{"id":17599,"date":"2019-12-01T05:30:50","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T10:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=17599"},"modified":"2019-09-26T07:51:38","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T11:51:38","slug":"the-spirit-of-christmas-lives-in-hendersonville-n-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/01\/the-spirit-of-christmas-lives-in-hendersonville-n-c\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spirit of Christmas Lives in Hendersonville, N.C."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In between his jam-packed musical schedule, Hendersonville-born-and-raised Blake Ellege found the time to attend and graduate from the International University of Santa Claus. Fulfilling a lifelong ambition \u2013 a dream, really \u2013 Ellege says that he\u2019s preparing to make his first annual \u201ccomplete formal transformation\u201d into the jolly St. Nicholas for the 2018 holiday season.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor as long as I can remember, I\u2019ve loved Christmas,\u201d Ellege says. He remembers a pivotal moment at his grandparents\u2019 home when he was only four years old. \u201cOne day I walked up to my grandmother and said, \u2018Nana, I want to dress up like Santa Claus.\u2019 And she said, \u2018You know what? Okay!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellege\u2019s grandmother went to the store and purchased young Blake a red onesie. \u201cShe brought it back to the house, and glued cotton balls around the wrist and ankle cuffs,\u201d Ellege recalls. \u201cWe cut out the shape of a beard with a piece of poster board; we glued more cotton balls onto that and then tied a string on the very top corner on each side. My grandmother tied it around the top of my head. I put on a pair of my grandfather\u2019s black house shoes. And then she put a Santa Claus hat on my head. I was a miniature Santa!\u201d<\/p>\n

Authentically costumed as his hero, Blake Ellege sat in front of the TV, watching VHS tapes of Miracle on 34<\/i>th<\/i><\/sup> Street<\/i> and Santa Claus: The Movie<\/i> over and over and over. And his fixation with St. Nicholas was no mere young childhood phase. \u201cI would dress up like Santa during the holidays each year up until I was eight or nine years old,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

As Ellege got older \u2013 and especially as his musical career took off (see sidebar) \u2013 holidays were spent at home less often; his Santa Claus persona was set aside for a time. But his passion remained strong for the character who embodies the selfless spirit of giving.<\/p>\n

Once he was in college, Ellege found himself being told by classmates and friends, \u201cYou\u2019re a really jolly fella.\u201d And he says that he had begun \u2013 ever so slightly \u2013 to take on the appearance of the North Pole\u2019s most celebrated resident. \u201cI was getting a little thin on top, and I had grown a massive beard,\u201d he says with a warm chuckle. \u201cAnd I started to think, \u2018I could possibly do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, one doesn\u2019t simply don a Santa suit and become the jolly old elf. Blake Ellege received formal training, earning Associate and Bachelor\u2019s Degrees in Santa Clausology. Today he holds certifications from both the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas and the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas. This season, Ellege will greet children at SAFE Inc. in Brevard, a tax-exempt organization providing safety and support to victims of domestic and sexual violence.<\/p>\n

But before deciding to take on formal training, Ellege experienced a second pivotal and life-changing moment. \u201cDuring the 2014 holidays, I was walking through the Asheville Mall,\u201d he recalls, full of emotion as he recounts the story. \u201cI saw a child standing in line to visit Santa. But this child looked completely emotionless, totally defeated. I stood and watched, and it was amazing to me the way the lights went on in the child\u2019s eyes upon seeing Santa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other than sharing the Santa suit story, Ellege prefers not to talk about his own childhood or family. But it\u2019s clear that he has heartfelt empathy for children who are hurting. And he believes that for too many of them, \u201cthe one opportunity that brings them happiness is seeing Santa. And if I can be there in that capacity for a child, then that\u2019s what makes a difference. That makes it worth it all to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The Many Sides (and Sounds) of Blake Ellege<\/strong>
\nOne creative endeavor \u2013 much less a single style of music \u2013 could never contain the energetic Ellege. \u201cThe more that I\u2019m involved in music, the happier I am,\u201d he says. Just a few of his ongoing projects:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Blake Ellege and the Country Resonators \u2013 tunes from the Golden Age of country and western<\/li>\n
  • Faded Jade \u2013 Top 40 dance band playing hits in all popular genres<\/li>\n
  • The Karolina Katz \u2013 rockabilly from the 1950s and beyond<\/li>\n
  • The Mojo Brothers Blues Band \u2013 classic blues from the 1950s to \u201880s<\/li>\n
  • Santa and the Sleigh Boys \u2013 Christmas party hits<\/li>\n
  • The Stardusters Jazz Quartet \u2013 jazz standards and selections from the Great American Songbook<\/li>\n
  • Sun Studios: Live in Concert \u2013 a tribute to the legendary Memphis recording studio<\/li>\n
  • Ellege also performs in duos with both Aaron Price and Andrew Thelston, as part of a trio with Josh Carter and Tim Fisher, and as a solo artist singing in the classical idiom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In between his jam-packed musical schedule, Hendersonville-born-and-raised Blake Ellege found the time to attend and graduate from the International University of Santa Claus. Fulfilling a lifelong ambition \u2013 a dream, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,41],"tags":[4012,4013],"class_list":["post-17599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holiday","category-interview","tag-blake-ellege","tag-santa-claus","cat-37-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17601,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17599\/revisions\/17601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}