Holiday CD Suggestions [Archive] - Mandolin Cafe Forum

Scott Tichenor

Dec-06-2005, 5:50am

Like to see everyone's suggestions for favorite mandolin CDs featuring holiday music. Let's help out our favorite artists and get some great music to boot! Here are some of my favorites:

Evergreen, by Butch Baldassari. This has been out for years and is probably the most popular and widely sold mandolin Christmas CD on the planet. Had our for years. Available at
Butch's web site (http://soundartrecordings.com/christmas.shtml)

Scott Tichenor

Dec-06-2005, 5:54am

Check out the holiday page at Acoustic Disc (http://www.acousticdisc.com/acd_html/xmas_special2005.html) which includes some great seasonal and new releases. David Grisman's Acoustic Christmas is a real swinger!

Modern Mandolin Quartet: Nutcracker Suite (http://www.modernmandolinquartet.com/discography.htm). Highly recommended

Of late: Emory Lester's Christmas Carols (http://www.bluegrassville.com/emorylester/order.htm).

Will add more later this a.m. Lots of good ones still not included.

bluegrassjack2

Dec-06-2005, 6:00am

I like one called "Christmas in The Mountains".
Has various artists on it and is pretty traditional BG Christmas music.
Artists are - Wildwood Valley Boys, Ralph Stanley, Country Gentlemen, Bill Carroll, Paul Williams, Lost and Found, Larry Sparks. Great CD put out by Rebel.

swampstomper

Dec-06-2005, 6:05am

The latest County Sales newsletter (here) (http://www.countysales.com/cgi-upload/newsletter/275%20newsletter.pdf)
has a long list of BG Xmas favourites, as well as great gift ideas (especially box sets, DVDs and books -- plenty of Mon here).

Django Fret

Dec-06-2005, 6:09am

I'd like to add "The Sounding Joy" by Marilyn Mair

http://www.marilynnmair.com/cd_sounding.shtml

and "Gifts" by the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble:

http://www.nashvilleconfidential.com/confide....ea.html (http://www.nashvilleconfidential.com/confidential/2004/12/dear_santa_plea.html)

to the list.

AlanN

Dec-06-2005, 6:13am

No mando in sight, but Hipster's Holiday is...well..hip! Has Satchmo doing "Cool Yule", Peggy Lee on "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus", the dark jazz number "Blue Xmas".

Keith Miller

Dec-06-2005, 6:20am

Im told that " Christmas " by the new mandolin quartet is good, have not heard it yet though !

AlanN

Dec-06-2005, 6:27am

Someone mentioned 'Gifts' by the NME. Certainly a good project, and has a wonderful 'Sleigh Ride'. The take-off mando solos are killer, by Aubrey Haynie and Richard Kriehn. Our own Santa Claus John McGann did a wonderful job of transcribing for me the nuances in those solos.

jaco

Dec-06-2005, 6:40am

Any of the Windham Hill Winter Solstice CDs. Not entirely mando but cuts with Mike Marshall and Darol Anger.

Fred Keller

Dec-06-2005, 7:24am

The CD is called "The Goose Is Getting Fat" by Dakota Dave Hull and mandolinist Kari Larson. Order at http://www.dakotadavehull.com/. It's an all-instrumental album and some of the instruments used are amazing.

mandopete

Dec-06-2005, 8:06am

Okay, here's mine...

My favorite would have to be <span style='color:red'>Yule Ties</span> by Loose Ties.

You can find it on Ben Winship's web site at www.benwinship.com.

Mike Crocker

Dec-06-2005, 8:12am

Simon Mayor's Winter With Mandolins. The guy knows how to make it all sound like fun. Mooh.

J. Mark Lane

Dec-06-2005, 4:43pm

I have most of these, and love them all. But my all-time favorite remains The Roches "We Three Kings." For years, the Roches used to do a Christmas show at The Bottom Line in NYC, and I went year after year. It was like "family." Great performances, great surprise guests, etc. They don't do that any more, sadly. But the CD is still great. Get one!

http://www.roches.com/promo/therocheswaht.html

Ted Eschliman

Dec-06-2005, 5:05pm

I know the topic was intended to be mandolin CDs, but before I saw the light and picked up the mandolin 8 years ago, I used to do some jingle production. Sounds are a little dated, but the price is right; I've put my 1991 Christmas project up on the web as MP3s. Download and dipense all you want:
An Urban Christmas (http://urbanchristmas.com).

