If you’re looking for the perfect holiday soundtrack this Christmas season, Chris Young has an album for you! Chris released It Must Be Christmas, which has his take on 8 holiday favorites, along with adding 2 new songs, that he co-wrote, into the Christmas mix. Chris also got a chance to have some guest singers join him on the album…friend and frequent tour mate Brad Paisley sings with Chris on “The First Noel.” One of Chris’ all time favorite groups, Boyz II Men joins him on “Silent Night.” And Alan Jackson sings with Chris on a song that also appeared on Alan’s first Christmas album, Honky Tonk Christmas. “There’s a New Kid In Town” was co-written by Keith Whitley, and Keith sang it with Alan when it appeared on Honky Tonk Christmas. Chris Young is a huge Keith Whitley fan, (Chris even owns one of Keith’s old guitars), and Chris also says that “it’s not Christmas” until he hears Alan’s album Honk Tonk Christmas. So, for his version of “There’s A New Kid In Town” Chris sang Alan’s parts, and Alan sang Keith’s parts, truly making the song a “full circle” moment for Chris. It Must Be Christmas is available now, and below you’ll find Chris commenting on all the tracks from his first Christmas album.

  “The Christmas Song”
“‘The Christmas Song’ is one of those that’s a true classic, it’s a standard. It’s one that I’ve sung a lot around Christmas time. It was one of the first songs that when I knew I had to have a Christmas song in my set, once it got to be like December, and Thanksgiving went by, people started asking for that out of you. It was one of the ones I was just drawn too all the time, so definitely wanted to treat it with a little bit a reference but put my own spin on it, and it’s one of my favorite things in the whole project.”

  “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
“‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’ was an easy one to pick just because it is a fun up-tempo Christmas song, and there’s so many that you get drawn to at Christmas time that are ballads, and this one was definitely one of the first songs that I kinda shortlisted just because you know it’s a lot of fun, it’s a lot of fun to sing, it’s a lot of fun to listen to.”

  “Under The Weather”
“We really had a lot of fun writing this one, and by we I mean Corey Crowder, who’s my co-producer, and Josh Hoge. The three of us have written a lot of songs together, and this one was the definitely not what you expect from the title I guess like if you just look at the title I’m not sure you would be able to say what this song is about. But, cool twist on a Christmas song, and definitely different tonally from the other original, which is the title track. So, made a lot of sense to have this as part of this record and I am so glad I got a chance to write it with those two guys that are two of my really good friends”

  “There’s A New Kid In Town”
“The song ‘There’s A New Kid In Town’ was always really important to me because the Honky Tonk Christmas record by Alan Jackson was one of those albums I had to hear or wasn’t Christmas night at my house, and obviously,  being a huge Keith Whitley fan, the fact that it had Alan and Keith on it, it was just always really really special and I knew I wanted to ask if he wanted to be a part of this album with me to specifically singing this song. That was so important me that he be on this album with it being my first Christmas record. So, grateful that he not only agreed but also, I sang where he sang, and he sang where Keith sang on his, as compared to my version of my album. So just incredibly nice of him to want to be a part of it to take the time to do it, and love having Alan Jackson on my Christmas album.”

  “Holly Jolly Christmas”
“I think even back before I had my record deal, I cut a little three song Christmas EP…I guess you would call it, but I had ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’ on there. It’s just one of those that’s fun to play, it’s fun to sing along with. A lot of my favorite artists have covered that song over the years. So, I wanted to put my own spin on it, and have my own version on my first Christmas record.”

  “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
“I think if you’re looking for just a feel good Christmas song, ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ is it. I just love the song, love the message, and love the opportunity to play something that’s a little more stripped, you know it’s not as big production wise as some of the other songs on the record, but I think that’s actually what kind of makes it stand out all on it’s own.”

  “The First Noel”
“‘The First Noel’ is obviously a beautiful song…but when I asked Brad Paisley to be a part of this record, and he agreed this song was the one that just kind of jumped out of my mind that would be something we could sing together that would be a cool moment. Brad just really took it and ran with it, he really puts such a really special spin and his own touch on the song so I’m definitely excited that to work with Brad. Have definitely wanted to sing with him for a long time on a record, definitely enjoyed touring with him over the years, and I love get to do this one with ‘The First Noel’.”

  “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
“‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ is a standout. I mean, it’s one that I not for one minute didn’t think about cutting my own version of. I think it is one of those songs that’s a little bit wistful, I guess it is the right word that you would use to describe it, and in parts…especially if somebody’s hearing it and they aren’t home for Christmas for whatever reason. I think it’s just a really really beautiful song and a great melody and like so many of the classics and the standards at Christmas time, it;s one of those where you’re like ‘Man I wish I had written that’.”

  “Silent Night”
“When I made a short list of people that I wanted to guest on It Must Be Christmas, my new album. Boyz II Men was on there, and I was like I have no idea if they’re going to have any interest in being on this album or not but I’ve got to ask. Especially with this song, ‘Silent Night’ is such a special song and in my head at Christmas time because this is always the last song we did a church on Christmas Eve. It was the very last thing you heard before you left church, and I really just wanted this song to be special to have some really extra touch on it, and Boyz II Men singing on this was just a dream come true for me and one of my favorite tracks on the record”

  “It Must Be Christmas”
“On my album ‘It Must Be Christmas’ I think a lot of people are going to immediately go to that title track and see what that is all about, because it’s one of the couple original songs on there. I honestly just wanted to write one original Christmas song this year and I ended up with with two. I’ve never really been able to write one before it’s always been one of those things that is kind of alluded me as a songwriter and so just felt really really excited that I finally got a hold of one and obviously ‘It Must Be Christmas’ I wrote with my buddies Johnny Bulford, and Will Doughty. It’s been so cool with them because I’ve actually seen text messages from their family being excited about this song being on there and hopefully get some to play on the radio and it’s just been so cool for me to write that with them and had to be the title track.”