Dear Readers,

Thanks for your patience throughout this never-ending Saga. Today is the day you’ve been waiting for. I suspect it will be somewhat anti-climatic. But, you asked for the truth. “You Can’t Handle the Truth” (oh … sorry, that was Jack).

Seriously, if you missed the other posts in the saga, be sure to catch up by reading:
Introduction (Part 1)
I’m Declared the Singer on Radio (Part 2)
Time to Vote (Part 3)
Time to Vote – More Callers (Part 4)
Fred joins the Chris & Brad with the Gray Area, 106.9 Free FM, San Francisco (Part 5)

Finally:

Part 6 – The Grand Finale, True Identity Revealed

I’ve been thinking about how to best present this. As I’ve been saying this week, my phone interview with the real singer is nearly 1-hour long. Now, I must confess how tempted I was to post another 6-part series of audio clips over the next week – just to stretch this thing out longer … but you can only milk a story so long, right?

So, I’ve decided to type some quick, simple answers for those who really need the quick details. And then, I’m going to link to 6 separate clips of the nearly 1-hour long phone interview that you can listen to at your leisure. I know most people barely have time to read my blog … I’m honored for those that do – especially those of you who take time to comment. So … having time to listen to an hour long interview is out of the question. Hopefully, the audio clips below will give you the opportunity to hear it in “chunks” when you can.

Q: Who is the real singer?
A: His name is Steve M., and he is from the Nashville, TN area. Steve hasn’t given his last name, but with the story he tells, you can connect the dots and figure it out. If you are a clever blog person, you can also find it hidden on fredmckinnon.com!

Q: Is the singer a professional or amateur?
A: Steve is a professional musician, producer, arranger, and orchestrator. He’s been making his living producing and arranging music in Nashville for decades. He has worked with some of the more famous artists in history. By his own admittance, Steve is not a great vocalist. (really?) … but he is a professional in the music industry.

Q: Was the singer seriously trying to perform the song?
A: No, Steve was up late in the studio with Kevin, his Engineer. They’d just completed the “real” recording of the song featuring Guy Penrod, a now-famous vocalist for the Gaither Vocal Band. After Guy sang the solo and left, Steve and Kevin were playing around, celebrating the fact that the “tracking time” of the recording was finally finished. They were making jokes about how high the singer could sing, and that maybe it was his “long hair” that helped him hit the high notes. Steve, the producer and composer of the soundtrack, jokingly said “I can hit those high notes” and went out into the studio to sing it. Kevin recorded it – Steve hammed it up and had fun throughout the track.

Q: What was the original intent of the song?
A: The backing track was professionally composed and scored by Steve M. It was part of a Christmas album for the Christ Church Choir in Franklin, TN. The actual recording of this song features the exact same track, but Guy Penrod singing the vocal and the CC Choir singing the very high “fall on your knees” section that our friend, Steve, butchered so well!

Q: How did this song get on the internet?
A: Nobody knows for sure. After that funny night in the studio, Kevin made a cassette tape for Steve to keep for himself and stored the big 2-inch track master tape with the project. The album was later signed to the now-extinct “StarSong” record label. Star Song was eventually acquired by a larger record company. Steve, our singer, suspects that when the assets of Star Song were purchased by the bigger label, a recording engineer or intern was assigned the task of backing up all of the company’s 2-inch tape masters into digital format and discovered this funny outtake. From there, various engineers in Nashville began emailing the song around as a joke. As for the original 2-inch tape masters … they are MIA and cannot be found. Their location is still a mystery.

Q: Why come forward:
A: Steve decided that he’d seen enough YouTube videos and other postings where people were claiming to be the real “O Holy Night” singer. For years, he and his brother kept it a secret – enjoying hearing all of the rumors and tales as to what the real story was. After counting more than 15+ videos on YouTube of people claiming to be the real singer, Steve decided to come forward and share his story.

Q: What proof is there?
A: Steve has sent me the orchestral score to the track, the original backing track, the track with the choir, and the produced track with Guy Penrod singing it as performed on the Christmas album by Christ Church Choir.

Q: How can I contact Steve?
A: Steve discusses ways to contact him in the final part of his interview.

Phone Interview:
(note: I recorded this with “Skype”. The audio quality is terrible, and my headset on the mic didn’t work very well. I had to convert it into .wav files for ProTools, and apply heavy compression in attempts to level out Steve’s voice with the volume of my voice. I didn’t have a means to put my voice and Steve’s voice on separate tracks).
Part 1 (Welcome and Bio Information – 6:18)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 2 (Background on O Holy Night – 2:41)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 3 (The Recording Process – 16:05)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 4 (Why Break the Silence – 5:04)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 5 (How Was it Released – 7:50)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 6 (Your Testimony – 11:06)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Well, it’s been a blast – and I sure hope you enjoyed this saga … and it will be a source of fun for everyone! To my friends at 106.9, Chris & Brad … it was fun .. and hope you’ll still have some fun with it again … would love to hook you up with Steve!

