Well, it's the middle of December and y'all know what that means: Christmas is right around the corner. Which means that we've all been listening to Christmas music since about Thanksgiving, if not sooner. I've gotten a few new Christmas albums recently and it occurred to me that my collection of Christmas music is fairly large. So I've been listening to all the different versions I have of a bunch of these songs and decided that it might be fun to write about my favorites. Guess what this is?
"The Wexford Carol" by Trace Adkins. If you have not gone out and bought The King's Gift, I have a question for you: what exactly are you doing with your life? Seriously. The entire album is fabulous. Spoiler alert: this is not the only song from here that made the list.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-wexford-carol/id714499776?i=714499845
"O Come All Ye Faithful" by Sara Evans. Lovely vocal from who I feel is an underrated vocalist and I like the simplicity of the track.
This will be divided into three categories and thus, three posts. This one focusing on traditional Christmas carols, as it states in the title. The other two? Christmas standards and original Christmas songs. Please note that these are in no particular order and not every artist listed is a country act. Most of them are, but not all. There are a bunch of songs to get to and respecting that, I'm not going to go into too much detail about why I picked each song. I'll also include a link to go check the songs out on iTunes, if you're so inclined. Or if the song/album is not on iTunes, I'll add a link to somewhere you can purchase the song/album if possible. Let's jump in.
"The Wexford Carol" by Trace Adkins. If you have not gone out and bought The King's Gift, I have a question for you: what exactly are you doing with your life? Seriously. The entire album is fabulous. Spoiler alert: this is not the only song from here that made the list.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-wexford-carol/id714499776?i=714499845
"O Come All Ye Faithful" by Sara Evans. Lovely vocal from who I feel is an underrated vocalist and I like the simplicity of the track.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-come-all-ye-faithful/id928122855?i=928125060
"The First Noel" by the Grand Ole Opry Band. This is an instrumental by some of the finest musicians in Nashville.
http://shop.opry.com/0-544.html
"O Little Town on Bethlehem" by Terri Clark. Ah, the steel guitar. My favorite instrument. Not to take anything away from Terri's vocals, which are lovely, but the steel just makes this for me.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/id267255940?i=267256616
"Silent Night" by Kelly Clarkson with Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood. One of my favorite Christmas carols regardless of who sings it. But you throw these three voices together and you end up with something pretty special.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silent-night-feat.-reba-mcentire/id720861443?i=720861457
"Go Tell It On the Mountain" by Little Big Town. I consider this to be classic Little Big Town. The harmonies are at the forefront where they belong. Love this! Especially that last minute or so.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-tell-it-on-the-mountain/id716633726?i=716635313
"Angels We Have Heard On High" by Chris Tomlin. The first non-country act to make the list. This is pretty stripped down and laid back and I think it fits the song very well.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/angels-we-have-heard-on-high/id723793424?i=723793452
"Mary, Did You Know" by Brett Eldredge. Another favorite. I love the lyrics - there's some fantastic lines in here. Brett did a great job with it!
http://store.warnermusic.com/mary-did-you-know.html
"Tannenbaum" by Trace Adkins. Told you there'd be more songs from this album on here. This isn't even the last one. I feel like this is one of the more underrated Christmas carols. Lovely instrumentation in this version.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tannenbaum/id714499776?i=714499850
"O Holy Night" by Martina McBride. There are so many wonderful versions of this, but Martina's has been my favorite from the first time I heard it. She knocks this out of the park. Beautiful rendition. This also happens to be on one of my favorite Christmas albums as a whole.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-holy-night/id267253357?i=267254917
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Keith and Kristyn Getty. This is a fabulous Irish duo I first heard at an Opry show a while back. As much as I love country music, I'm also a sucker for Celtic music. Check them out!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hark!-the-herald-angels-sing/id715549566?i=715549731
"Away in a Manger" by Casting Crowns. Such a peaceful and calming version by one of my favorite Christian groups.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/away-in-a-manger/id291831478?i=291831529
"What Child is This?" by Tanya Tucker. This song is so haunting, especially the way this version is done. Interesting arrangement.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/what-child-is-this/id332341247?i=332341668
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" by Sugarland. I love the way Jennifer sings this song and the way Kristian kind of eases on in a little over a minute into it. Only to divide the vocal about a minute later. Great version.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-come-o-come-emmanuel/id334427477?i=334427521
"I Saw Three Ships" by Trace Adkins featuring the Chieftains & Alyth McCormack. This might just be the most beautiful song on the album. The Gaelic at the beginning - Alyth has such a lovely voice. Really adore the way they did this.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-saw-three-ships-feat.-chieftains/id714499776?i=714499966
"Joy to the World" by JT Hodges. Thought it'd be nice to end with this song. It's so easy to get caught up in all of the stress that this season can bring. It's easy to lose sight of what this season, this holiday, is about. Namely, the birth of Christ. Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration, not stress. I urge you to remember that this season. To remember that this is ultimately a time of joy. Because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and that is indeed something to celebrate! So if you're feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, get this song and crank it up. I recommend this version because it makes me happy and I believe it can make you happy too. Or better yet, joyful. I find this to be a very refreshing interpretation. Great delivery by JT too!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id731545497?i=731545754
That'll do it for this one! Be on the lookout for the list of favorite Christmas standards and originals. Thanks for reading!
