When I was in college, I would break out my cassette (YES. CASSETTE. AMEN.) of Amy Grant’s A Christmas Album just as soon as Halloween was over. It was my Official Soundtrack during November and December road trips, and “Heirlooms” was always a sure-fire recipe for Tender Introspection since I was a terribly sophisticated nineteen year-old and all.
A nineteen year-old driving a Buick Regal that would sputter to a dead stop if the accelerator wasn’t pressed at all times, and yes, that includes at red lights and stop signs.
Anyway, my point is that Amy Grant’s first Christmas CD is the gold standard of Christmas albums for me. Other Christmas albums have joined her in my Christmas music hall-o-fame over the years – like Harry Connick Jr.’s and James Taylor’s, for instance – but I’m a pretty discriminating Christmas music listener. I want worship and reverence and fun wrapped up in one musical package, and I don’t want want a hint of corny in the mix. But other than that I’m not picky at ALL.
Ahem.
Last year, not too long after Melanie and I dragged Travis Cottrell into the vortex of our lives by obsessing over his wife’s jeans, he mentioned that he was about to start working on a Christmas album. He also mentioned that his producer was going to be Brown Bannister, a name I immediately knew because I’d seen it printed on the top, right-hand corner of every piece of Amy Grant sheet music I tried to play on the piano when I was a teenager. Since I knew that Brown Bannister produced Amy Grant’s Christmas albums, I figured that Travis’ Christmas CD was bound to turn out pretty well.
However, I had no idea that when I heard Travis’ Christmas CD for the first time, I would get all teary-eyed and fan my face and feel so unbelievably proud of our friend. The CD is absolutely, positively, completely, stunningly beautiful. Christmas music perfection. We’ve been listening to it in our house since Labor Day (YES. LABOR DAY.), and on at least four different occasions David and I have had in-depth conversations about how great it is. Every single day the five year-old gets in the car when I pick him up from kindergarten and asks if he can hear “Frosty.” Every single morning I have some church with my iPod when I listen to “In The First Light.” It is, plain and simple, a wonderful CD.
Ring the Bells will be released next Tuesday, October 7, and there’s no question that you’re going to want to add it to your Christmas music collection. But if you’d like to try to win one of ten autographed copies of the CD before it’s released, then here’s what you need to do:
1. Leave a comment telling me your favorite Christmas song.
2. Pause and think for a moment about how this is pretty much the EASIEST GIVEAWAY EVER.
I’ll close this giveaway next Monday and announce the winners next Tuesday.
And just FYI: Travis is so stinkin’ humble and self-deprecating about this whole Christmas CD thing that it’s sort of unbelievable. In fact, we have debated for weeks about how many comments this giveaway will generate, and I have contended that we’re gonna hit the hundreds. Travis’ official prediction is 46.
I have a feeling y’all are going to prove him oh-so-wrong.
Make it a merry one, internets.
This giveaway is now closed.
It’s NOT “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.”
That much I know.
I’ll have to pick “Mary Did You Know.” Even though there are many others.
Pausing now to reflect on the simplicity of the giveaway….
“O Holy Night” and “Silent Night” are my all time faves, but I love Christmas music.
Please sign me up for the give away, and I think this one’s going over a thousand, never mind hundreds. :-)
Love and hugs,
Diane
Oooohhh! I love love love Christmas music. I start listening November 1. My husband makes fun of me. My daughter loves SCC’s album w/ Shohanna telling the Christmas story. But my favorite carol of all time that gives me chills to this day is O Holy Night. Beautiful song.
For a newer song though I love Mercy Me’s Joseph’s Lullaby.
My all-time favorite is What child is this to sing in church, but my favorite Christmas memories are hearing my Dad sing O Holy Night or Sweet Little Jesus Boy. Give me chills just thinking about it and it is 90 degrees!
Ok, it is very hard to pick a fav Christmas song!!
I’ll have to go with the traditional O HOLY NIGHT. For modern, gotta go with Amy’s Breath of Heaven.
Thanks for the fun!
Breath of Heaven…
Well, would you look at that–already 406 comments!!
My fave is O Holy Night.
*pause*
This is such an easy giveaway!
It is hard to pick just one Christmas song! I love them all. If I have to choose just one, I guess it would be Silent Night. Thanks for the giveaway, the CD sounds great!
Oh Holy Night is definitely the one for me!
My fav….the Holly and the Ivy.
TRIPLE LOVE IT!!
I _LOVED_ Heirlooms too!! And yes, I had the cassette.
As for my favorite Christmas song, for traditional I would pick “What Child is This”, and for modern, “Mary Did You Know”.
