Please step out of the frame, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel. We've discovered a far more adorable Christmas-caroling duo.
This video, produced by Madison expatriates Nate Palan and Kari Bethke, surfaced on Facebook over the weekend and reflects the couple's wish to send out a meaningful holiday greeting.
"Since we also love watching videos of family and friends," writes Palan in an email Monday, "we thought this year we could invite people into our home through the video and share a song."
The result promises to elicit grins from even the grinchiest Grinches as Palan and Bethke, formerly of the Kissers and several other bands, make use of what seems like their entire collection of instruments during a festive performance of "Sleigh Ride."
"We did about five or six takes, but we thought this second take felt the most genuine and inviting," says Palan. "We wanted to embody a home-video-style greeting."
Palan will appear at the High Noon Saloon this Saturday, Dec. 22 to preside over Waylan St. Palan & the Magic Elves and Neil M.F. Diamond's Christmas Show, a boozy holiday bash that's as eagerly anticipated as the arrival of St. Nick himself each year.
"It is a surprise to us that this has been seen by so many folks," says Palan of others' reaction to the video. "We might have tried a little harder, but then maybe some of the sincerity would have been compromised. We're glad people like it."