Stacie Huckeba, Supplied, & Ford Fairchild
DOLLY PARTON • A Holly Dolly Christmas
It’s hard to believe the Queen of Country Music herself, Ms. Dolly Parton, hasn’t released any Christmas music in the last 30 years. But after a rough year, Dolly Claus is here to save us all with a holiday album aptly titled A Holly Dolly Christmas.
The festive record includes traditional songs sung as only Dolly can—including her take on “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and “Holly Jolly Christmas.” There are also star-studded duets from some of the icon’s most notable friends, including Miley Cyrus, Michael Bublé, Jimmy Fallon, and more. The entire album is a yuletide must-listen, but the cherry on top is Dolly’s pairing with Willie Nelson on his 1960s holiday classic “Pretty Paper.”
“I’ve never been more excited about a project in my whole career than my Holly Dolly Christmas album,” says Parton. “I’m singing with some of the greatest artists ever on some of our favorite classic Christmas songs and a few new ones that I have written. I hope we all have a Holly Dolly Christmas this year!”
And if the album wasn’t enough, Dolly—ever the entrepreneur—has launched an exclusive holiday collection with Williams Sonoma, including her signature sugar cookie mix and a replica gingerbread log cabin reminiscent of her childhood home. Plus, she released her Netflix holiday musical, Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, in November. The film, starring Christine Baranski and Treat Williams, features 14 original songs written by Dolly herself.
MADDIE & TAE • We Need Christmas
The last year has been major for Maddie Font and Taylor Kerr, also known as country duo Maddie & Tae.
Font married her high school sweetheart in November 2019, and Kerr married songwriter Josh Kerr in February of this year. So, what better way to celebrate than with their first-ever holiday release? The six-track project includes both classics and originals alike. And for the girls, recording it in a year filled with both ups and downs was a gift unto itself.
“Since we weren’t able to tour this year, making music has been our silver lining,” says Kerr. “It’s always been a dream of ours to make a Christmas record and what better time than now? We all need some Christmas spirit in our hearts.”
With timeless favorites like “O Come All Ye Faithful” and original songs like “Merry Married Christmas,” Maddie & Tae get listeners in the spirit from the first track, “This Christmas.” It’s a joyful listen from start to finish—by design.
“The holidays just mean more this year,” says Kerr. “We’ve all had a long year and something seemingly small, like getting to be with family at Christmas, is a lot more treasured.”
The album was also a way for the Platinum-selling duo to grow as artists. Though filled with their signature chills-inducing harmonies and sassy, sharp-tongued lyrics, We Need Christmas gave Maddie & Tae (who co-wrote two original songs on the album) a chance to dip a toe into other genres and experiment with range and styling.
“The vibe is very jazzy and soulful,” says Font. “We wanted to stretch out a bit and not do a country Christmas-sounding album. We loved exploring a totally different musical approach for this. This Christmas album feels like a good balance of fun, soulful, and spiritual—which is what we were going for.”
RUNAWAY JUNE • When I Think About Christmas
Known for their three-part harmonies and ringing strings (especially thanks to their newest member, fiddle player Natalie Stovall), Runaway June—Naomi Cooke, Jennifer Wayne, and Stovall—bridge modern music with the proud tradition of country. That sensibility is especially clear on the trio’s holiday EP, When I Think About Christmas.
“It has beautiful mountain Appalachian sounds; Natalie added some killer fiddle; and we were able to showcase our three-part harmony,” says Wayne. “It feels like everything we wanted to share on a Christmas record.”
That record includes two original tracks—one cowritten by Wayne.
“’When I Think About Christmas’” (the title track) has a special place in our hearts because our own Jennifer Wayne was part of writing that one,” Cooke says of the coupled-up-at-Christmas track.
Steeped in traditional country sounds, including slide guitar and twangy background vocals, it’s a throwback in the best way possible, setting itself up to become a modern Christmas classic.
“The song is more stripped down than the others on the album and just puts you right in the holiday spirit.”
With a mix of up-tempo songs and ballads, it’s the traditional carol “O Holy Night” that stops you in your tracks. Runaway June’s harmonies seem perfectly suited to the song—their seemingly effortless vocals belying the pressure of recreating a song sung for generations.
“There can be some pressure when releasing Christmas music because the classics have been done by so many legends and new Christmas songs are hard to compare to some of the older ones we know and love,” says Stovall.
“We felt that the two originals on the EP stood out as songs that capture the joy of the holiday season and the nostalgia that we felt while listening to and writing them. And we were able to take some Christmas classics that we absolutely loved and rework them in a new way. It was a lot of fun.”