Shelby Lynne's Merry Christmas

GRAMMY winner Shelby Lynne released Merry Christmas, her first-ever holiday collection, on October 12th. The album marked her second release on her own independent label, EVERSO RECORDS, which is distributed through Fontana , the award-winning independent distribution division of Universal Music Group. Tears, Lies, And Alibis, EVERSO’s first release, debuted at No. 16 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart earlier this year. It became a Top 10 hit at Americana radio and was hailed by Newsday as “her strongest album in a decade,” a sentiment echoed by numerous critics.

From its cover – a photograph of Shelby at age four, playing in the snow in her Mobile , Alabama front yard – to the music, Merry Christmas is a warm and heartfelt collection. Rootsy and off-the-cuff, it has an immediacy that makes you feel like you’ve joined Lynne and her musician pals around the hearth.
“I’ve always wanted to do a Christmas record and now that I have my own label, the time seemed right,” says Lynne, who produced the album and penned two original songs for it.

She’s been called “one of the greatest voices of her generation” (The Aquarian Weekly) and when she kicks off the festivities with a stanza of richly layered acapella vocals on the medley “Sleigh Ride/Winter Wonderland,” it’s clear why. Childhood favorites like “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” are playful and vibrant while Lynne brings a subtle majesty to the traditional Christmas carols “Silent Night” and “O Holy Night.” Her two new compositions capture both sides of the season. ”Ain’t Nothin’ Like Christmas” is a rollicking celebration of all its joys.

On the flipside, “Xmas” acknowledges that not all of our holiday memories are happy ones. The song builds from a slow burn to a blistering finale as Lynne engages in a mesmerizing call-and-response with special guest Dave Koz, whose soulful saxophone lines accentuate her bluesy vocals.

Other highlights include a dreamy version of “Christmas Time Is Here” from one of Shelby’s favorite Christmas albums, the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, and an exuberant version of “Christmastime’s a Comin’,” a song she heard bluegrass pioneer Bill Monroe perform years ago. “I liked its back porch, family vibe,” Lynne recalls.

A stellar group of backing musicians help give Merry Christmas its down-home vibe, including: John Jackson (acoustic, electric and slide guitars, percussion); Mike Ward (acoustic and electric guitars); Gregg Field (drums); Marc Doten (upright bass); Dave Palmer (Wurlitzer, piano); Ben Peeler (mandolin, steel guitar); Val McCallum (harmonica, acoustic guitar) and Jim Honeyman (clarinet, flute). Brian Harrison engineered the album.

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