MDW

Dec-06-2005, 8:28pm

The Gypsy Hombres "Django Bells" - great improvisation over Christmas favorites in the style of Django Reinhardt. Listen at http://www.gypsyhombres.com/music.htm - you won't regret it.

Mark

mandopete

Dec-06-2005, 9:10pm

<span style='color:red'>Warning:</span> No Mando Content!

Just sitting here listening to this one and waiting for the Charlie Brown special to come on T.V.

This is my all-time favorite Christmas CD!

Dfyngravity

Dec-06-2005, 9:17pm

A Very Special Acoustic Christmas (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000CAV4C/103-1965252-8201404?v=glance)

Can't get too much better than Dan Tyminski singing Frosty the Snowman!!!

Django Fret

Dec-06-2005, 10:01pm

"Oy to the World" by the Klezmonauts is worth checking out if you are looking for something a little different this holiday season.

http://www.oytotheworld.com/

You will probably never hear anything quite like the full versions of "Little Drummer Boy", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", or "Away in a Manger".

Several of the songs on the CD also have mandolin on them.

mandocrucian

Dec-06-2005, 10:23pm

http://www.jethrotull.com/discography/images/xmascoverlg.jpg
Jethro Tull Christmas Album (http://www.jethrotull.com/news/christmasalbum.cfm)

PlayerOf8

Dec-07-2005, 6:23am

KISS LIVE
( it was recorded during the holidays)

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-04-2008, 4:23pm

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-04-2008, 4:24pm

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-04-2008, 7:22pm

Here is a new candidate for my favorite Xmas CD: "A Mandolin for Christmas", by Evan Marshall (http://cdbaby.com/cd/evanjmarshall). This looks to be a brand new release, and its samples at CDBaby sound incredible. It's all solo mandolin brilliantly performed by Mr. Marshall, and I just ordered it in time for the holidays. (BTW, it looks like he also recently released a non-Holiday CD, also at CDBaby, entited "Mr. Solo Mandolin", which at first listen appears to be equally superb.)

Jim Murton

Dec-04-2008, 7:24pm

Bela Fleck And The Flecktones. Jingle all the way. It was just released,and it covers all the holidays not just Christmas.It does have a real interesting 12 days of Christmas.

Check it out,

Jim

allenhopkins

Dec-05-2008, 12:10pm

No mandolin content, but Mitzie Collins' Sampler Records here in Rochester has released three very nice Christmas instrumental albums, Ornaments, Nowell, and Rejoice. Mitzie on hammered dulcimer, with flute, harp, and other instruments. You can check them out here. (http://www.samplerfolkmusic.com/xmas1.htm)

Also, I'm on a 3-CD Christmas compilation album called Tramper's Dynamic Christmas, with about 100 or more other Rochester musicians. Part of the proceeds go to our local Humane Society. There's more info at the Dynamic Records website. (http://www.dynamicmusic.com/)

f5loar

Dec-05-2008, 1:27pm

Well I hate to toot my own horn here but since it's Christmas I do still have a few copies of my million dollar seller CD: Home Alone Christmas by the Tom Isenhour Band. Actually it's just me playing all the instruments on an an all instrumental 16 song CD. Oh, wait............. I heard my wife wrong......
she said we still have a million of them down in the cellar. Sorry about that!
Anyway contact me off list if you want one postage paid for $10.

Bill Snyder

Dec-05-2008, 1:31pm

Tom, shouldn't this be in the Classified section?

John Flynn

Dec-05-2008, 3:37pm

I can recommend "A Mandolin Christmas" by John Darnall. The Christmas standards are done in a style that is contemporary, relaxed and kind of easy-listening, but at the same time very unique and distinctive and even a bit jazzy. The mandolin playing is excellent.

Denny Gies

Dec-05-2008, 4:21pm

Except for the Ramsay Lewis' Christmas album, which I think is spectacular, I love David Grisman's Acoustic Christmas...a classic.

masch53

Dec-05-2008, 4:51pm

You gotta get Butch's "Evergreen". "Smoky Mountain Christmas" isn't too bad either.

