sarahillis's blog

It's time once again for the Come by the Hills Holiday extravaganza! I've got three hours of festive-themed tunes coming your way, including a really lovely reading of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales, which was performed as part of a seasonal concert that Loreena McKennitt mounted called Under a Winter's Moon. So, if you're not all Christmased out after the countdown, I hope you can join me for some festive folkish fun!

We'd like to thank everyone who has voted in this year's Mushroom FM Holiday Countdown! All the contributions are officially in and collected, and now that the vote-validation elves have done their work, it's time for them to switch gears. (well, do elves have gears? Maybe hats is better.) Okay, so it's time for the elves to switch hats and get Portobello Hall cleaned up for your impending arrival! The Christmas tree is being brought in and decorated, and there will be lots of wood for the log fire, or if you prefer it, the windows can be opened to let in the summer breeze.

Today is the final day to make your festive favourites known by voting for them in our Mushroom FM Holiday Countdown! You only have until the end of today, that's 11:59 PM North American Eastern time, to vote and to have your vote validated. The validation part is very important, so don't wait till the last possible moment! Just drop in on our handy little Countdown page and do your thing! The elves will make sure you get a seat at one of our virtual tables for the big celebration on Sunday!

'Tis the week before Christmas, and that can only mean one thing here at Mushroom FM! It's almost time for voting to close in our 2024 Holiday Countdown! Yes, in under two days, the votes will be in and we'll be getting busy spiffing up Portobello Hall for Sunday's festivities! So, to be sure you get a seat at one of our lovely virtual tables, just head on over to our handy Countdown voting page and pick ten of your favourite festive tunes! You can pick them from our database of over 600 songs, or just write them in.

The Christmas rush is well and truly upon us, and time is running out to get your contribution in for the 2024 Holiday Countdown! Voting closes at 11:59 PM Eastern time on Thursday. Yes, this coming Thursday, December 19th! Simply go to our voting page and pick ten of your favourite seasonal songs, then listen to the countdown starting at 9:00 AM Eastern time on Sunday, December 22nd to see if your picks have made the cut!

To vote, go to: https://www.mushroomfm.com/countdown2024!

Greetings from the land of rapidly-shortening days! It's me, Sara Hillis, here to tell you about this week's episode of Come by the Hills, where we'll have songs about winter in honour of the coming Solstice. However, we'll also have a few songs featuring cities, a few songs about roses, and of course, a few festive tunes as well. Best of all, the show will be live, like really live, in a few short hours! So why not hang out with me for a bit if you have a mind?

At last, it has come! The final week of voting in the 2024 Mushroom FM Holiday Countdown is here! Remember, votes close at 11:59 PM Eastern time on December 19th, but this weekend would be a great time to head over to our Countdown page and pick ten of your favourite holiday songs and get a seat at one of our virtual tables for the event itself!

Listen to the countdown starting at 9:00 AM Eastern time on December 22nd. That's 2:00 PM in the UK, and 3:00 AM on Monday the 23rd in New Zealand!

It's often at this time of the year when we get reflective and start asking the really big, important questions of life. Why are we here? What's life all about? Is God really real, or is there some doubt? And of course, why the heck should I take some of my valuable time to cast my vote in the Mushroom FM holiday Countdown? Well, if you want to know the answers to the first few questions, I suggest watching Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. (ON second thought, maybe don't do that.) As for the question about the countdown, agonize no more! I've got your answers right here!

Hello! Sara Hillis here to let you know about this week's episode of Come by the Hills, the Folk and Celtic music show on Mushroom FM! I've decided, in honour of the season, to play a few holiday selections live on air. I had a request a month or so ago to play my harp on the show, so I've decided to fulfill that request. I haven't done anything like this since 2020 when everyone was doing virtual concerts, so I hope you'll join me. I will of course have recorded music on the show as well.

First, we'd like to thank those who have already voted in this year's Mushroom FM Holiday Countdown! You're amazing! However, it seems that our vote-validating elves are suffering from a lack of structure and productivity at work. They are taking entirely too many cocoa and candy cane breaks, and may be in danger of quiet quitting, (not to mention getting into the mulled wine and mince pies,) if we're not careful. The good news is that you can help them to fulfill their potential and live their dream. How?