This new Christmas song gives Santa a leather clad makeover

Fresh off two wins at the 2023 British Columbia Country Music Awards (BCCMA), West Kelowna country artist Ben Klick is out with an original Christmas song and music video.

The track, Santa Rides a Harley, is a unique take on the season and jolly old St. Nick.

Growing up with his father bringing him to the yearly Vancouver Motorcycle show, Klick admits he “caught the bug” for biker culture.

“I went and got my motorcycle license a few years ago, I bought myself a motorcycle and absolutely fell in love with that entire feeling and lifestyle,” Klick told Kelowna10.

“[So much so] that when I was down in Nashville this past winter, I wanted to make Santa Claus really, really cool and decided, well, let's describe him with like a red leather jacket. Let's put a cool skullcap on him and things like that, put him on a Harley-Davidson and see if we can do something kind of fun with that.”

Along with his girlfriend, Cassidy Bastien, and friend Rhett McDaniel, he began to write line after line, and the song came together in just under an hour.

The song was recorded at Studio Downe Under in Abbotsford, and the music video was filmed at Kelowna Harley-Davidson and Kelowna Powersports.

“Everything was done at those two locations. My dad filmed it basically out of the sunroof of his truck while my mom drove the vehicle for all the driving shots,” he said. “It was a family effort; it was a community effort. But we had a ton of fun filming over the course of two days.”

So far, Klick said there has been great reactions to the song, with even people who don’t particularly like Christmas music approaching him at shows to tell him how much they enjoyed it.

He expects 2024 to be a big year, with plans to write and record more music, a tour, and even another Christmas song.

The country singer will showcase his new music at Red Bird Brewing on Dec. 19 and 30, along with a special show at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Jan. 23, before heading to Nashville at the end of January.