Ken Olmstead

Dec-07-2008, 10:37am

Alison Brown with Joe Craven have just released this gem which has already climbed the charts of our family's favorites!

http://www.amazon.com/Evergreen-Alison-Brown-Quartet-Craven/dp/B001B92F6Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1228670907&sr=8-3

It has Joe Craven (of Grisman Quintet fame) playing plenty of mandolin to satisfy the Cafe member. What I love about this album is that it does not sound like the standard Nashville Session Christmas recording that the same handful of musicians that have played on every album for the last 5 years showed up for a 1 day session in June to pound out a "Bluegrass" christmas album.

Alison has that distinctly "jazz" slant to her playing and the rest of the band plays to that. Simply an awesome recoding!

My "mandolin" holiday favorites have already been listed but I spend many hours every season with: The Royal Guardsmen, The Beach Boys, Larry Carlton, Brian Setzer, Tuck Andress, Diana Krall and Liona Boyd!

JEStanek

Dec-07-2008, 10:58am

Not lots of mando content but I just ordered Yo-Yo Ma's (and friends) Songs of Joy & Peace (http://www.amazon.com/Songs-of-Joy-Peace/dp/B001BN1V8U/ref=ntt_mus_ep_wlb_dpt) which they are having a special on for super cheap for the next few days. Thile and Meyer are on a track among other greats with Yo-Yo. Can't wait to get it and listen.

Jamie

Ken Olmstead

Dec-07-2008, 11:06am

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-06-2009, 11:12am

Richard Singleton

Dec-06-2009, 11:42am

As I've posted on the Celtic section, St. Agnes Fountain "Christmas Compendium" is an excellent album, available for download at a reasonable price on their website:

http://www.stagnesfountain.co.uk/

Creative arrangements of holiday music featuring Chris Leslie of Fairport Convention playing lots of mando.

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-06-2009, 2:17pm

I received Celtic Christmas (http://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Christmas-Various-Artists/dp/B000009OFU/ref=sr_1_35?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1260122838&sr=1-35) last year, and really love it. You can check out tune samples at the link, which include Christmas classics played as instrumentals on common session intruments (e.g., guitar, mandolin, zouk, whistles, bodhran). My favorite cut is the mandolin-driven God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

NB, with the exception of a few cuts, this CD has little in common with the New Age-esque holiday CDs on the market often labelled as "Celtic". For the most part, this is more uptempo than the others, and several cuts have almost a "sessiony" feel to them. (It also features a lot of fiddle and accordian along with the other instruments noted above.)

Mandoviol

Dec-06-2009, 3:16pm

No real mando content, but it definitely includes lutes: The Little Barley-Corne by the Toronto Consort. I find myself listening to it nearly a whole month before Christmas, it's that good. A lot of really nice old tunes, some from the Playford book. And the arrangements are topnotch.

Rooster59

Dec-06-2009, 7:00pm

Patty Loveless - Bluegrass & White Snow
Rhonda Vincent - Beautiful Star, a Christmas Collection~:>

John Uhrig

Dec-06-2009, 7:08pm

I'll second The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Besides that we keep Ottmar Liebert's Christmas + Sante Fe high in the rotation.

Eric Taylor

Dec-07-2009, 8:44am

Bela Fleck And The Flecktones. Jingle all the way. It was just released,and it covers all the holidays not just Christmas.It does have a real interesting 12 days of Christmas.

Check it out,

Jim
Great album. My brother and I have seen them live several times and got our father this album for Christmas last year, signed by Bela and all the Flecktones. 12 days of Christmas is my favorite song on the album- How can 12 different time signatures and 12 different keys in one song not be great?

Mandoviol

Dec-07-2009, 10:02am

Great album. My brother and I have seen them live several times and got our father this album for Christmas last year, signed by Bela and all the Flecktones. 12 days of Christmas is my favorite song on the album- How can 12 different time signatures and 12 different keys in one song not be great?

