Amy Grant Talks ‘Tennessee Christmas’

In this SLN exclusive, Amy Grant opens up about her fourth holiday offering, Tennessee Christmas.

Written by Chuck Dauphin
Amy Grant Talks ‘Tennessee Christmas’
Photo courtesy the {m} media collective

On her new Christmas album, Tennessee Christmas, the timeless Amy Grant gets a chance to re-visit the title cut, which is something the singer loved getting to do.

“I remember recording it the first time like it was yesterday, but it was thirty-three years ago,” the singer tells Sounds Like Nashville. “I’ve sung that song every Christmas for three-plus decades, and I just wanted to have my ‘grown woman’ voice on it. All those pictures I saw then, I just see from a different perspective now. It was so lovely to get to re-do it – a half step lower,” she says with a smile.

Tennessee Christmas is Grant’s fourth holiday offering. She says that she knows that’s a lot of music, but it’s something that is very much a part of her inner being. “I know it’s crazy to put out so much Christmas material, but it’s just been such a part of my touring life that has stayed the most active. I love the holiday season, and am always thinking ‘What would I want to hear?’ I love cooking, and to me, it’s the musical version of cooking. So, I think ‘What have we not served up yet?’

One of the songs that Grant serves up on the disc is the bubbly “Christmas For You And Me.” It’s a track that reminded her of another holiday standard. “It just makes you want to smile,” she says of the song, “To me, it’s like a current version of ‘Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree.’ It has that same kind of playful energy, and just makes you want to smile.”

With Tennessee Christmas, Grant says she had a very specific audience in mind. “I approached this whole record in a very organic way. All of the musicians came to our home,” she said. “I just kept imagining while recording the record, an audience of one. I have been that mom who stayed up late making a list, or getting up early to wrap a gift. As much as we anticipate loving each other at Christmas time, so much of it happens alone. There’s a big buildup for time together, but I wanted to make an intimate and contemplative but also joyful piece for someone who experiences Christmas like I do.”

Cover art courtesy The Media Collective

Cover art courtesy The Media Collective

Grant is joined by husband Vince Gill on a playful version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” She laughs when recalling when she first was introduced to Gill the musician. “This was ages ago – maybe 1992. A friend of mine had stopped by my house. She had been to Green Hills Mall, and I think she had gone to Dillard’s. She said there was a deal on Hanes T-Shirts. If you bought two, you got a CD for free. She said ‘I just wanted the shirts,’ and tossed the CD down on the counter. She said ‘Do you want the music?’ I said ‘Sure.’ It was Vince’s ‘I Still Believe In You.’ I became kind of an instant stalker. I was so moved by his voice and his effortlessness when he sings.”

Still, after over two decades – sixteen as husband and wife – Grant stands in awe of Gill. Just what is it about him that brings out her best? “He sets such a high bar. His sense of rhythm, and his musical pocket is so deep. He can do a Stevie Wonder riff, but he’s always saying ‘It’s what you don’t sing that matters. Let everything be tasteful, and I feel that’s how he sings, how he plays,” she says with a deep sense of admiration.

“Sometimes, when we’re in the studio, and he’s helping me with a vocal, his tool kit has a different depth than I do. He pushes me to sing things I don’t think I can do. I don’t have vocal acrobatics, but I’m always so glad that he pushes me. On the song, I think we’re a nice complement. I’m pretty much straight ahead melody, and he does all the flip flops around me.”

A trio of songs – “Melancholy Christmas,” “Another Merry Christmas,” and “December” – deal with the more contemplative side of the holidays. She says that she hears stories from fans about how some Christmas seasons leave them a little bit sad than joyous. “People will mention frequently to me about going through a hard Christmas this certain year. Maybe it was the first without their dad or they’ve just been through a rough year. Maybe it’s because the holidays are at the end of the year, and everyone is in a contemplative mood. It could be because every year, we mark the same traditions – our songs of faith, decorating the tree, so maybe we notice the changes that have happened,” she said eloquently.

Grant admits that there are moments during the holidays that are a little more reflective, and she said she tried to keep people experiencing those emotions in mind. “It’s not all ‘yee-haw’ and celebration. There’s a lot of sadness that comes bubbling to the surface at Christmas time, a lot of isolated people, and sometimes in the experience of my life, I feel that way. We all live unique lives. There are three songs on the album that I would call exquisitely tender – sad.” She said those songs hit the mark with someone who represents their target audience. “I’ve got a friend who lives in New Hampshire. She called and said ‘My three favorite songs are the sad ones. They make me so happy.’

One different musical twist on Tennessee Christmas is Grant’s spoken voice, heard on the nostalgic “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” She said that her producer, Mac McAnally, worked magic on the song. “I had never actually spoken on a Christmas record before. Sometimes you want to tell a story, but it doesn’t necessarily fit into a lyric. The whole time we were making the record, we were telling our own Christmas stories – and one day Mac said ‘Amy, just tell the story.’ And, I was just telling it into the microphone, and not into the song. He just stuck it in the song. Sometimes, the things that don’t go off the way you hope they would are the things you remember the most,” she says in recalling one of her favorite holiday memories. “Things like getting locked out of the house in a rainstorm that turns to snow is what you remember. That was 1992. I remember being frozen to the bone, or maybe the year that the transformers blew all over Nashville, and everybody had to huddle together with extended family to stay warm. I’ll never forget that Christmas.”

Grant will be on the road with Michael W. Smith this fall, as well as pairing up with Gill for their traditional series of concerts at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. For a complete itinerary, go to AmyGrant.com.