Let's face it, it is hard to write a good Christmas song. Most of the source material was used up by the mid-point of the 20th Century. Run DMC broke some new ground with "Christmas In Hollis" in 1987 but otherwise, most of us are listening to the same Christmas songs our parents and grandparents heard. But the artists have changed throughout the years. Thinking about this, I went in search of new versions of old songs.
What I found was "Forever On Christmas Eve" by Jenn Grant. Ms. Grant falls in that category for me of "I might not normally listen to her music but she's singing Christmas songs well, so I'm in." She has worthy versions of "White Christmas" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas" but she covered Elvis's "Blue Christmas".
I'm sure someone has covered that since the Beach Boys but their version is a dirge. Ms. Grant went for a twangy country feel by letting the guitar fill in where the backing vocals did for Elvis. It really works. It's not as campy/fun as the Elvis version but that's okay. It should be a little sad.
"Forever On Christmas Eve" is a nice collection of old favorites. If you are tired of listening to 1940's crooners, or, for the Gen Xers, Harry Connick Jr., or , heaven forbid, Michael Buble, give Jenn Grants' collection a try.
Added to my wish list.
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