As we’re all once again enjoying our favorite songs of the season, don’t forget about these new musical goodies to put a twinkle in the eye of even the Scroogiest among us!
— Available online now is Sara Evans‘ four-song digital E-P, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, which features the title track, as well as “Go Tell It on the Mountain” and the inspiring “New Again,” a song that Sara wrote with — and sings with — Brad Paisley. The fourth track in the collection is the classic “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and it’s just the kind of song that Sara says we learn as children, but really come to appreciate as adults. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
Sara Evans talks about what holiday songs mean to her. (:28)
“It’s funny, as an adult, when you sing these songs, you really start to take a look at what the actual words are. Because as kids, you know, we memorize these songs, and we have no clue what it’s saying. These lyrics really mean something to me now, because I know exactly what the writer was trying to express. And so, all of the old hymns and old Christmas songs, especially the religious ones, are always my favorite because it’s very sacred, the lyrics to these songs, and what they’re talking about.”
— Also recently released is the 29-song, double-disc collection, NOW That’s What I Call a Country Christmas. It’s flying out of the stores, and with stars like Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Taylor Swift, Darius Rucker, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins, and many others, it’s no wonder! Alongside true Christmas classics from the likes of Gene Autry and Brenda Lee, you’ll find superstars and some of today’s hottest young artists…and if you’ve been seeing Kellie Pickler‘s terrific performance of “Santa Baby” on CMT or CMT.com, you can pick up her original recording of the song right here! A complete track listing is below.
Disc One
Darius Rucker – “Winter Wonderland”
Brad Paisley – “Away in a Manger”
Julianne Hough – “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
George Strait – “Joy to the World”
Lady Antebellum – “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”
Brooks & Dunn – “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
Luke Bryan – “Run Run Rudolph”
Josh Turner – “The First Noel”
Kellie Pickler – “Santa Baby”
Trace Adkins – “It’s Christmas”
Little Big Town – “Go Tell It on the Mountain”
Lee Ann Womack – “The Man with the Bag”
Taylor Swift – “Christmases When You Were Mine”
Kenny Chesney – “Silver Bells”
Disc Two
Gene Autry – “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”
Elvis/Martina McBride – “Blue Christmas”
Merle Haggard – “Jingle Bells”
Vince Gill – “O Little Town of Bethlehem”
Alison Krauss – “Shimmy Down the Chimney (Fill up My Stocking)”
Reba McEntire – “Up on the Housetop”
Glen Campbell – “O Holy Night”
Tanya Tucker – “What Child Is This”
Alabama – “Christmas in Dixie”
Brenda Lee – “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
Kenny Rogers – “Kentucky Homemade Christmas”
Dolly Parton – “Hard Candy Christmas”
Amy Grant – “A Christmas to Remember”
Johnny Cash – “Silent Night”
Burl Ives – “A Holly Jolly Christmas”