A new holiday album from Shockee Records is hitting all the right notes – and helping local animals in the process. The record label will host a concert to celebrate the release of their second Christmas album at the Hippodrome on Tuesday, Dec. 3 at 6:30 pm. The event will feature new music from 13 local acts.

A portion of concert and album revenue will benefit the Richmond Animal League, a nonprofit organization which works to reduce euthanasia rates at animal shelters in Central Virginia. The album “A Shockoe Sessions Live! Christmas!” is named after the Shockoe Sessions weekly concert series, which broadcasts live from In Your Ear Studios every Tuesday since 2020. 

The album spans multiple genres, from opera to techno, reflecting the city's musical diversity. Ant the Symbol, a Richmond-born music producer, collaborated with vocalist Mo on a neo-soul track "Season of Peace." He said he aimed to create something unique. "I didn't want to do a traditional Christmas song," he said. "I wanted to do my own thing."

Ant the Symbol hopes that his music leaves listeners with a sense of warmth and welcoming.

“Regardless of your situation, you can enjoy Christmas,” Ant the Symbol said. “Don't let this be a time of year that upsets you or stresses you out.”

Jaylin Brown, a VCU vocal performance graduate and R&B artist, contributed an original love song, "Christmas Eve.” It's the  first Christmas song she's written, and is based on her real life experiences.

“I'm not making it up just because I want to write a Christmas song, I'm writing about actual love that I've experienced and pouring that into it,” Brown said. 

The concert promises to showcase the city's rich cultural variety, blending genres that reflect the music scene’s vibrant community spirit.

“This is exactly what Richmond is– it's love,” Brown said. “If you want to experience that first hand across all the genres within Richmond then you definitely want to be there for this.”

Tickets for the concert are $25-$40 and can be purchased on record label’s website. Copies of the album are available online and record stores.