JD McPherson releases Christmas single "Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)"

Photo by Samantha Franklin

If anyone can make rockabilly relevant to the modern music world, it would be JD McPherson. The Oklahoma native and former punk rocker debuted earlier this year with Signs and Signifiers, a throwback, analog album that reminds us of the origins of rock 'n' roll.

As the FM dial gets more and more clogged this time of year with "White Christmas," "All I Want for Christmas is You," and far worse, JD has rolled up his sleeves to create a yuletide miracle -- a new holiday song that doesn't suck.

A perennial favorite on 89.3 the Current, McPherson is a perfect example of the cyclical nature of music trends, but what's striking about him is the context he's performing in. In the 1950's, McPherson's music would have been labeled wild and controversial -- today, McPherson is a retro innovator, tapping into the nostalgic yearning of today's music listeners for a long lost era. At its core, the music that McPherson is offering is rock in its purest, earliest form, raw and revolutionary.

McPherson has just started an iternational tour for Signs and Signifiers, and tomorrow night's stop at First Avenue marks the second stop on his 24-date tour, running through April. To celebrate his show at First Ave during the holiday season, McPherson did Minneapolis a solid and released an original rocking Christmas tune "Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)." (Okay, maybe he just released it, but we can pretend it's an early gift for us.)

"Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)" will be officially released on iTunes on December 11, but you can catch a preview of the jingley-jam on Rolling Stone here.

JD McPherson is playing at First Avenue tomorrow evening, on Thursday, November 29, with local openers Farewell Milwaukee. 8 p.m. doors. $15 cover. 18+.