The Christmas Lights Shine on Baltimore Unsigned

Tune in at 8 p.m. Tuesday as Baltimore Unsigned welcomes back The Christmas Lights. The Frostburg-based band started as a solo project by vocalist and guitarist Kenny Tompkins. "The band was formed to play those songs [from the debut Walk Like a Human], and just see how it went," he recalls. "People reacted fairly strongly to the sound of the band playing the songs, maybe even in some cases, even more than the record." 

On the forthcoming album, tentatively titled Getting Born, the group is exploring new opportunities bridge the gap between its indie rock and electronic influences. “If you’re holding an instrument that you’re familiar with, like a guitar or bass guitar, you so easily fall into rock and roll clichés," Tompkins says. "We’ve written a lot of songs and been like, ‘That’s pretty good,’ and then listen to it a week later and been like, ‘But it’s just the same old rock and roll that has existed for a long time.” And that’s not exactly what our band is about."

The Christmas Lights perform at Dante’s in Frostburg on Saturday, September 18.