Hehe, I bought it last year for my dad, too! I like their take on "What Child Is This" and their arrangements of "Sleigh Ride" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Wolfboy

Dec-07-2009, 2:45pm

Anyone familiar with An American Christmas (http://www.amazon.com/American-Christmas-Norman-Blake/dp/B001KNFXVC), and all instrumental CD featuring Norman Blake, Vassar Clements, Ronnie McCoury, and others? I am on the verge of ordering it, since I figure I can't go wrong with that line-up, but has anyone out there listened to it?

Just bought a copy and like it very much. Nice laid-back Americana front-porch feel, similar to the Blakes' Rising Fawn String Ensemble work as much as anything. It's about one-third familiar carols and the rest fiddle tunes and originals with winter/Christmas-related titles (on which they sound somewhat more comfortable than on the carols, IMO, but it's all good). Personnel is Vassar Clements and James Bryan, fiddles; Norman Blake, guitar; Nancy Blake, cello (and I think uncredited mandolin on one track); Ronnie McCoury, mandolin and Roy Huskey Jr., bass, and it sounds like you'd expect it to with that lineup...i.e. very good indeed.

Jim MacDaniel

Dec-07-2009, 4:29pm

Thank you for the feedback, Robin. This CD is on my wishlist for this this year, as is your new Christmas CD, Christmas Eve is Here (http://www.robinbullock.com/Christmas_Eve_is_Here.htm). ;)

sgarrity

Dec-07-2009, 4:39pm

I'm downloading the Vassar/Norman recording as we speak!

shawnee creek

Dec-07-2009, 6:25pm

A second for Patty Loveless Bluegrass and White Snow. Mike

Paul Kotapish

Dec-07-2009, 10:39pm

We're enjoying Sting's new acoustic offering of traditional winter-themed music, If on a Winter's Night . . . (no mando, but plenty of great playing by some superb traditional acoustic musicians)

Other favorites:

Winter's Grace - Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum (pretty darn perfect)
A Christmas Heritage - Philip Alberg, Darol Anger, Alison Brown, Mike Marshall, Tim O'Brien, Todd Phillips
Midnight Clear - Mike Marshall (solo guitar)
Songs for Christmas - Sufjan Stevens (wildly imaginative arrangements of chestnuts and lesser-known holiday music)
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio (it wouldn't be Christmas without it)
Bella Maria - Fratelli Mancuso & Antonio Maragolo (evocative, ancient songs of the Virgin Mary from some Italian acoustic all stars)
Apocrypha - Marta Sebestyen (Balkan songs of winter and longing sung by the amazing vocalist from Musikas with acoustic/electronica arrangements from Karoly Cserepes)
Jazzy Christmas - Nice compilation of standards played by jazz greats including Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Chet Baker, Dave Brubek, et al.
A Celtic Christmas - various Windham Hill artists (very nice, actually)
Putumayo World Christmas - A typical Putumayo sampler with some unusual songs and some standards with unusual arrangements

Joy to all.

AlanN

Dec-08-2009, 5:30am

Compilation called Hipster's Holiday, a mostly jazz collection. Eartha Kitt (Santa, Baby), Satchmo (Cool Yule) and the dark Blue Xmas, sung by Bob Dorough with the classic Miles Davis Quintet.

Yule Ties, by Loose Ties

Gifts, NME (Butch), the cover has the 'Red' fern laying with gifts and wrapping paper. Has a wonderful version of Sleigh Ride.

mandocrucian

Dec-08-2009, 6:50am

Apocrypha - Marta Sebestyen (Balkan songs of winter and longing sung by the amazing vocalist from Musikas with acoustic/electronica arrangements from Karoly Cserepes)

I've got a nine or ten Muszikas or Marta S. albums, but the above isn't among them.

But on the Euro-ethnic subject, here's two from Scandinavia.

Norway:
Bukkene Bruse (w/Annbjørg Lien) - The Loveliest Rose (Northside NSD 6067)

Finland:
Sari and Mari Kassinen (from Värttinä) - Can We Have Christmas Now? (Northside NSD5019)

Any Christmas/solstice albums from (high-grade) folk/folk-rock groups from Sweden, Greece, France, Spain, Czech Rep, etc.?

Keith Erickson

Dec-08-2009, 7:24am

I'll second The Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Besides that we keep Ottmar Liebert's Christmas + Sante Fe high in the rotation.

