Reviewed by Dave Brassington

From time to time one comes across albums where you wonder what might have been! This country music superstar has released a real mish mash of a Christmas collection! 10 tracks are very familiar Yuletide songs, only the last track, "A Baby Changes Everything", being new material. What for me saves the album is the setting of "Away In A Manger" which is absolutely superb! Backed by the fabulous Stuart Duncan playing some exemplary fiddle, and other country luminaries such as Bryan Sutton on acoustic guitar and Michael Compton on mandolin, this is a sound to die for! So what possessed the country artist to record the rest of the album with large, bland orchestration? There must be hundreds of other recordings of "Joy To The World", "Little Drummer Boy" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" recorded in exactly the same style! When I think back to how Emmylou Harris turned old Christmas standards into her style of music many years ago, this album could have been as equally outstanding if the same musicians on "Away In A Manger" had been allowed to carry on with the rest of the songs. As it stands though, this is a great opportunity missed.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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