The CD sounds great!
Thanks!
I heard Travis perform for the very first time in August and I immediately bought three cd’s. I am so excited about the Christmas CD!!!!!
Definitely “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”…and I’m so excited about this new CD!
46. That’s pretty doggone funny. Tell Travis it took me about a minute and a half to roll my scrollbar all the way to the bottom of all the comments, and just when I thought I was at the bottom it continued to load and bumped me back up a couple of inches! Ha!
My husband and I have very strong ties to our Amy Grand Christmas cassette, but it’s a different one. It’s the one where she’s in the bright red sweater standing sideways and her GORGEOUS hair is looking…well, gorgeous. It might be from 1992 or something.
Okay, since you’ll probably never even get to read this comment, unless you pick me, I’ll quit gabbing and just answer the question.
Favorite Christmas song, “Oh, Holy Night” and/or “What Child is This?”. Martina McBride does a beautiful version of each. She sang the first one live and acappella one time and it took ten minutes for the hair on my arms to go back down. Slight exaggeration, but it was that good.
I love, love, love Christmas music!!! The all-time fave for me is O Holy Night. Any version I love! :)
My kids singing “Happy Birthday Jesus” and O Holy Night.
Favorite Song:
Sleigh Ride
My 7 year old son asked if we could play some Christmas music over the weekend…oh, he knows his mommy so well!
There’s only one thing that sounds like Christmas to me: Peter, Paul and Mary Christmas cd. I LOVE every song and play it constantly (but I wait until after Thanksgiving.) I also love to hear my church sing Oh, Holy Night.
Hahaha, well at the time I’m commenting, there are 416 comments ;).
My favorite Christmas song is definitely “O Holy Night” but I love ALL Christmas music and am seriously hoping I win!!
“Grandma got runover by a reindeer” hahaha
BY FAR it’s got to be Natalie Grant’s, I believe!! I could listen to that song all year round! In fact I do sometimes!! =)
I love them all, but I really love Breath of Heaven and O Holy Night. Wendy
Oh Travis was soo wrong on this one!
I love “O Holy Night”.
Hope I win, but if I don’t that’s o.k. I will definitely buy this CD!
~Kristin
Christmas is my totally favorite holiday and I’ve been psyched for it for weeks already!
My favorite song is “I heard the bells on Christmas day” although pretty much any Christmas song I’m going to love. Except one called “Christmas in Nebraska.”
I love Christmas music!!! So many favorites, but one that gets me every time is “Mary Did You Know”
Love “O Holy Night” and after I pause to think about it, this really is very easy!
O Holy Night, no question. Brings me to my knees…unless I’m driving.
O Come O Come Emmanuel.
Amy Grant’s Christmas CDs are some of my favorites, too. I love Christmas music & love to discover new artists. This one sounds great! I’d be thrilled to win, so please count me in.
It’s hard to choose just one favorite song, but “Mary Did You Know” tops my list.
Thanks for the chance to win!
Breath of Heaven. Okay, and “Mary Did You know?”
LOVE THEM!
O Holy Night. Absolutely!
I absolutely love Transiberian Orchestra. They’ve come to town the last several years and it just makes the season for me. Christmas Sandejo (sp?) is one of my favorites from them.
By the way, as I write this, Amy Grant has come onto the radio. :)
Oh….so many to choose from. Silent night is still my all time favorite.
missy
Most definite”Mary, Did You Know” and second most definite is a childrens’ choir singing “Do You Hear What I Hear”
I have many songs that I love, but think Silent Night and O Holy Night would be my favorites. I actually read through many of the previous comments and found myself thinking, “ooh, I like that song. Oh, that’s a good one too…”
So many, so many – and when you’ve been in and to so many Christmas programs and concerts for various classes and choirs – you start to love them all. O Holy Night is right up there, along with Amy Grant’s Breath of Heaven. Thanks for such a fun giveaway!
Just like everyone else, I love so many Christmas songs … but Amy Grant’s Tennessee Christmas brings a tear since I no longer live in my home state!
I couldn’t resist the urge to listen to some Christmas music LAST WEEK!! I don’t know if I can pick just one favorite! Being a Tennessee girl living in Japan, I have to say Tender Tennessee Christmas always make me sob. I also love Emmanuel although I’m not sure it’s officially on a Christmas album!
Thanks for keeping my southern accent alive in the land of the rising sun and giving me the chance to win wonderful new music!
I just adore “Mary, Did You Know?” and “O Holy Night.”
