Country music and Christmas music have a long-standing partnership, and each year sees several major artists releasing their collections of standards and originals to celebrate the holiday season. Last year, we had Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton and Scotty McCreery (among others) releasing Christmas records, and this year has seen Gretchen Wilson, Kelly Clarkson and Trace Adkins lead the pack in terms of festive cheer. I decided to spotlight a couple of these albums to help you pick your soundtrack this year, and this week is Gretchen Wilson’s ‘Christmas In My Heart’.
She’s had quite a busy year in 2013, releasing a new original studio album, ‘Right On Time’ in April, an album of rock covers, ‘Under The Covers’, in June, and now this collection, ‘Christmas In My Heart’ in October. The one thing that stands out about this record is that it is quirky. Gretchen doesn’t do things that sound like everybody else, and this is no exception. While there are plenty of standards among the 10 songs, such as Elvis’ ‘Blue Christmas’, traditional German song ‘Silent Night’ and the cheery ‘Holly Jolly Christmas’, they are interpreted to fit Gretchen’s personal style, with interesting sounds and licks to complement what is a decidedly smoother performance vocally than I’m used to hearing from her. Particularly notable is the piano work, which is more decorative and complex than one would expect from the standard performances of such songs, making the songs perhaps more chaotic but also more interesting, allowing them to stand out. Gretchen’s rendition of ‘The Christmas Song’ has an especially intricate display of solo piano, an impressive showcase for the abilities of whoever played on it.
What’s important too is that she doesn’t forget children with this album. There are fun, lively covers of ‘Nuttin’ For Christmas’ and ‘I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas’ and in actual fact the whole record feels rather light-hearted and kid-orientated. With tracks like ‘If You See Rudolph’ and the cheeky ‘Santa I’ve Been Naughty’ (innocent giggles for children, slight innuendos for adults) Gretchen seems to have had a lot of silly fun recording this. I feel like it’s taken a lot of the edge off her artistry, particularly as the title track is an original, a sentimental folky love song attributing the feeling of Christmas to being in love. It’s a nice track, but having not listened to Gretchen’s releases this year, it feels a far cry from the sass I’m used to. Sure, it’s a quirky record with plenty of highlights, but it feels a little too cutesy and twee for her, too mellow. Maybe that’s just me.
