It’s Christmastime, and one of the things that Chris Young loves about this time of year is the music. When the Thanksgiving turkey is done and gone, Chris is ready to crank the holiday tunes — and he told us about two albums that always mean Christmas to him. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Chris released his third album, NEON, earlier this year, but one 2011 “first” for Chris is the holiday release of his first-ever Christmas recording! Chris sang “O Holy Night” for the new A Very Country Christmas collection, and Chris talked with us about the song and about how wild it would feel to maybe hear his own Christmas recording on the radio! (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• You can find A Very Country Christmas, also featuring Ronnie Dunn, Brad Paisley, Jake Owen, Kellie Pickler, and others, exclusively at Target.
• And while you’re doing your holiday shopping, be sure to pick up Chris’ NEON album, which already includes two big hits, with his Top-10-and-climbing current single, “You,” and the album’s first number-one smash, “Tomorrow.”
• So, we know that Chris grew up hearing and loving Christmas music, but another thing he grew to love is his mom Becky‘s Frosted Christmas Cookies! Chris chats about the delectable edibles and shares his mom’s recipe online on GACTV.com’s 12 Days of Country Cookies! Get the cookie lowdown from Chris, right here! 

  Chris Young is all about the holiday tunes. (:21)
“I’m a Christmas music junkie, big time. Can’t do it ’til after Thanksgiving, but like, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I have Christmas CDs in my car. I…like, the Christmas tree goes up, we start decoratin’ the house — I’m bad. That’s probably one of my favorite times of the year, and so, yeah, if you, like, pull up next to me at a stop light, and it’s in December, I’m probably, like, blarin’ out some Christmas music, singin’ along with it.”

  Chris Young reveals a surprising holiday-music influence. (:35)
“The first Alan Jackson Christmas record. That record and The Beach Boys‘ Christmas Album — if I hear that, that means Christmas, as far as music goes. That was the two CDs or two tapes that were like, ‘Oh, it’s Christmastime,’ ’cause that’s what my mom would play in the car, everywhere. I know both of those CDs front to back. (laughs) And I know that sounds odd ’cause most people…I don’t think I’ve ever given an interview before where I’m like, you know, they go, ‘Who are one of your influences?’ and I go, ‘The Beach Boys!’ But those two records absolutely are…those come on, and it’s Christmastime.”

  Chris Young has sung plenty of Christmas songs in his life, but as a recording artist, his first-ever holiday recording appears on the new, multi-artist collection, A Very Country Christmas. (:33)
“This is the first thing I’ve done since I’ve been with RCA. You know, obviously I’ve done a lot of Christmas songs before, and I love Christmas music. I do. One day, at some point, when I find the right songs, I will make a Christmas album. But to have something come out at Christmas, you’re recording it in June. So, I’m in the studio with my producer, James [Stroud], in the middle of summer — it’s like a hundred degrees outside — and I’m singin’ ‘O Holy Night.’ So I was like, ‘Get the studio really cold before I come in there so we can pretend like this is normal.'”  

  Chris Young talks about his recording of “O Holy Night,” from A Very Country Christmas. (:14)
“It’s a cut I’m really proud of, and obviously bein’ part of the A Very Country Christmas CD, there’s a lot of other artists on there that just sing their butts off. So, to be included in that, be a part of it, is really nice.”

  Chris Young says it’s made him feel great to be getting positive feedback to his A Very Country Christmas recording of the classic “O Holy Night.” (:41)
“You get a little bit proud when you do a Christmas song ’cause so many people — if it’s a classic, traditional Christmas song — it’s been done by, like, everybody. So when you do a version and people are like, ‘Hey, man, I love your version of that song,’ it means a lot, because it’s a song that, honestly, you could play 14 different versions of and say, ‘Which one do you like best?’ So, when people come up and have complimented me on that already, it’s been pretty cool. Plus, evidently, there’s gonna be some people actually play this on the radio at Christmastime. So I might be sittin’ there and then, like, hear my own Christmas song, waiting for Christmas music, which will be a whole new level of awkward, ’cause I’ve never been used to that before. But it’s exciting.”