I 2nd that Ottmar Liebert Christmas in Santa Fe. Can't forget Poet's and Angels which was Ottmar's 1st Christmas CD :cool:

Jill McAuley

Dec-08-2009, 9:34am

My all time favourite is "A Charlie Brown Christmas" by the Vince Guaraldi trio, but I just saw on the Elderly recordings update email this morning that Cherish the Ladies (all lady irish trad group for those not familiar with them...) have a new Christmas CD out (a follow up to a previous Christmas themed one they've released).

Cheers,
Jill

Marty Henrickson

Dec-08-2009, 9:49am

Anyone in the Birmingham, Alabama area should check out Fretted Instruments in Homewood and pick up one of Herb's free Christmas CD's. I've got a couple, and they've got a great variety of (mostly) acoustic music - including a decent amount of mandolin. The contributors are everyone from store regulars and students to pros Such a Bobby Horton, Jim Hurst, and Claire Lynch. I'm grateful this thread reminded me that I need to go by and pick up my 2009 edition.

re simmers

Dec-08-2009, 10:17am

"Sugar Plums" is a good collection.

Also, John Cowan just released a Christmas cd.

Bob

jondk

Dec-08-2009, 1:01pm

I'll second John Cowan's Comfort & Joy. Jerry Christmas by Jerry Douglas is very good. I don't think there's much mandolin but great dobro and fiddle. Also the Christmas Grass CDs are pretty good.

Tom D

Dec-08-2009, 5:58pm

There's limited mandolin content, but Dan Crary's Holiday Guitar certainly belongs in this collection.

mandroid

Dec-08-2009, 7:12pm

Fairytale Of New York - by The Pogues ... was the voter's favorite for holiday song on ..http://www.musicradar.com/

Django Fret

Dec-08-2009, 8:31pm

The late Butch Baldassari made two of my favorite mandolin featured Christmas CD's that have already been mentioned. This Christmas won't be quite the same without him here, but he sure will be a part of every Christmas for me.

Evergreen (http://www.soundartrecordings.com/evergreen.shtml)

Gifts (http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Nashville-Mandolin-Ensemble/dp/B000002BPG)

It looks like Sound Art still has "Evergreen" available, but "Gifts" is not listed there and may be out of print. "Sleigh Ride" by itself is worth the price of "Gifts".

Paul Kotapish

Dec-09-2009, 12:30am

I've got a nine or ten Muszikas or Marta S. albums, but the above isn't among them.

It's one of my favorite Marta S. recordings. I like the trad Hungarian and Transylvanian string ensembles (Musikas et all) she often records and performs with, but this is something special. She's done a couple collaborations with Cserepes, and this is the best of them. I think some of it was also released on a Balkan Christmas anthology about 15 years ago.

Triakel has a nice CD of traditional Swedish Christmas music. I don't know whether NorthSide has picked it up for distribution over here or not.

I know there are some nice trad French Noel recordings but I don't have any, and there is a nice compilation of holiday music from northern Spain featuring a lot of the top trad Galician ensembles called Cantigas De Nadal.

Mandolin Mick

Dec-09-2009, 3:08am

My favorite is the CD that comes with the Mandolin tab book "Christmas Music for the Mandolin" by Allan Alexander. 21 instrumentals which are all mandolin accompanied by a guitar in the background. What's also cool is that the selections are not your typical carols but selections such as The Coventry Carol, Pata Pan, and Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella. But, there is also a selection of better known favorites such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and O Come Emmanuel. There is also a number of little known Christmas songs that sound perfect on the mandolin such as Here Between Ass and Oxen Mild and Down in Yon Forest. The CD is so good that the price is actually a steal and is available on Ebay as well.

AlanN

Dec-09-2009, 5:25am

Gifts (http://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Nashville-Mandolin-Ensemble/dp/B000002BPG)

It looks like Sound Art still has "Evergreen" available, but "Gifts" is not listed there and may be out of print. "Sleigh Ride" by itself is worth the price of "Gifts".

