Artist: Laura Cortese
Hometowns: San Francisco, Boston, and Ghent, Belgium
Song: “Rainy Christmas Day”
In Their Words: “When Dietrich Strause and I independently moved from Boston and its legendary music scene to London, England, and Ghent, Belgium, respectively, we found solace in the fact that we would never have to shovel our cars out again. To commemorate that freedom, we wrote this retro Christmas song filled with nostalgia for the dreary weather of our newfound homes. To record the track, we met up on a rainy day in Room 13 in Ghent, Belgium, and asked friend, composer and folk fiddler Karl-Johan Ankarblom to arrange strings. A week later an amazing string quartet added their magic in Benny Andersson’s studio in Stockholm.” — Laura Cortese