jenkins (bass), Corey Bernhard (keys), and Derrick White (horns).
Vinyl copies of A Little Something For Everyone will be limited to 300, with silk-screened and numbered album jackets designed by Brooklyn artists Nate Capis. Pre-orders begin on November 7th through 12/23 Records and will ship in mid-December, with singles available on streaming services throughout November. A Little Something For Everyone will arrive in advance of Casey’s forthcoming solo EP, Kauai, due out in early 2023.
