This holiday season, Rum Ragged will release their long-anticipated holiday album, All The Bells and Wassails via LHM Records. True to the band’s reputation, this collection is more than seasonal entertainment—it is a cultural document, grounding the holiday spirit in Newfoundland and Labrador’s centuries-old traditions of song, storytelling, and community.

Rather than adopting the gloss of a conventional Christmas record, Rum Ragged reach back into the seasonal customs of the North Atlantic. The album takes its name from the centuries- old practice of wassailing—an act of gathering, singing, and sharing drink to foster goodwill through the darkest days of the year. The group’s interpretations draw on carols and melodies that travelled across oceans with immigrants to Newfoundland and Labrador, reshaped over generations in outport kitchens and parish halls.

The arrangements are at once meticulous and authentic. Fiddle, bouzouki, and bodhrán echo the instrumentation of festive gatherings past, while the band’s…