How Over the Rhine came to redefine Christmas music for a new generation

It was 30 years ago that Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist, the husband and wife duo at the core of Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine, discovered a bit of Christmas magic that was uniquely their own. Since then, they have made a touring tradition of sharing it with audiences every December.

The catalyst for this discovered holiday charm was Over the Rhine’s fifth album, a 1996 seasonal meditation titled “The Darkest Night of the Year.” The record mixed traditional and original carols that shifted from the intimate to the otherworldly. The band celebrated its release in a 13th century church that year on the night of the winter solstice (literally, the darkest night of the year) and forged the program’s unspoiled presentation of Christmas -themed music into an annual December tour.

This year’s run brings Over the Rhine to Lexington for the first time in over five years.

“I think we’ve grown to appreciate these December evenings more and more as the years pass,” Detweiler said. “There’s a communal aspect to these gatherings that can feel sacred at times. That being said, sometimes it’s hard to contemplate rolling out to sing of the dream of peace on earth. Often, it feels like the world and powers that be are moving in the wrong direction. You’d think that humans would tire of the myth of using violence to solve problems. But peace on earth remains a work in progress.”

Over the Rhine’s procuring of a place in the often-overwrought world of holiday music, as well as the initial release of “The Darkest Night of the Year,” came at a crossroads of sorts in the band’s then-young career. After three albums with I.R.S. Records — which gave rise to, among many other artists, R.E.M. — Detweiler and Bergquist again found themselves in the indie ranks after the label folded.

“We were kind of an indie alternative rock act signed to I.R.S. Records by Jay Boberg, the same fellow that signed R.E.M. to I.R.S. We were sort of in transition. I.R.S. had closed its doors in ’95 and they graciously let us out of our record deal. So, we quickly gathered up some of our home recordings and released a record in the summer of 1996 called ‘Good Dog, Bad Dog.’ I think we felt a little bit of the freedom of not being on a record label and began reinventing ourselves a little bit.”

“In my little apartment in Over the Rhine (the Cincinnati neighborhood the band took its name from) I had an old upright piano. I always associated the sound of the upright piano with Christmas because that’s what we had at home. There were some musical kids in our family. My sister Frances was a wonderful piano player. And I always associated the sound of the upright bass with Christmas because of that strange little record that we found as kids called ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas.’

“Part of me always wanted to put an upright bass in the corner and decorate that instead of a Christmas tree because of that record — just that weird, jazzy take on old carols and mixing in some originals by Vince Guaraldi.”

The mystique of the music making up “The Darkest Night of the Year” was established at the record’s onset with an instrumental, Eastern-tinged arrangement of “The First Noel” centering exclusively on piano and upright acoustic bass. The duo setting was also used to provide a starkly emotive cast to other familiar, centuries-old works with permanent ties to Christmas. Among them: The folk chestnut “Greensleeves” and the hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

“Somewhere in that mix, we sat down at the piano and I recruited my favorite upright bass player in the world, a fellow named Chris Dahlgren, who lives in Berlin now. He came in with me and we recorded maybe a third of the record with just piano and upright bass. That beautiful bowing that you hear in the first track (‘The First Noel’) ... a lot of people think that’s cello. It’s actually an upright bass being bowed. It has such a haunting, otherworldly sound. It’s sort of beyond time. Then we gathered the band and did a few takes on a couple of carols and some original songs that had that kind of wintry feel.”

Over the Rhine would go on to release two more holiday-themed albums that centered more on original works — “Snow Angels” in 2006 and “Blood Oranges in the Snow” in 2014.

“One of the most gratifying aspects of our three-decade career in music is meeting young people who grew up listening to our Christmas records as children,” Detweiler said. “Their parents were spinning our Christmas songs and arrangements, and to these kids — they tell us this over and over — our Christmas music is their Christmas music. I can’t tell you how heartwarming that is for a songwriter.

“These concerts do have an aspect of reminiscing, taking stock and also looking forward to a brand new year waiting in the wings. Sometimes audiences feel a little shell-shocked at the relentless news cycles. Songs can begin the work of re-centering people, reconnecting them to the things they care deeply about. Songs can contribute to resilience and, yes, a sense of hope.”

As it turns out, 1996 wasn’t just a milestone year for Over the Rhine, its return to indie status and the release of the record that triggered an ongoing fascination with Christmas-inspired recordings and concerts. It was also the year Detweiler and Bergquist married.

“I should have mentioned that. We got married in October, so a lot was happening. We were solidifying our creative partnership on every level.”

Over the Rhine

When: Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Kentucky Theatre, 214 E. Main

Tickets: $35.50-$45.50

Online: kentuckytheatre.org/troubadour.