Artist: Katie Pruitt
Song: “Merry Christmas, Mary Jane” (single)
In Their Words: “I wrote ‘Merry Christmas, Mary Jane’ on Christmas Eve at my parents’ house when I was home from college. I was feeling pretty lonely, a lot of my friends had moved away, and I was fighting with my parents. I really just wanted to smoke some weed. I couldn’t find any, so I just wrote a song about it instead.” — Katie Pruitt
Artist: The Christmas Jug Band
Song: “Shoveling Snow”
Album: Live from the West Pole!
In Their Words: “Being a member of the Christmas Jug Band for over 30 years has afforded me the opportunity to write A LOT of Christmas tunes, most of which have the name ‘Santa’ in the title. In 2016 I was determined my new Christmas Jug Band tune would NOT have ‘Santa’ in the title. So that set me thinking about other things that are going on during December and the holiday season.
“After considering decorating Christmas trees, shopping for presents, cooking the Christmas dinner, etc., I landed on shoveling snow. I liked the idea, but I knew writing a song about just shoveling snow wouldn’t be all that interesting. But what if I made ‘Shoveling Snow’ a euphemism for shoveling something else? You get the picture. That opened up all sorts of possibilities for humorous lines to fill in the storyline.
“Once I had the concept, the song pretty much wrote itself. When I sat down at the piano to set it to music, it immediately felt right as a New Orleans/ Professor Longhair groove. It’s become one my favorite CJB tunes to play live and I’m not just shoveling snow!” — Paul Rogers, The Christmas Jug Band
Artist: Phoebe Hunt & The Gatherers
Song: “December Again” (single)
In Their Words: “When we made the video for ‘December Again’, all I wanted to do was send it out the very next day. It’s so odd to know a piece of art exists and to not be able to share it. Alas, it was already almost January at that point and I figured it would come around again.
“To be completely honest, I never even thought this song would leave my journal. I love writing and have tons of nameless songs that just pop out and then never see the light of day. But, then something happens that sparks enough creative spirit to write out a chord chart and teach it to the band… Sometimes that part is the hardest because it takes a lot of vulnerability to open up your diary and share it.
“Felt like if we were gonna add to the shuffle of what is played in the airwaves at this time of year, it was important to include everyone, but still honor the profound spiritual connection that is brought out this time of year. Music is that thread. It’s what holds us all together.” — Phoebe Hunt
Artist: Andrew Bird
Song: “Skating”
Album: HARK!
In Their Words: “I’ve never had the impulse to make a holiday record until last February. I found myself enjoying the Vince Guaraldi Peanuts records and thought I’d book a few days in the studio. It was an excuse to play some classic jazz with my favorite musicians. A lot of folks have a hard time with the holidays, but they serve a purpose to us as a people — to create comfort, warmth, and atmosphere within the darkness and the cold that can crush one’s spirit. There are a couple originals in here that address this idea of light and warmth in the darkness as well as some classics that have some nostalgic resonance with me. Hark! What sounds come flowing alabaster?” — Andrew Bird
Artist: The McCrary Sisters
Song: “Joy to the World”
Album: A Very McCrary Christmas
In Their Words:
“It brings us joy to realize that Jesus was born to bring peace, hope, and joy to this world.” — Ann McCrary
“He is our joy, and his birth was amazing and remarkable! His the true King!” — Alfreda McCrary
“’Joy to the World’ is a song that I think should be sung all year round, ‘cause if the world had more love and joy there would be peace towards all men and we would get along much better than we do. My prayer and my gift is that we try to have more joy in the world. That’s it.” — Regina McCrary
“’Joy to the World,’ bring much needed joy to this world!” — Deborah McCrary
Artist: Silent Winters
Song: “Christmas Morning”
Album: Christmas Morning
In Their Words: “Christmas time always brings us back to a place of feeling at home and key memories always stick out to fill my heart at this time of year. Be it the feeling of joy spent with loved ones or the reminiscing of friends from what seems like another lifetime. This time of year also makes for hectic schedules and stress for some. ‘Christmas Morning’ is a song about reminiscing the best of times and making the most of the present, no matter what’s on your plate.” — Jonathan Chandler, Silent Winters
Artist: The Oak Ridge Boys
Song: “Down Home Christmas”
Album: Down Home Christmas
In Their Words: “Down Home Christmas began much like the other seven Christmas albums we have recorded. But things changed. Most of the songs I had collected were put on the shelf, and we started looking for songs that addressed specific subjects related to Christmas. Dave Cobb was the producer/coach/motivator for this project. He encouraged us to dig a little deeper into our souls, to capture the magic of each song. With very simple instrumentation, the four Oak Ridge Boys’ voices are out front, and in your face, with the awesome, huge sound of RCA Studio A wrapped around, but not overpowering it.” — Duane Allen, The Oak Ridge Boys
Artist: Robbie Robertson
Song: “Happy Holidays”
In Their Words: “We love Christmas and the holidays, it brings good cheer, and also stress and depression, so I wanted to do a song that celebrates both sides and have a little fun.” — Robbie Robertson
Artist: Liz Vice
Song: “Refugee King”
In Their Words: “I don’t write very often. Songwriting often feels like a miracle and when I’m in a space to write there is an hour of wrestling myself to just chill, surrender, and let the music come to me.
“‘Refugee King’ was written during a songwriting retreat at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Five of us were put into a group together. We could either write an original song or rewrite a well-known carol. We decided to rewrite ‘Away in a Manger.’ One thought that came to mind was, ‘How does a crying baby change this whole image we tend to celebrate around Christmas?’ The arrival of Jesus wasn’t pretty and a lot of babies died during this time.
“The story of Christmas is less about gifts under a tree, but about Jesus coming to this hot mess of a world to invite us to indulge in what heaven has to offer on earth (now).
“I thought about this song often and as time went on, I knew the song was begging to be released to reach the people it was supposed to reach. I didn’t release the song to be a voice for anything other than the story of Jesus. Humans just tend to repeat history.
“I first performed the song when I opened for the Blind Boys of Alabama. While we waited to hit the stage, the band that I had hired sat in the lobby. To kill a little time, I decided to record a live take. After that short tour, while visiting family in Portland, I reached out to some people I knew and recorded the song. It was a pretty quick turnaround. I knew what I wanted and I wanted it to be simple and that’s how I produced it. Vocals, guitar, cello, and had my friend in Virginia, Orlando Palmer, add some of his sweet piano playing on it. Had my friend Danny mix and a woman who did the mastering for my vinyl master this track.
“Turned out great and I’m hoping that this song just causes people to pause and re-evaluate the real story of the birth of Jesus.” — Liz Vice
Artist: BAILEN
Song: “Christmas Is All Around”
Album: we did a Christmas thing (EP)
In Their Words: “The holidays are nothing without some fun romcoms, and we are all big fans of Richard Curtis and Bill Nighy and thought it would be funny to cover the cover in the movie Love Actually. It turned out that the song actually lent itself great to harmonies, so we had fun with it and kept it tongue in cheek.” — BAILEN
