OGDEN — Dennis Duce would like you to listen to a Christmas song. Then, he said, it’s up to you to go out and pay it forward.

“Go listen to the song and then go do something for someone else,” Duce said. “Give them a gift, pay them a compliment, go out caroling, but do something that definitely involves you actively sharing the spirit of this song.”

The song, “From Our House,” was written by Duce’s father, Norman S. Duce, in 1977 and the family, who had a tradition of Christmas caroling every year, began singing it to their friends and neighbors.

“My dad sang in choirs and loved and enjoyed music,” Duce said. “We had a family tradition of going caroling every year prior to Christmas. Well, he decided we needed our own little Christmas closing song, so he wrote ‘From Our House.’ He passed away 12 years ago, but we have kept the song alive in some very unique and creative ways.”

Even though he’s been singing the song for the past 47 years, Duce said he just realized the message his father may have been expressing in the song.

“From our house to your house to house to house to house,” he said. “Pay it forward. I never caught that as being the kernel of my dad’s words until just recently.”

Recently, Duce, who co-owns SünTea Kombucha in Ogden with Josh Smith, said he wanted to do more with his father’s Christmas carol. He said he approached some local musicians from MusicBooch, a monthly product that combines the art of brewing kombucha with the magic of local music, and asked them if they would come up with their own creative renditions of the song.

The tune begins with the original version of Duce’s father, sung by Dennis, his wife, Debbie, and his sister, Shari Soelberg, and accompanied by his son, Elijah Duce. The second, third and fourth verses are played by Amanda Lynn Jones, CLUB MUNGO and I-Am-Azin, respectively.

The piece has been so successful, it’s been uploaded on YouTube and picked up by numerous companies, including Spotify.

“We asked them to play around with dad’s song and the end product is just amazing,” Duce said.

Jones, 31, of Bountiful said she was thrilled to be asked to be part of the collaboration.

“It was so much fun and the producer was so talented and easy to work with,” she said. “I really like to play blues and jazz, so that’s the style I used for my part.”

Jones said she has experienced a lot of trauma in her life and music helps her to cope with those issues.

When she was 5 years old, her father bought her a ukulele and taught her the chords to “Home on the Range.” When she was 10, she bought her first electric guitar for $100 on eBay. She would practice her music for hours in between eating and feeding the cows on the family farm.

Music, therapy and recovery sessions helped her to survive, she said.

“I started to play gigs and played in a band with my dad for a while. It gave me a lot of confidence. One night, I was in Ogden and Dennis heard me playing and warming up and said he was impressed, so he approached me and asked if I would participate in his recording. It was such an exciting opportunity for me.”

A unique and major part of SünTea Kombucha includes music. Smith, who brews the tea, will listen to the song of a local musician at least 100 times. Then he thinks of a flavor the song reminds him of and the brewing to the rhythm of the featured artists begins as he infuses the flavors inspired by the transformations occurring as the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast reacts to the musical vibes.

“There have been some interesting studies about the way music can affect the taste of food,” Smith said. “In fact, there was one study done on cheese where several different genres of music were played while making the cheese, like classical, hip hop and metal, and interestingly enough, the best tasting cheese came from the batch made while the heavy metal was playing.”

Smith said not only does the music help him to create the perfect tasting tea, it’s always made with healthy ingredients. In fact, according to healthline.com, kombucha may improve cardiovascular and liver health, contains probiotics, may have the same healthy benefits as green tea, may help manage Type 2 diabetes and could even help protect against cancer.

“Some of the teas will end up with orange juice, hibiscus, clove and cinnamon. It’s just based on what the musician is playing and how they interpret what flavor their music has,” Smith said.

Duce said the project has been nothing short of fun, sentimental, interesting and thought provoking on everyone’s part.

“The whole message is to plant that seed for you to have a merry Christmas and happy New Year and to pass that message on to others around you — from house to house to house,” he said.

To listen to the song go to http://tinyurl.com/bdz9r4uv. It can also be found on Spotify. You can also purchase the holiday drink at the SünTea Kombucha factory in Ogden, 688 Amidan Drive #4X, or Good Earth in Riverdale, 1050 W. Riverdale Road.

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