"The First Noel" by the Grand Ole Opry Band. This is an instrumental by some of the finest musicians in Nashville.
http://shop.opry.com/0-544.html
"O Little Town on Bethlehem" by Terri Clark. Ah, the steel guitar. My favorite instrument. Not to take anything away from Terri's vocals, which are lovely, but the steel just makes this for me.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-little-town-of-bethlehem/id267255940?i=267256616
"Silent Night" by Kelly Clarkson with Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood. One of my favorite Christmas carols regardless of who sings it. But you throw these three voices together and you end up with something pretty special.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/silent-night-feat.-reba-mcentire/id720861443?i=720861457
"Go Tell It On the Mountain" by Little Big Town. I consider this to be classic Little Big Town. The harmonies are at the forefront where they belong. Love this! Especially that last minute or so.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/go-tell-it-on-the-mountain/id716633726?i=716635313
"Angels We Have Heard On High" by Chris Tomlin. The first non-country act to make the list. This is pretty stripped down and laid back and I think it fits the song very well.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/angels-we-have-heard-on-high/id723793424?i=723793452
"Mary, Did You Know" by Brett Eldredge. Another favorite. I love the lyrics - there's some fantastic lines in here. Brett did a great job with it!
http://store.warnermusic.com/mary-did-you-know.html
"Tannenbaum" by Trace Adkins. Told you there'd be more songs from this album on here. This isn't even the last one. I feel like this is one of the more underrated Christmas carols. Lovely instrumentation in this version.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/tannenbaum/id714499776?i=714499850
"O Holy Night" by Martina McBride. There are so many wonderful versions of this, but Martina's has been my favorite from the first time I heard it. She knocks this out of the park. Beautiful rendition. This also happens to be on one of my favorite Christmas albums as a whole.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-holy-night/id267253357?i=267254917
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" by Keith and Kristyn Getty. This is a fabulous Irish duo I first heard at an Opry show a while back. As much as I love country music, I'm also a sucker for Celtic music. Check them out!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hark!-the-herald-angels-sing/id715549566?i=715549731
"Away in a Manger" by Casting Crowns. Such a peaceful and calming version by one of my favorite Christian groups.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/away-in-a-manger/id291831478?i=291831529
"What Child is This?" by Tanya Tucker. This song is so haunting, especially the way this version is done. Interesting arrangement.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/what-child-is-this/id332341247?i=332341668
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" by Sugarland. I love the way Jennifer sings this song and the way Kristian kind of eases on in a little over a minute into it. Only to divide the vocal about a minute later. Great version.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/o-come-o-come-emmanuel/id334427477?i=334427521
"I Saw Three Ships" by Trace Adkins featuring the Chieftains & Alyth McCormack. This might just be the most beautiful song on the album. The Gaelic at the beginning - Alyth has such a lovely voice. Really adore the way they did this.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/i-saw-three-ships-feat.-chieftains/id714499776?i=714499966
"Joy to the World" by JT Hodges. Thought it'd be nice to end with this song. It's so easy to get caught up in all of the stress that this season can bring. It's easy to lose sight of what this season, this holiday, is about. Namely, the birth of Christ. Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration, not stress. I urge you to remember that this season. To remember that this is ultimately a time of joy. Because we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and that is indeed something to celebrate! So if you're feeling stressed out or overwhelmed, get this song and crank it up. I recommend this version because it makes me happy and I believe it can make you happy too. Or better yet, joyful. I find this to be a very refreshing interpretation. Great delivery by JT too!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/joy-to-the-world/id731545497?i=731545754
That'll do it for this one! Be on the lookout for the list of favorite Christmas standards and originals. Thanks for reading!
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