Welcome
THE Most Epic Christmas Playlist. EVER!!
Now in its 15th Epic Year
A Letter from Kevin
Merry Christmas everybody! And welcome to the 15th annual installment of the Most Epic Christmas Playlist. EVER!! (Lol, how is this actually a thing? but here we are.)
First off – DAMN! y’all. I’ve never worked this hard to get a List together. I don’t even know how to tell you how heavy a lift it was, but musically speaking it’s been bleak. The first legit release was on September 13th (get that coin, Amy Grant!) and there’ve been several weeks since when I listened to 15 or 16 albums and at least that many singles and found maaaaybe one List-worthy track. Like I said, bleak.
So I really had to switch this b-word into 4-wheel drive and go off-roading to find stuff. The keen observer will notice that there are way more than the usual number of songs that weren’t actually released in 2024 – which is kinda the main point of The List. Most years, that means 1) an artist or song missed the cut off (last Friday in Nov) the previous year before, 2) I liked a song but not the voice singing it so I found a version from an artist I do like, or 3) an artist I like released an album or song or I didn’t like so I’ve had to go back into their catalogue and find a better option. But this year, it was just an all-out scramble to find epic tuneage.
Speaking of the main point of the list, some of you will see/hear the opening track from The Carpenters and say, “What the hell?! I thought we didn’t do classics on The List. This one’s been around forever!” First of all … rude! Second of all, Richard totally re-mastered and re-released 16 of the best Carpenter Christmas songs in this, the very YEAR OF OUR LORD, 2024. So it IS new(ish). Also, it’s Karen freaking Carpenter, so I gave it special dispensation. (And it’s the first track, because you try mixing that touched-by-an-angel voice in with the rest of the mere mortals on The List. Impossible.)
Some highlights this year:
* Hannah Kerr and Austin French’sjazzy cover of “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” (one of my fave traditional carols but you haven’t heard it like this before) is delish.
* Charlie Puth (what?!) came outta nowhere – no announcement, no fanfare – with a total earworm of a single “December 25th,” complete with Peanuts/Schroeder inspired cover art. Had to add it.
* I tend to avoid ‘novelty songs’ – they’re cute for a minute but will we care in 5 years? – but I couldn’t get Brett Eldredge’s “The Night St. Nick Got Sick” outta my head after I heard it. So it’s on here.
* Anthony Evans’s delightfully soulful mash up of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and “Go Tell It On The Mountain” took me to CHURCH! (in the best possible way) and was the perfect closing song for Act 1.
Home Free put out a great album and got a couple of spots (again) this year, including a cover of “Somewhere In My Memory” in which they sing back up to Straight No Chaser. I love both groups, so them coming together to give us a version of a song I’ve wanted to get on The List for years was pretty epic. [Spoiler alert, the end of that song makes more sense if you’ve listened to the whole Home Free album (which you should); it’s a mash up of all the songs on the album.]
Y’all know I’m not a fan – at all – of country music and mostly don’t follow country artists, so I was only slightly aware of Little Big Town. But the fact that they took "If We Make It Through December” – a grim, grim Merle Haggard song from the 70s (I mean, it IS Merle Haggard, so maybe the grim is redundant?) – and gave us this beautiful re-make is, like, mind-blowing. The lyrics are still pretty dark, but musically it’s gorgeous. (Paulo still thinks it’s too depressing to have been included, btw.)
Speaking of remakes of … iffy … tracks, the update Ryland James and Ralph (no idea) gave us of Dolly Parton’s “Maybe Next Christmas” – yes Dolly wrote this one too, and recorded it with Kenny Rogers – is super cute. As is Jason Crabbe and Chapel Hart’s cover of “That Spirit of Christmas.”
And since we’re dragging music legends here … I couldn’t help but put Stevie Nicks and Jason Kelce (don’t get me started, I can’t) covering “Maybe This Christmas” on The List, even though Stevie low-key sounds a little like Kermit the Frog. Look, she’s an ICON and a LEGEND and I LOVE her … but just for a minute, close your eyes and forget it’s her, and then tell me it’s not giving Muppets. Don’t @ me. I said what I said.
