(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- For the third single from the upcoming A Philly Special Christmas Special (Vera Y Records), Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson and Connor Barwin tapped fellow NFL player, Travis Kelce to duet with his brother on "Fairytale of Philadelphia." This is a reimagining of The Pogues' holiday classic, "Fairytale of New York," and the Philly-centric lyrics were written in collaboration by members of The Philly Specials. Producer Charlie Hall and engineer Nick Krill traveled to Kansas City this summer to capture Travis' performance for the album.
“Fairytale of Philadelphia” is a festive, bittersweet, Irish-folk ballad takes place on Christmas eve and finds the brothers trading verses while belting out choice regional favorites like, “crumb bum,” “jabroni,” “Schuylkill,” and referencing “Broad Street.” Lively pennywhistle, Irish guitar, fiddle, horn and percussion performances lay a strong foundation for the Kelce brothers. As Jason sings, “I've got a feeling, this year's for me and you, so happy Christmas, I love you brother, I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true…”
"We went out to Kansas City to record with Travis, who welcomed us with open arms and really knocked it out of the park," enthuses Hall. There's a thing called "blood harmony," which signifies that magical thing that happens when siblings sing together, something that can only be achieved when there's that shared DNA, both musically and spiritually - from The Beach Boys to the Everly Brothers, the Andrews Sisters to the Bee Gees, and the Mills Brothers to the Kelce Brothers."
A Philly Special Christmas Special (Vera Y Records) is available now for vinyl preorder via PhillySpecialChristmas.com and will be available on all digital platforms on December 1st. This year, proceeds from the vinyl sales will benefit Children’s Crisis Treatment Center’s Toy Drive and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Snowflake Station.
Following the runaway success of their debut LP, A Philly Special Christmas, Philadelphia Eagles’ Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, and Jordan Mailata have reunited with producer Charlie Hall and executive producer Connor Barwin (Vera Y Records) to release their second holiday album, A Philly Special Christmas Special. Recorded during the NFL off season and comprised of ten holiday classics and an original tune by Kelce, ‘Santa’s Night,’ A limited-edition LP will be released on red vinyl, a double disc of A Philly Special Christmas Special and 2022’s A Philly Special Christmas will be released on limited edition gold vinyl in addition to the album being released digitally and available on all streaming services.
Recorded and mixed once again by Nick Krill, the trio called upon local musicians including Patti Labelle, Amos Lee, The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, DMHotep (Sun Ra Arkestra), Kevin Hanson (The Fractals, Huffamoose), Luke Carlos O’Reilly, Waxahatchee, members of The War on Drugs, Dr. Dog, mewithoutYou, and The Silver Ages Choir amongst others to truly make this a Philly special.
A Philly Special Christmas was released on December 23, 2022 digitally and its limited pressing on vinyl sold out immediately. The record reached four top ten spots on various Billboard Music Charts including #1 on the Compilation Albums Chart. A Philly Special Christmas donated over $1.25M to local charities including Children’s Crisis Treatment Center and fulfilled the wish lists of Philadelphia School District teachers via Donors Choose.
