It’s Not Christmas Without The Oak Ridge Boys
This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Oak Ridge Boys’ annual Down Home Christmas Tour and what better way to celebrate than with a new holiday album? Released just a few weeks ago, “Down Home Christmas” features utterly gorgeous renditions of “Amazing Grace” and “Silent Night” along with new songs like “Don’t Go Pullin’ On Santa Claus' Beard” (written by Anderson East) and Jamey Johnson’s “South Alabama Christmas.” It’s the eighth Christmas album from the Boys, who bring joy to the world like no one else.
“’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,” says The Oaks’ Duane Allen. “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 over-powering it.”
“’Down Home Christmas’ is a project that we are happy to share with the world and, rest assured, you will hear these songs on our upcoming 30th annual Christmas tour,” says Joe Bonsall. “The instrumentation is sparse, yet incredibly put together, and the vocals are rich and vibrant. Many of the songs were freshly written by a stable of Nashville’s top songwriters.”
Speaking of Christmas songs…our friends over at the Opry put together a list of some of their favorite holiday classics (including one from the Oak Ridge Boys, of course). Check it out here!