Creative Juices: Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson

I absolutely love this time of year: a nip in the air, cookies baking in the oven, the chance to see family and friends, hot tea and a good book, Christmas movies on TV ... you get my drift. I'm definitely a Christmas girl. I wasn't officially in the Christmas spirit though until I drove back to Cleveland from Cincinnati last week and listened (OK, sang along) to three (THREE!) hours of Christmas music. And since I was listening to the radio that meant four Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeers, two Rockin' Around the Christmas Trees and five All I Want for Christmas is Yous.

While I love all those songs, it's definitely nice to change it up with some non-traditional holiday music, and that's what I have for you today! If you don't already have it, you might consider downloading The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs album. Along with Winter Song by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson, it features holiday music by Lenka, KT Tunstall, Priscilla Ahn and so many other awesome female singers!

Creative Juices: Beautiful Disaster and If Only I by Jon McLaughlin

I still remember the first time I heard Jon McLaughlin in concert. The only reason a couple friends and I went was because we heard an advertisement for his show on the radio (yes, those things really work!) and we were new to Cincinnati and looking for stuff to do. I really had no idea that me seeing him play live would start a semi-obsession with his piano rock music. Think Ben Folds meets John Mayer.

This guy is not super well known, and he plays in pretty intimate venues, but if you have the chance to go and see him--do it! Not only is his music awesome, he's hilarious and is super entertaining to watch play. Clevelanders, he'll be in town Oct. 27 at the Beachland Ballroom. I'll be there, soooo you should probably check it out! :)

This one's from his first album, and it was my original favorite:

And this one is from his new album and it's my new favorite:

Creative Juices: The Show by Lenka

A couple nights ago I saw Moneyball, and it was goooooood! Way better than expected. Even if you don't like baseball, I think you'll like this movie. I've never been gaga over Brad Pitt, but I have to say, he is an A+ actor. ANYWAYS, we're talking about Creative Juices here! I promise there's a segue between a baseball movie and a very quirky music video. Here it goes: In Moneyball, Brad Pitt's character's daughter makes brief appearances, usually to sing along with her guitar. Well, the song she sings throughout the movie is none other than The Show by Lenka! (See how I did that? :)) I was so confused the whole movie because I thought maybe Lenka in real life was Billy Beane's (Brad Pitt's character) daughter, but alas it was just a Hollywood addition to the story. Still, hearing this song made me run home and check to make sure it was a part of my Creative Juices playlist. And it was! So, now I'm passing it on to you. If you haven't heard it yet, enjoy! And check out some of Lenka's other stuff.