Elvis Presley tribute w/ Ted Roddy & the King Conjure Orchestra, Rosie Flores & the Ramblers, & Marti Brom

Sleigh-riding to San Antonio for some Mi Tierra home cooking and imported Mexican presents, we caroled along with the King, born Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis didn’t simply sing the Christmas canon, he damn near gargled it, swishing it around his mouth like a shot of Irish whiskey. Seldom did he play it straight, always searching for a new angle on an ancient melody. Expect the same from Austin’s Ted Roddy, whose decades-annual birthday celebration of Elvis must be seen and experienced to believe. Backing big or small from the cream of Austin’s own Wrecking Crew, Roddy’s speakeasy extravaganza remains a new year’s hunk of burning love. – Raoul Hernandez