When it comes to holiday music, I’m anything but a Scrooge, and have felt that way since my Tiny Tim years. Of course, they called them Christmas carols back then, and all the traditional artists – Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Dean Martin and Bing Crosby – were heard all through the house.
They’re all long gone now, but their music remains today in many forms, including on my Christmas playlist. "Bah, humbug!" you say? So shoot me with a Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle. But while everyone and their mother seem to produce a Christmas album these days, I say bring it on. Punk, folk, pop, rap, no matter the genre, the holiday song is music to my ears. Even country, which doesn't always go hand in hand with nostalgic memories of chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
Three first-time holiday releases from female country performers have been in heavy rotation on my iPod this season, all for different reasons. Faith Hill’s Joy to the World, Gretchen Peters’ Northern Lights and Sounds of the Season: The Julianne Hough Collection will warm the soul this Christmas almost as much as a hot toddy. Santa, all three girls have been very, very good this year.
Faith Hill: The Superstar from Star
The gorgeous Mississippi Girl who grew up in the little town of Star southeast of Jackson is shining the brightest this holiday season. Backed by a heavy publicity campaign, high-profile appearances on magazine covers (Ladies' Home Journal, Shape) and the early morning (The View, Today) and late-night (Lettterman) talk-show circuit, this show of Faith expanded to her own special for PBS’ Soundstage, which is getting almost as many repeat showings on GAC as A Christmas Story does on TNT every Dec. 24-25.
Her 11-song CD (almost 37 minutes long) was released by Warner Bros. Nashville on September 30, way before even the most organized shoppers had prepared their Christmas wish lists.
So how’s it sound? Very traditional, which is a good thing for those looking for some joyful noise by a popular, platinum-selling artist who treats tried-and-true classic material with the utmost class and respect. The disc has risen as high as No. 2 among Billboard's Top Country Albums, yet Hill hardly seems like a country singer here, backed on various cuts by a big band (“Santa Claus is Coming To Town” really swings), an angelic choir (“Silent Night”) and a booming orchestra (“Joy To The World”). She has the pipes to pull it off, and the versatility to lend the proper reverence to holier hymns such as “Away In The Manger” and “O Holy Night.”
The only new cut, “A Baby Changes Everything, ” written by Nashville songwriters Tim Nichols, Craig Wiseman and K.K. Wiseman, might not be destined to become a Christmas classic, but it is a nice change of pace to close out the album. Already certified gold and with one of the highest rankings (currently No. 13) on the Billboard 200 chart of any individual artist with a holiday album, Joy to the World is a beauty to behold. Even the packaging is pretty, with lyrics in gold and several photos of Faith looking like a porcelain doll.
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