God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Neil Moody

                                                            Lead Vocals: Neil Moody

                                                                     Fiddle: Scott Moody

                                                                      Banjo: Sandy Campbell

                                                             Bass Guitar: Brendan McDonald

                                                        Rhythm Guitar: Ken Denby

                                                       Acoustic Guitar: Gary Borden

                                                               Accordion: Jeannette Denby

                                Biographies

                                             Neil Moody

                                             Born and raised in the Dryden area Neil has always loved music. Both his

                                             Grandparents, and mother played musical instruments and sang on many occasions.

                                             Neil plays guitar and joins in on any jam session that happens. Him and his wife

                                             Sharon also supplied the facility for the recording of this CD, and also hosts the

                                             Musicians Jamboree, the third weekend in July. He feels very privileged to be able

                                             to perform with his son Scott Moody on fiddle and Grandson Brendan McDonald

                                             on bass guitar.

                                              Hope you enjoy……..”GOD REST YE MERRY GENTLEMEN”

                                            Scott Moody

                                            My love for music started very young. My dad, Neil Moody, played the guitar and

                                            sang. I would always get involved with musicals and play at my old public school,

                                           Sprucedale. Usually playing one of the lead roles I gained lots of confidence to stand

                                           up in front of crowds. I started learning on the guitar at about the age of 8 and then

                                           enrolled in lessons with none else than Ken Denby. I was there for one term and used

                                           my good ear instead of learning to read the music. I still can't read music, all of my

                                           music ability is listening to the songs and playing them over and over. Around the age

                                           of 12, after learning quite a bit on the guitar I became inspired to play the "fiddle" at

                                           camp one weekend when Mel and Sarah Auren came over for a "jam" session with

                                           us. The things Mel could make that fiddle do, made me want to play one. He let me

                                           squeeeek a couple of notes out of it and that was all it took for me to want one. My

                                           uncle, Ray Moody, had an old beater kicking around that he gave to me and I started

                                           to practise. It sounded like an old tin can but I learned a few tunes and thought I was

                                           getting pretty good while I played along with old fiddle records. Dad and I would get

                                           together and jam with either Mel Auren or Bob Oversby, or both. We had a lot of

                                           good times and learned quite a lot from these guys. At the age of around 16, Lorrainne

                                           Malyk got ahold of Louie Haukeness, and Myself to play at Eaton-Rugby Hall. Lorraine

                                           on vocals and rhythm guitar, Louie on vocals and bass, myself on lead guitar and fiddle,

                                           "Country Friends" became our name. We played at smaller functions, got noticed and

                                           gained Tom Stratton, on lead/rhythm guitar, along with Rick Smith on drums/vocals.

                                          Later Louie retired, we picked up Everett Rourke as our bass player and Colleen Nicoll

                                          harmony vocals. We played all over Dryden, almost every weekend starting from the

                                          August Fall Fair until around March. After about three years of playing and running back

                                          and forth to trade school in Thunder Bay, I packed in the band life. This was one of the

                                          greatest musical experiences of my life. The band continued on and became "Cross Road

                                          Country". In 1993 I got married to my wonderful wife Susan, now we have two great boys,

                                          Ben(6), and Will(3). I jam once and a while with dad, my nephew Brendan McDonald,

                                          Ken and Jeannette Denby, who are inspiring Brendan to be better than ourselves. Now my

                                          love is my family, "Ham" amateur radio, and playing around with computers. I'm honoured

                                          to have been asked to play on the "Sunset Country Christmas Treasures" album and dedicated

                                          this website to all of the people who where involved.

                                           Brendan McDonald (age 14)

                                           Brendan started music with the Fine Arts Program at Pinewood School in

                                           Grade 7 at the age of 12. Coming from a musical family he picked up on the

                                           music aspect for Fine Arts quite easily. He played the clarinet and alto saxophone

                                           before moving onto baritone saxophone, which he also plays at Dryden High School.

                                           His love for music grew and he started taking guitar lessons with Ken Denby

                                           in October 2003. By May 2004 he advanced as far as his guitar lessons would

                                           take him, and moved on to the bass. After receiving a bass guitar for his Grade 8

                                           graduation, he had only been playing for about one month before recording on the

                                           Sunset Country Christmas Treasures album in July. He practices every day and

                                           loves to play with his Papa (Neil Moody), and his Uncle (Scott Moody), whenever

                                           he gets a chance. He also enjoys playing guitar or bass with Ken and Jeannette

                                           Denby and learns a lot from Ken. Brendan attends Grade 9 at Dryden High School

                                           and is in Grade 10 music class. He also plays Football for the Dryden High School

                                           Eagles. He is currently taking keyboard lessons with Ken Denby and dabbles with the

                                           mandolin and banjo when he gets the chance. Maybe someday he will make his very

                                           own album.