O Holy Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Breath of Heaven, Mary Did You Know… I have so many and it is too hard to pick a most favorite but my favorite Christmas album hands down is Amy Grant’s FIRST Christmas album …. cassette :)
O Come Let Us Adore Him
It is not easy to pick just one.
“Mary Had a Baby” by Bruce Cockburn
or “The Good Gifts of Mary” by Great Big Sea
I love O Holy Night! I have been looking forward to this CD. We’re gonna crank up the Christmas music early in Guatemala, since our family will be here to visit then!
That Christmas number you sang at the Blarney Stone.
Good Gracious. I think I’m like Comment # 8 billion. That must count for SOMETHING, right?
My favorite Christmas song? Mary, Did You Know?
That’s not another question, it’s the song title. Well, it IS another question, but not for you ’cause you aren’t Mary.
My fave is O Come Let Us Adore Him!
I have so many favorites. Do you hear what I hear? Mary did you know? O Come, O Come Emmanuel, & Breath of Heaven. That’s four favs out of hundreds!
Easy my foot. Look at all of those comments. I don’t have a chance. But I love Travis and my favorite Christmas song is “christmas Song.” My father sings it all the time. Sorry to be sappy but there you have it.
my most favorite christmas song is “o holy night,” like practically everybody else on here!
I love “Mary, did you know?”
I love Silent Night but also MANY others and I couldn’t fill all my space with song title after title so I’ll leave it at that!!
Travis is awesome!
No way to choose a favorite, but I have to say “Mary, Did You Know” by Mark Lowry and the Gaither Vocal Band comes pretty close to perfection. I also love Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven.” Beautiful arrangement!
Hark The Herald Angels Sing
The theology in this hymn is so weighty and worshipful.
O Holy Night. I can only imagine hearing Travis belt that one. I hope it is on the CD
O Holy Night. But man alive is it ever hard to narrow it down to just one!!!
Thanks SO MUCH for the chance to win, Mrs. Boo.
My favorite non-classic is “Not That Far from Bethelehem” by Point of Grace. And, yes, I have been as obsessed with them as I was with Amy Grant in the Chi O house at State. Love the meaning– the events of my favorite holiday should be celebrated every day because they are the source of our eternal joy. Favorite is classic is “O Holy Night” by far.
My family is expecting the Christmas tunes to crank up any day now. Thanks for supplying info on a new Christmas favorite album from Travis. Keep it up Soph.
Amy Grant’s album is great, but Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb” is by far the greatest Christmas album ever. Ever. You would love it. It is a one-man Christmas contata: the entire story of Israel and the Savior in 12 songs – we listen to it year-round.
By the way, my favorite Christmas song is “I Wonder As I Wander”.
Well, you are WAY past 46 Travis!!! :) Anyway, my favorite Christmas song is ‘Carol of the Bells’. My husband & I would LOVE to add this one to our Christmas CD collection (currently numbering in the hundreds)….we are Christmas music freaks, you might say… ;)
Boo, you crack me up. My favorite Christmas song is “The Holly and the Ivy.” I don’t know why — something about the lilting melody and symbolism. Thanks for the giveaway!
I love, love, love Mary Did You Know…I typed Marty did you know at first…that has a whole different meaning… I was brought to tears by Travis’ rendition of O Holy Night and I can hardly wait until the cd is released.
My favorite Christmas song is “I Wonder as I Wander.” I teach it to my 6th graders during our chapel time, I love listening to them sing it!
My 2 favorites are “Breath of Heaven” sung by Amy Grant and “O Holy Night” sung by Rob Johnson. If you can find Rob’s version, I highly recommend it!!
All of them! We will start playing Christmas music any day now. “O Holy Night” is one of my favorites, but I can’t pick just one! I also have to hear “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” at some point during the holiday season. In college, my roommate and I made up an interpretive dance to “Breath of Heaven”-I still remember most of it.
Thank you for the chance to share my weirdness with the internets, BooMama!
Oh, there are so many that I love. Last year I leaned toward “mary, Did You Know?” but “Away in a Manger” is my all time, lifelong favorite. On Christmas Eve growing up, all the kids would serenade the adults with it.
Silent Night — just to begin with
Okay, first of all, when I hit the comment button the number was at 460! That’s 46 with a big,fat 0 at the end!!
Anyhoo, thought that was interesting considering Travis’ prediction of 46.
My fav Christmas songs are “Silent Night”, “O Holy Night”, and “Welcome to Our World” Plus a few hundred more!!
PLEASE PICK ME!!
Rachel in Columbus,MS
My favorite is “O Holy Night”. I love, love, love the John Berry version:)
Kristi
guntergirl71@hotmail.com
Joy to the World. Thanks for a great blog and I, too, will break out the Christmas music very soon.
