LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts/ Pres Pak Public Relations) - It will be a little bit better this Christmas. It can hardly be helped. Driving this year's new outlook is the song and video 'A
Little Bit Better this Christmas' written and performed by award-winning Topanga-based eclectic duo Crazy Aunt Mary and directed by Bob Kent. This new holiday classic can be found on CD Baby in anticipation of the video's showing as part of New York-based Live
Music Media's Christmas show for the holidays.
Crazy Aunt Mary is comprised of award-winning songwriter Michelle Holmes and accoladed guitarist Steve Pinkney. The edgy and lyrical songwriting of Holmes, with her powerful vocals and subtle bass playing, and the accomplished and elusive guitar delivery of Pinkney have made their songs new yet desirably familiar to listeners. Their debut album, 'Sexy Epsilon,' is a mixture of Acoustic Rock, Folk, and Blues that brings you to another place with its imagery and surprise.
Much celebrated both as a duo and as individuals, Michelle Holmes's songs for Crazy Aunt Mary have been honored with the ASCAPlus Songwriting Award eight years running, placement in the top five in the Indiegrrl Songwriting Competition, and Honorable Mentions in the Billboard World Song Contest. Their videos 'Kate Hutton' and 'Sexy Epsilon' have been aired on Live Music Media's Indie Music Video show in the New York area, and Michelle's song 'Cup of Joe' was recently aired on 'Sauced!', the number one Sunday radio show in Nashville.
Holmes is a successful singer, musician, and songwriter. She was the lead singer and bass player for the award-winning L.A. indie rock band Moe Jones for five years. She has performed at most clubs in and around Los Angeles, including performances at the annual GoGirlsMusicFest, Los Angeles Bikeathon, as well as several benefits for Animal Acres, a farmed animal sanctuary in the Los Angeles area.
As an actor, she has starred on stage in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles in such productions as "Dames at Sea," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Pump Boys and Dinettes," "Major Barbara," "The Comedy of Errors," and "The Miracle Worker," for which she won a Drama-Logue Award. On television, Michelle recurred on the ABC series "Fudge," based on the Judy Blume books, and starred as Ingrid in the cult indie film "A Weekend with Barbara und Ingrid." She also co-starred in the film "Angus Petfarkin Paints His Masterpiece,' starring and directed by Bob Kent, and was honored to co-write the song, 'Sexy Epsilon,' with Steve Pinkney for the film. Michelle also appeared in author James Frey's film, "Sugar: The Fall of the West", and co-starred in "Arrest and Trial," a Dick Wolf production, part of the "Law and Order" franchise.
Steve Pinkney is a veteran of L.A. bands, most recently with Moe Jones, the band in which me met Holmes. A guitarist since age eight, he went on to win first prize in the Cal State Long Beach Bluegrass Festival guitar competition.
Video Director Bob Kent has worked extensively as an actor or director (or sometimes both at once) in small playhouses all over Los Angeles. He has directed two shorts: 'The Tower' and 'Dis-Appointment.' He wrote, produced and directed 'Angus Petfarkin Paints His Masterpiece,' his first feature-length movie and also his return to acting. All of Bob's films have been released on DVD by his production company, Rhamphorhynchus Pictures (information at www.rham-pics.com). 'A Little Bit Better This Christmas' is the third of four videos he has directed for Crazy Aunt Mary following 'Kate Hutton' and 'Sexy Epsilon,' with the new 'Quiet Water' currently in production.
