In the Christmas, didn’t-know-you-needed-this-until-you-saw-it department… Foggy Mountain Spaceship, a banjo trio from Colorado, has recored a version of Vince Guaraldi’s Linus and Lucy from the soundtrack for the 1965 Peanuts animated special, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I’m not sure if youngsters these days are as exposed to this charming cartoon classic as we were when it was first released, and for at least a generation after, when it wasn’t available on demand from streaming services and social media. Back then it was appointment television when it ran each year in December, just as the P ..read more

Does this bring back holiday memories for you? It does for me. How to make Magazine Angels. You will need the following: Body A Reader’s Digest White and gold acrylic paint Glitter Paper doilie (or a vintage one) Mod Podge (or Elmer’s Glue) Head A foam ball (3-4”) A dowel rod (10”) Ribbon Cotton balls Hot glue gun Pipe cleaners (white or gold) Nashville singer/songwriter Chip Davis shared with me how he and Gene Pistilli came about composing their song, Magazine Angels. It was written in 1994, and recorded the next year by Joe Diffie on the Sony label. Chip and the Davis Family al ..read more

Rick Dollar has once again prepared a special Christmas Extravaganza episode for his radio program, which will air over this weekend on affiliate stations across the US. Returning to host with Rick is Becky Buller, making her third appearance on the holiday edition of The Rick Dollar Show. She hasn’t yet been named as official ongoing co-host, though she has already signed on for next year as well. As always, Rick will spin Christmas bluegrass music, and he and Becky will talk about their holiday traditions, and welcome a number of other special guests who are set to join them on the air. Dol ..read more

The Kody Norris Show has a new Christmas song on offer this month, fresh from their own home town in the hills of Appalachia. It’s one Kody wrote called Mountain City Christmas, available today from Rebel Records. Kody says that this has been a staple in their repertoire during the holidays for some time now, and they have finally found time to record it. “Mountain City Christmas has been a fan favorite for many years now. I wrote this song years ago while I was in Baltimore for the winter. I was certainly missing Mountain City and wanted to be home for Christmas. Years later, we got in the s ..read more

Here’s another offering of bluegrass Christmas music from Bell Buckle Records, featuring Dunlap & Mabe, with additional contributions from Valerie Smith and Danny Knicely. It’s their take on the 19th century carol, We Three Kings, spiced up a bit by playing it in 6/8 time, with one crooked measure of 5/8 in the chorus. And of course with a bluegrass twist. Their version is sung as a duet between Jack Dunlap and Valerie Smith, supported by regular bandmates Robert Mabe on banjo, Mason Wright on fiddle, and Alex Kimble on bass. Danny Knicely joins the ensemble on mandolin and Dunlap plays g ..read more

Good news for fans of the Stanley sound in southwestern Virginia and Georgia! Nathan Stanley, along with Ralph Stanley II, and former Nashville Star winner, Buddy Jewel, will be appearing in a series of holiday concerts billed as A Stanley Country Christmas. The shows will combine country and bluegrass classics for the Christmas season, plus much of the familiar music we have grown to love as the big day draws near. Of course, the music of The Stanley Brothers will show its influence, as Ralph II is the son of Dr. Ralph Stanley, and Nathan is his grandson. Following a debut last week in Nashv ..read more

Andy Thorn, banjo player with Leftover Salmon, is also getting into the Christmas music this year with a new album of seasonal tunes called High Country Holiday. Taking advantage of his recent social media attention attracting foxes with his banjo at his Colorado mountain home, the project focuses on his clawhammer playing. Known in the bluegrass and jamgrass worlds for his work with the Salmon, and before that with Larry Keel, Andy became an online sensation two years ago when the various videos he had posted playing banjo outdoors and a fox came to listen regularly went viral online. High ..read more

Bluegrass fans in the Upper Midwest have several chances to catch some special holiday music this next two weeks when Monroe Crossing takes their annual Christmas tour through Minnesota and Wisconsin. Billed as A Bluegrass Christmas with Monroe Crossing, the shows include a mix of familiar seasonal favorites played in a bluegrass style, along with selections from the band’s two holiday albums. Though only occasionally seen in the southeast or on the west coast, Monroe Crossing is consistently one of the busiest touring acts in the business. They typically perform 100 or more shows each year ..read more

Crandall Creek is next up with a new Christmas song for 2023. Their entry has the simple title of Christmastime, one written by founding member Jerry Andrews. Jerry tells us that when he sat down with his guitar one evening to write a new Christmas bluegrass song, he started thinking back to the traditions that formed his childhood memories of the season, and had this song finished in half an hour. “I thought about how simple things were in the late ’50s and ’60s, growing up in rural West Virginia, and remembering things like sled riding, bonfires, and celebrating the birth of the Baby Jesus ..read more

Banjo picker Anthony Howell has a Christmas single on offer this year, his version of the English carol, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, surely among the most popular Christmas hymns of the past 300 years. A multi-instrumentalist and singer, Howell currently works as banjo picker with The Edgar Loudermilk Band. Before that, he spent several years touring with Williamson Branch. His Hark The Herald Angels Sing is a solo effort in the truest sense, as he plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals on this track. Followers of this talented artist won’t be surprised that he gives it a traditi ..read more