Oh Holy Night. I almost always get choked up when I hear “Fall on your knees!”
You know…I’m the worship music director at my church…and my favorite Christmas song? Well, there isn’t just one. I’m going to get this cd one way or another and we’re going to sing something off it!
What a totally fun and easy giveaway!
Favorite Christmas songs… Oh Holy Night, Walking in a Winter Wonderland. There are many others but will just limit it to my top two, especially since you only asked for one :)
Cara
I can’t pick an absolute favorite. There are too many. But my favorite christmas song as a teenager was Emmanuel off of Amy Grant’s christmas album. My friends and I gave ourselves big hair and wore red and black and lip synced it at our youth group christmas party. It was the jam. And we were awesome…in an 80’s kind of way.
My favorite Christmas song is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and tell Travis that you have way more than 46 entries!! Thank you for the contest!
So many to choose from…..
The Little Drummer Boy.
So many to choose from… probably Silent Night. But really anything that praises our Lord!
Gosh, too hard to pick just ONE fav……I love Mary Did You Know? and also Holy Night. Thanks! And like yah, EASY PEASY!!! :D
Oh Holy Night, sung by Donny Osmond, hands down!!
Oh Holy Night is by far my favorite Christmas song. I especially love listening to my husband sing it!
My favorite Christmas cassette was always TRUTH – Your Heart Is Where Christmas Is Found…did you have this one?
My favorite new Christmas song is Let There Be Light by Point of Grace.
Love Christmas Music and Love Travis! Can’t wait to hear the whole CD!!!
O Come All Ye Faithful is my most favorite.
Oh MY GOODNESS. That’s about the toughest question to answer I’ve ever had! I love Mary Did You Know – Michael English, All is Well – Michael W. Smith… I think Breath of Heaven (Yay! Amy Grant!) is my favorite non-hymal Christmas song. But that could change 3 minutes from now…
I love “What Child Is This”…favorite version sung by Amy Grant. So pure… so beautiful!!
In the more secular realm of things my favorite is White Christmas (nobody does it like BING!)… mainly because down here in SC, a “white Christmas” truly is a DREAM! ;-)
My very favorite Christmas song is “Mary Did You Know.”
No doubt, Alabama’s Christmas in Dixie!
The Park Wife
“Mary did you know” always makes me cry. And I love it!!
Silent Night
Oh Holy Night is my FAV!
Well, it looks like I’ll be number 485, so at this point Travis only estimated 9.48453608247% correctly as of now. :D
Last year, my favorite new Christmas song was David Phelps’ “Santa Claus Tonight” just because the tune was so darned catchy.
I love ALL of the Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith albums, and for classic, you can’t beat Perry Como, Andy Williams and all of the Goodyear compilation albums from the 1960s.
Christmas music growing up at my house…some of my best memories.
My favorite since the first time I heard it is “New Star Shining” by the unlikely duo James Taylor and Ricky Skaggs.
You can see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekdb2iqPRW8
I love, love, love “Oh Holy Night”!! Yay, it’s almost Christmas music time!
BooMama: God love you girl!
#1. Mary, Did you know? (my husband and I sing it as a duet most every year at church – he is the Worship Pastor and it has become a tradition – a good one, not a dull one – you know what I mean).
#2. I paused, I thought, I agree – what a great and easy giveaway.
And I love you for it – even though I did NOT get to hug your sweet neck at the Siesta Fiesta…
Georgia Jan
O Little Town of Bethlehem. And everything from Andrew Peterson’s “Behold the Lamb.” I saw it live last year and it was awesome.
Probably…”Oh come all ye faithful”… :-)
I absolutely still love Amy Grant’s Christmas album and my newer favorite is Harry Connick Jr. BUT my all time favorite Christmas song is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
I cannot wait to hear this cd!! My favorite Christmas song is Breath of Heaven, sung by none other than, Amy Grant.
My favorite Christmas song….that’s hard! I love all traditional Christmas music. I think Silent Night would be one of my favorites because of the memories of singing it as a child at church on Christmas Eve.
O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song. I promise I’m not in my 50s or 60s, but I love Andy Williams rendition.
I’d have to say Silent Night…
Oh how exciting!!
Emmanuel by Amy Grant. I broke out that Cd after Thanksgiving and made every roommate I ever had wish they’d never heard of Amy Grant by Dec. 1st!
I love O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel. Acapella is the best! I agree with you on the Amy Grant CASSETTE! I sang those songs so much in high school that people would ask me to stop!