Kelleigh Bannen Shares Christmas Music Picks

If you’ve been alive in the last year, you’ve heard Idina Menzel sing even a snippet of “Let it Go” from Frozen. But it’s the Broadway star’s Christmas album that has Kelleigh Bannen enthralled.

“I was on the road and I watched the CMA Country Christmas on my phone and I watched the Christmas tree lighting in New York: that woman can sing,” Kelleigh told CountryMusicIsLove during a recent interview. “She’s just beautiful and old-timey in a way. I love the choices she makes. The end of her ‘White Christmas’ is awesome. She makes great choices melody wise, she decorates but she doesn’t over decorate.”

That said, everyone has that one version of a holiday tune that they prefer above all else. “Frank Sinatra’s version of ‘Silent Night,’ when he’s a little bit older and his voice is shakey is one of my favorite performances ever,” she admits. “It’s the entire case for not tuning every vocal. The imperfections in that recording make it perfect.”

As a Nashville native, “Tennessee Christmas” is also one of the “Famous” singer’s favorites. “My very first concert that I ever went to was Amy Grant’s Christmas at the Ryman back in the Gary Chapman days,” she recalls. “There’s the Alabama version and there’s the Amy. That’s a great song.”

Which begs the question, how an artist makes the perfect holiday album? “If you do a Christmas album, which I’m not doing yet, do you do super classic?” Kelleigh ponders. “Because it’s not going to be the Frank, Bing. For me, the quintessential ‘O, Holy Night’ is Martina McBride. Or do you do funky, fresh, different? Then, do you do it like you’re a standards singer, like Michael Buble? That’s a quandary for me.”

While there probably isn’t a right answer, take it from Kelleigh and give the Idina Menzel holiday album a try.