"To Shorten The Winter" is a collection of songs drawn from the traditions surrounding wintertime in Ireland. Joined by friends Dolores Keane, Liam O'Flynn, Steve Cooney and Arty McGlynn, the album includes Tommy's wonderful Irish take on the Christmas spirit. A traditional Irish treatment of "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" is a humorous nod to the Christmas season enjoyed by all during the long Yuletide nights celebrated in the North of Ireland. The hauntingly beautiful spoken word piece, "A Childhood Christmas" is a trip back in time to the wonder of this magical season.

Northern Ireland's celebrated songwriter and peace activist Tommy Sands has created in To Shorten the Winter a deeply personal and at times transcendental Christmas album. It may be the magic of Liam O'Flynn's haunting uillean pipes, the backing vocals of Dolores Keane, or the simple finger-picking of the guitarists combined with Sands's plaintive and soulful lyrics. Whatever its charm, To Shorten the Winter collects new Sands material and old favourites, including a beautiful reading of poet Patrick Kavanaugh's "A Christmas Childhood / A Call to Hope". And it packs unusual contrasts with traditional fare such as "Raglan Road" and Procol Harum's surreal 1960s epic "A Whiter Shade of Pale"