Yeah, not sure if this even made it to CD. I bought 4 copies of the cassette tape from Butch, to give as 'Gifts' :mandosmiley:

And you are so right about Sleigh Ride. It has such a great feel to it. Fred Carpenter plays the head, followed by a clarinet solo by the late Paul Zonn, then 2 incredible take off solos, by Richard Kriehn and Aubrey Haynie. These guys BLOW. These solos are so hip, I contracted John McGann to transcribe them, which he did, very well.

TerryBurnsKing

Dec-09-2009, 5:44am

No mandolin but my hands down is Ella Fitzgerald's "Swingin Christmas."

Django Fret

Dec-09-2009, 6:58am

The Modern Mandolin Quartet also has some wonderful Christmas music.

A couple that are worth checking out are their version of "E'en So, Lord Jesus Quickly Come" on Winter Solstice II (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000000NHA/ref=s9_simp_gw_s0_p15_t1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=01Y961K4J1DGNNHS6RJ3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846), and their version of the Nutcracker Suite (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mmq).

Steevarino

Dec-09-2009, 7:42am

I'm not sure that all of these albums have been mentioned yet, as I just sort of scanned through this thread, but a few of Standard Christmas Albums around our house are: Evergreen (as Scott started this thread with), the Emmylou Harris "Light of the Stable" album, David Grisman's Christmas album, Willy Nelson's "Pretty Paper" album, one of the Windham Hill releases (I think it has "Winter" in the title, or maybe that is the title), the Nashville String Ensemble's Christmas album, and, of course, Nat King Cole's Christmas album.

But, hey, has anyone gotten Bob Dylan's new Christmas album yet? One of the guys at the shop got it with a bunch of free stuff he got from a record company. I haven't listened to it all the way through yet (I just can't) but it's pretty comical, esp. if you like the way Bob Dylan talks/sings these days.

JeffD

Dec-09-2009, 12:24pm

I just ordered this from Elderly:

Alan & Bonnie Epstein
COME IN FROM THE COLD: CHRISTMAS DUETS FEATURING MANDOLIN AND PIANO
2006 -- Onetime Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra director Alan Epstein and pianist Bonnie Epstein in a program of 15 holiday chestnuts; with special guests Crispin Campbell and Glenn Wolff from the Neptune Quartet on cello and bass, respectively, on one track each.

Wolfboy

Dec-12-2009, 10:55am

One of my favorites, with mandolin content: Al Petteway and Amy White, Winter Tidings (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/whitepetteway4).

A new favorite this year, with a bit of mando content: Barry Phillips and friends, Colonial Christmas (http://www.gourd.com/139A.html).

Other non-mando Christmas favorites of mine that haven't been mentioned yet: John Fahey, Christmas Guitar Volume One (solo guitar); Steve Baughman, Old World Christmas (solo guitar); George Winston, December (solo piano); Patrick Ball, The Christmas Rose (brass-strung Celtic harp); A Windham Hill Christmas and A Windham Hill Christmas 2.

And yes, Jim, since you mention it :) I do have two Christmas CDs of my own, A Guitar for Christmas (solo guitar) and Christmas Eve is Here (guitars, mandolin and cittern), both available right here (http://www.robinbullock.com/recordings.htm).

Merry Christmas to all from somewhere in Georgia in the midst of Christmas Tour 2009!

James P

Dec-17-2009, 5:33pm

Jessbusenitz

Dec-24-2009, 4:21pm

Just got this cd as an Christmas present. Mr.Baldasari was one fine picker. http://www.greenhillmusic.com/browse.aspx?srchval=bluegrass%20christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Jess

violmando

Dec-25-2009, 7:30am

Robin's CD, Christmas Eve is Here, is EXCELLENT--just got it from him and I LOVE it!!! Yvonne

Mark Walker

Dec-26-2009, 7:58am

Scott - I got Evergreen on your recommendation - great CD! :)

Now that I'm a day late (or more) on this, if you're looking for something for NEXT year...

There's a great CD my wife picked up that's been around for more than ten years, but apparently can still be had: Old Time Country Christmas by Alisa Jones and Mark Howard. I snooped around the web and it's still available HERE. (http://www.cumberlandmusic.com/christmas/old_time_country_christmas.php) (No financial interest, and there are a couple sample MP3's you can give a listen to.)

Lots of mandolin, fiddle and guitar; a great listen! :mandosmiley: