Christmas Music Revival: The Lower Lights

The Lower Lights Christmas Concert is a Utah holiday tradition that revives classic Christmas music with a fresh, new energy.
Photo by Justin Hackworth Photography

Every holiday season, The Lower Lights brings more than a dozen musicians to the stage to celebrate the spirit of the holidays

Provo producer scott wiley had five free days to jam with friends, so he put out a call to drop by the studio and play music. But not just any music. Inspired by a desire to tap into tradition, Wiley wanted to play hymns. As it turned out, so did a whole lot of other Utah musicians. In those five days, artists spanning genres from alt-country, folk and Americana to indie rock rotated in and out of the studio to pull songs from old hymn books, pioneer songs, Irish hymns, and gospel and harmonize.

The Lower Lights comprises artists spanning genres from alt-country to Americana and indie. Photo by Pixel-Shot/Adobe Stock

Over 20 musicians successfully recorded what would become their first album, Hymn Revival, under the moniker, The Lower Lights. Next up: Christmas music. Fifteen years and eight albums later, The Lower Lights has become a Utah Christmas institution.

“We never thought we’d be a band at all, much less become a Christmas band,” says Paul Jacobsen, singer/songwriter and one of 18 active musicians comprising The Lower Lights.

Like all of The Lower Lights collaborators, Jacobsen has a full-time project that keeps him busy: Paul Jacobsen & The Madison Arm. But performing as The Lower Lights has become a Christmas tradition, not just for the musicians who reunite every year to play a few shows—some band members now live out of state and travel back to Utah to participate—but for audiences who have helped the band graduate from smaller venues like Post Theater to Kingsbury Hall.

“To some degree, we’ve become part of the fabric of people’s holiday traditions,” Jacobsen says. “It’s become this thing that is bigger than all of us.”

For Jacobsen, uniting with friends in the music scene to bring Christmas music to life through the individual styles of 18 different musicians is a dream come true. One that he hopes to build upon each holiday season as the band continues to add songs to their setlist—each catering to different tastes and beliefs, but always tied to the spirit of the season. Ultimately, it makes for a performance that allows every band member to shine while bringing people together in the way that only music can.

“It is honestly a dream come true that I get to play on a stage—where I’ve seen so many artists I love—with my friends, and we provide something for people that is meaningful to them. Our Christmas shows are our most successful and well-attended shows because something we do there appeals, I think, to nostalgia and people like to see a real thing happening on stage: a bunch of friends making music.”