This is one of those years where everything is squished together.

We’re still coming down from the Saturday Night Valentine’s Day happiness or heartbreak, and rushing into the Lunar New Year and Mardi Gras on the same day. The end of Carnival season and the beginning a new year on the Chinese traditional calendar collide. These are two celebrations on the surface couldn’t be more different in culture, but have many of the same elements.

There is celebration in the street with costume and pageantry. There are phrases of fun and prosperity like “Let The Good Times Roll” and ” I Hope You Get Rich” and there is music! Since 2026 is specifically year of the “Fire Horse” that means  “intense, transformative energy, independence, and fast-paced change.” Break away from the old and take a chance.

So, here are just a few random genre-jumping songs, that invite you to get this party started whatever you celebrate:

Are you hyped? Good, now let’s go easy and groovy, and set some funky fires with New Orleans band, The Iguanas:

Are we mellow feeling good yet? Alrighty, here’s another Louisiana boy who got a little wild back in the day, Jerry Lee Lewis:

Wait! No “Horse” songs? Well, Neil Young’s “Year of the Horse” album doesn’t exactly scream party fun, but if you want a mix of East Meets West from a Taiwanese folk metal artist…who both rocks and features horses in the video, check out the amazing NiNi Music’s “LongMa”:

Let’s stay in Asia a little longer where the party is. If you’re ready for a quaint masked ball, don’t look at rockers Rolling Quartz who are proving K-Pop isn’t the only music coming from Korea…and this ain’t no Masquerade. Yet, it is a party:

Now, later in the night when we’ve had enough truth serum…or hurricanes…we can start admitting to ourselves we actually do like Nickelback. Because, the song “Burn it the Ground” always has been a party banger:

And when the party’s over the next morning, you might feel a little sad and wanting some down time. But as I said, this is a high energy year…and you’ll do it all again soon. Here’s a band I told you a while back was going explode on the charts…and they have! The Paradox is reminding us the party never stops.

Whether you are entering a new year or a Lenten season, I hope you find a reason to celebrate tomorrow with some good music, good friends, and hopefully good fortune.