‘It’s Christmastime,’ Crandall Creek, written by band member Jerry Andrews
Topping of what has been a good year for the multi-generational Crandall Creek bluegrass band, the sextet gathered together recently to record a cheerful stocking stuffer for the 2024 holiday season. “It’s Christmastime,’ written by singer-songwriter-guitarist-vocalist Jerry Andrews, moves along at a sprightly pace fashioned by Andrews, Dustin Trepanning on banjo and mandolin, San Nelson on bass and Andrews and Roger Hard on guitars. Kathy Wigman Lesnock adds warm, affecting harmony vocals to the impressive Carly Greer’s lighthearted but heartfelt lead vocal. It’s inaccurate to say there’s no heavy message here, because the song’s theme of delighting in basic, life affirming pleasures of and friendships formed around Yuletide traditions might well be heard as an important, if not “heavy,” message. At any rate, “It’s Christmastime” is an engaging seasonal reflection on joys, past and present, common to this most wonderful time of the year. And then there’s the cool animated video accompanying the song.
Crandall Creek (from left): Sav Nelson, Kathy Wigman Lesnock, Jerry Andrews, Carly Greer, Roger Hard, Dustin Trepanning
Discussing the song, Andrews revealed it all came together in about an hour. “I thought about how simple things were in the late Fifties and Sixties growing up in rural West Virginia and remembering things like sled riding, bonfires, and celebrating the birth of the Baby Jesus,” he said in a press release accompanying the song’s release on YouTube. “Christmastime was and is still important to my family. I hope everyone enjoys this tune as much as I had writing it and remembering old times and Christmas get-togethers.”
For Crandall Creek, 2024 comes to an end with the band having seen two of its singles, “Just 18” and “Love the Thrill,” reach the Top 20 of the Bluegrass Today charts. A new album is in or near completion and will be released early next year with both of the hit singles among its song selections. As the saying goes, stay tuned! –David McGee
‘Frosty Pines,’ Troy Engle (Pinecastle Records)
Troy Engle is getting into the holiday spirit with the release of a new holiday-oriented bluegrass single, “Frosty Pines.” The original tune waxes nostalgic about family, home, the winter wonderland and the allure and love for it all during the holiday season. Engle cites Bill Monroe’s holiday classic, “Christmas Time’s A-Comin’,” as the inspiration for his similarly bouncy, cheerful reminiscence on which the versatile Engle plays all the instruments. Engle co-wrote the tune his friend, Rick Lang, who happens to be an award winning songwriter and respected artist in his own right.
Troy Engle
“I was at an after Christmas sale at a local store with my family, and I saw the artificial trees they had on clearance,” Engle explains of the song’s origins. “A few of them already had ‘snow’ on them, and they were called frosted pines. I thought, ‘Frosty Pines’–that would be a great holiday song title, and I even said to myself, ‘That’s one Rick and I are gonna write’–and we did! At our next appointment, I told Rick the idea and he loved it. So we just started writing about coming home to the Frosty Pines at Christmas time, and all the things this guy missed while being away.”
“Frosty Pines” continues a productive period in Engle’s career since his signing with Pinecastle Records earlier this year. His most recent mainstream bluegrass single “Outrun the Pain,” was released in November as a prelude to his next album project, Back Home, coming in 2024. For more info about Troy Engle and his outstnading touring band Southern Skies, visit his official website, www.troyengle.com.
‘Mountain City Christmas,’ The Kody Norris Show (Rebel Records)
The Kody Norris Show is the latest popular bluegrass group to mark the holiday season with a rousing new single in “Mountain City Christmas.” Written by Kody Norris, who also supplies guitar and the plaintive lead vocal, the track features Mary Rachel Nalley-Norris on a sprightly mandolin solo, Josiah Tyree on hard-charging banjo and harmony vocals, and Charlie Lowman on the steady thumping bass. The Kody Norris Show will return to Mountain City, Tennessee on December 18th (now sold out) and 19th to the First Christian Church for The Kody Norris Christmas Show. For more information, visit www.TheKodyNorrisShow.com.
“‘Mountain City Christmas’ has been a fan favorite for quite a while,” said Kody Norris.” I wrote this song years ago in Baltimore while I was there for the winter. I was certainly missing Mountain City and wanted to be home for Christmas. Years later, we got in the studio to record it and are excited to release it to our fans this holiday season.”