Also, the entire first half Part Two of The List is a section I call “American Idol meets The Voice in the snow.” I love a sub-theme. Did I put Dan + Shay’s “Parson Brown” in direct proximity to the song that name checks him? Yes I did. Did I give Clay Aiken a spot whether he deserved it or not? Yes I did. And did I ultimately cut Ruben Stoddard’s Jim Brickman track? Also yes. But it was the right thing to do. You can dig into that one on your own if you are so inclined. Worth remembering that Clay was infamously “too gay” (even before coming out) to be allowed to win Idol, so it’s fitting that we give him a home here on The List. I mean, you guys … she hired back up singers and everything!!! Somebody’s gotta pay for that.
Overall, even with the uphill battle, it should be a very satisfying couple of hours of music you (mostly) won’t hear elsewhere. So jump in and enjoy. Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons!
Kevin
Stream The List on Spotify and Apple Music
The 2024 Song List
Part One
Part Two
Part Two
1. First Snow Fall / Let It Snow – Carpenters
2. Give Out My Christmas Love – Wesley Bright
3. Santa for Someone – Jennifer Hudson
4. Until Next Christmas – Dennis Van Aarssen
5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Hannah Kerr & Austin French
6. A Christmas to Remember – Ryland James & Ralph
7. Christmas Never Gets Old – Jamie Cullum
8. December 25th – Charlie Puth
9. The Christmas Waltz – Johnnyswim
10. Oh Holy Night – Chapel Hart
11. When Christmas Comes Around – Cody Fry
12. Tennessee Christmas – Ginna Claire Mason & Christy Nockels
13. If We Make It Through December – Little Big Town
14. Hark The Herald Angels Sing – Tower of Power
15. Top Of My Wish List – Eden xo
16. There's No Place Like Home for the Holiday – Cochren & Co.
17. Christmas On Broadway – Lea Salonga
18. Christmas Coupon – Meghan Trainor
19. Cool Yule – Matt Dusk
20. Every Day Will Be Like a Holiday – Kyla Jade
21. 12 Months of Christmas – salem ilese
22. A Christmas to Remember – The Modern Gentlemen
23. Merry Christmas Everyone – Sydnie Christmas
24. We Wish You A Merry Christmas/Go Tell It On The Mountain – Anthony Evans
Part Two
Part Two
Part Two
1. It's Christmas Time / We Wish You the Merriest – Mylon Hayes Family
2. It's Christmas – Bay City Rollers
3. It's Me & You This Christmas – Elijah Woods x Jamie Fine
4. The Night St. Nick Got Sick – Brett Eldrege
5. Winter Wonderland – Jennifer Hudson
6. Parson Brown – Dan + Shay
7. Merry Christmas, Darling – Clay Aiken
8. You for Christmas – Kelly Clarkson
9. Snow Globe – Matt Wertz
10. Snow – Stella Cole & Darren Criss
11. Let It Snow, Let It Snow – Anna Puu w/Matt Dusk
12. Christmas Night With You – Straight No Chaser
13. Maybe This Christmas – Stevie Nicks & The Philly Specials
14. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Judith Owen
15. Spirit of Christmas – Jason Crabb w/Chapel Hart
16. It's Christmas Time Once Again – Marc Martel
17. 1 Wish – Ava Max
18. Any Kind of Christmas – Home Free
19. Hang Your Lights – Jamie Cullum
20. Stay For Christmas – Dennis van Aarssen & Lucy Woodward
21. A Cradle in Bethlehem – Phil Wickham w/Evan Wickham
22. Do You Hear What I Hear – Jeremy Rosado
23. Til The Season Comes Round Again – Amy Grant & Vince Gill
24. Somewhere In My Memory – Home Free w/Straight No Chaser