Your comments?
Fred

Hey Everyone -

For those who have missed this series, checkout:
Introduction (Part 1)
I’m Declared the Singer on Radio (Part 2)
Time to Vote (Part 3)
Time to Vote – More Callers (Part 4)

Wow, this has to be the longest running series ever … and it just keeps on going! Before we get into Part 5 .. I have to confess … this may draw out even further. Why? Because Part 6 (scheduled for tomorrow) features the actual phone interview with Mr. St**** M*****, the real singer of “O Holy Night”.

The good news … the interview happened, and is recorded in ProTools and ready for release!
The bad news … the interview is nearly 1-hour long!

So, I may be FORCED to break the interview into yet another series of releases. Who is really going to sit here online and listen to 1 hour of a phone interview! Let me know your comments!

Now … onto Part 5 …

Fred joins Chris and Brad in San Francisco on 106.9 Free FM …

Fred joins the show
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

The Spoof Argument with Chris and Brad
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Fred answers the question, “What is a Worship Leader”
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

My friend, Chas from Atlanta, joins the conference
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

OK everyone, I hope you’ve enjoyed this! Now, stay tuned for the exciting release of the “REAL O HOLY NIGHT SINGER” tomorrow (Friday), right here on FredMcKinnon.Com. As I said, I may be forced to release this phone interview in segments (arrggggh!). It’s nearly 1-hour long. But I promise I’ll give you enough answers tomorrow to bring satisfaction!

Thanks for hanging in there .. now … this is a huge story … so how ’bout posting it on YOUR BLOG and spreading the word!
Thanks,

Fred

Hey Everyone -

OK, we’re nearing the end of this saga … I promise.

For those who have missed this series, checkout:
Introduction (Part 1)
I’m Declared the Singer on Radio (Part 2)
Time to Vote (Part 3)

Today, a short entry to share a couple more minutes of some of the funny callers. My favorite one is “Sid” at the end who expresses in disbelief that reality that this “Fred McKinnon” guy actually leads music in a church somewhere.

CONTENT WARNING: (reminder from yesterday) … In case you’ve not figured it out, this is NOT a “Christian” radio station, and I wouldn’t classify those calling into the show as your typical “christian” audience either. There is some profanity (gasp!) and other comments that could be offensive. I’m warning you now. It’s nothing too horrible. Trust me – I’ve only edited and shared the ones that are on the “clean side” – there were a few callers who although I have to confess, made me laugh very hard … I just can’t bring myself to post here on a blog that is typically about worship, leadership, and the like. And we’ll get back to some of that good stuff soon .. I promise!

The Callers and Voting, Part 2 (2:24)
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Tomorrow (Thursday): Snippets from my guest appearance on the show.
Friday: the official unveiling … all the scoop, plus full audio interview recorded “live” with the REAL singer!

Stay tuned, and SPREAD THE WORD!

Fred

Hey Everyone,

The saga continues. If you missed it, checkout:
Introduction (Part 1)
I’m Declared the Singer on Radio (Part 2)

And today … a few snippets from the actual “Call In” time on 106.9 Free FM. As I’d mentioned in the previous posts, I have about 2 hours of this funny stuff … obviously, I can’t post all of that … but come over to my studio and pull up a chair to hear the whole thing … it’s stinkin’ funny.

So, we pick up the saga today with the few seconds of disbelief that always occurs when “O Holy Night” has been played. There is typically a period of either unbelievable silence just after the last note, or often that silence is totally wasted on uncontrollable laughter and/or sobbing.

“O Holy Night” has just played on the air, and we pick it up there. By this time, I’m “IM’ing” my buddy, Chas, who lives in Atlanta. I was on IM and saw him online, and fired off a message telling him to logon to their website and listen live. So you’ll hear little “zing” sound effects throughout the audio where we were messaging back and forth. Chas enjoys it so much he figures out the call-in number and actually phones the show in San Franciso to defend me!

The Setup:
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

During the next 30-40 minutes, there is caller after caller after caller who call into the show to declare their votes for “that worship leader guy in Georgia singing O Holy Night”.

CONTENT WARNING: In case you’ve not figured it out, this is NOT a “Christian” radio station, and I wouldn’t classify those calling into the show as your typical “christian” audience either. There is some profanity (gasp!) and other comments that could be offensive. I’m warning you now. It’s nothing too horrible. Trust me – I’ve only edited and shared the ones that are on the “clean side” – there were a few callers who although I have to confess, made me laugh very hard … I just can’t bring myself to post here on a blog that is typically about worship, leadership, and the like. And we’ll get back to some of that good stuff soon .. I promise!

Callers Voting, Part 1 – 3:36
(source: 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Part 2 of the Callers tomorrow.
Thursday – Snippets of my “On-Air” interview
Friday – the complete unveiling, with full audio interview of the REAL SINGER!!!

Can you help me spread the word and generate some excitement for the big day on Friday!? BRING IT ON!

Fred

Hello Everyone -

For those just joining us, you may want to play “Catch Up” on the saga by reading Part 1: Background.

Part 2: Celebrity Status

So on Nov. 30th of 2006 I get this “comment” on the original post (it’s still there) that reads:

Just thought you might want to know that free FM in San Francisco played this tonight as a part of their contest for worst xmas song ever. It was on the Chris Daniel and Brad Giese show titled Gray Area. The big kicker though is they introduced in as “O’ Holy Night as performed by Fred McKinnon a worship leader from Georgia” (edited for corrections)

Huh? Oh my, this is funny, but this could be bad. Somebody accidentally thought it was me? Well, it got worse. Throughout the morning, more people emailed and commented. By noon, there was a “myspace.com/fredmckinnonrules” page (no longer active, thankfully!) that had my picture, my name, and O Holy Night playing.

I quickly fired off an email to the 106.9 Free FM, the station in San Franciso that hosts this late night talk show, “The Gray Area” to let them know that although this was funny, I wasn’t the singer and they’d misunderstood. I requested that the MySpace be taken down. This was fuel for the fire and this is when it gets fun. I was invited to come on the show in San Franciso via telephone. So, I stayed up very late and recorded over 2 hours worth of what I think is some of the funniest stuff I’ve ever heard in my life.

Erica, the lady who “discovered” the song on my site, and the call screener (among other things) has a totally HILARIOUS blog that she keeps on the show … if you want a good laugh, load the December 2006 archives of her blog and use your brower’s “find” feature (Edit > Find usually) to search for “Fred” and you’ll see what I mean!

Here are a few clips to enjoy .. these may take a while, so if you don’t have time now … bookmark this, or for you RSS Readers, mark as “unread” so you can come back and have fun with this:

“Who is Fred McKinnon and what is a Worship Leader?”
(source: The Gray Area, 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

“Attributing Fred McKinnon as the Singer”
(source: The Gray Area, 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

“O Holy Night Played on the Air as Fred McKinnon”
(source: The Gray Area, 106.9 Free FM)

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]
OK, so in Part #3 we’ll continue the 106.9 saga with a few snippets of the “call in” time where I was interviewed by Chris and Brad. It was a lot of fun. I have over 2+ hours recorded and should only share a few, short snippets for copyright purposes … just enough to let you see how hilarious and big this got.

As for the “who is this really” … I just love the comments about how I’m dragging this out … so, hang in there … “wait for it … wait for it … wait for it …”

It’s coming.
Fred

Hi Everyone,

So welcome to the official unveiling of the “O Holy Night” saga. This story is so long and so funny, I’ve decided to break it into a series and offer it over the next week or so. It’s a little early to break this – this content would be much more appropriate in December, but I just may have to repost it then.

As you know, this song was posted on my blog years ago and since then, there have been hundreds of “tales and urban legends” about the song.

“Is the singer serious?”
“Who is the singer?”
“It was a joke .. it was Adam Sandler … it was a guy who mortgaged his home to try and get a record deal to save his dying mother from cancer … it was a person shopping a demo in Nashville … it was someone who sang a special in church and it got recorded …”
and the list goes on and on.

Well … last month, the real singer and performer contacted me. He decided to break his silence and tell his story to me. Thus, the “O Holy Night Saga Revealed” series.

Part 1: Background

So, a few years ago I received an email from this good buddy of mine, Curtis Geary from First Baptist Church in Brunswick, GA. This was back in December of 2004. I wasn’t a super-active blogger back then, but because I thought the song was SO FUNNY I posted it on my blog. The entry is dated December 17, 2004 and the original entry (and it’s comments) can be found here in the archives.

Little did I know that by posting this song on my blog, it would be linked to and referenced by people all over the world. Although the song had been emailed back and forth for a year or more, I don’t think anyone had been blogging about it until this time. A quick Google search of the phrase “bad O Holy Night” proudly displays “FredMcKinnon.com” as the #1 hit … and “funny O Holy Night” is a close 2nd.

So, now the song is available for all the world to enjoy. I’ll post it once again at the bottom of this blog entry for your own entertainment. What followed was a couple of years of random comments, emails, and incoming links to my blog where people were enjoying this song from all over the world.

Little did I know that in December of 2006, my life would be affected by this in a major way … but you’ll have to read Part 2 for that!

[See post to listen to audio at www.fredmckinnon.com]

Well Merry Christmas, Ya’ll!

A buddy of mine sent a beautiful rendition of “O Holy Night” to me the other day … well … ok .. truth is … it’s not so beautiful! Then again – I suppose you could always argue that point.

Seriously, I guess this is “out there” on the ‘net – we have no clue who this singer is, or “if” this singer was joking or was really trying to perform a solo. You decide.

Listen – click here! (and grab a box of Kleenex)

Speaking of “O Holy Night” .. it’s been “O Long Night” for me …. 3 nights in one week now .. I’ve not been able to sleep. Insomnia .. it’s terrible. Our kids (who always sleep through the night w/ no problem) have been in a phase where one of them keeps waking up. Last night it was Rebekah. Two nights before, it was Will and Rebekah. A few nights before that, it was Will only. They all have rotten head colds and can hardly breathe at night. I guess I’ve been so busy trying to finish up some “tasks” here at the end of the year that my mind won’t stop racing. I’m lucky to fall off asleep – but then when I get awakened … it’s all over – just can’t get back to sleep for nothing.

Well – hope you enjoy the song. Feel free to spread the link to your friends.

For the Kingdom,
Fred