To Celebrate Christmas

To Celebrate Christmas

by Jennifer NettlesJennifer Nettles

Overview

Sporting nearly identical cover art to Playing with Fire -- the sophomore solo set that appeared a few months earlier in 2016 -- To Celebrate Christmas actually contains more verve than its secular counterpart. Freed from the need of having a hit, Jennifer Nettles plays around, letting "Go Tell It on the Mountain" groove to a hard rock riff and turning "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" into a hot dance shuffle that could've sounded at home during prohibition. Nettles still will play it earnest -- "Circle of Love" is as straight as it gets -- and the record slides into a slow, deliberate march in its back half, heavy on ballads, all of which puts To Celebrate Christmas into the realm of immaculately crafted fireplace music that never quite captures the imagination. That's too bad because early on, To Celebrate Christmas has some attitude -- enough to suggest the album wouldn't be conventional -- but eventually, Nettles finds her own cozy comfort zone, a place that is nothing more than pleasant.

Product Details

Release Date: 10/28/2016
Label: Big Machine Records
UPC: 0843930026357
catalogNumber: 0150

Tracks

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jennifer Nettles   Primary Artist
Paul Franklin   Dobro,Pedal Steel Guitar
Jim Hoke   Clarinet,Tenor Saxophone
Sam Levine   Baritone Saxophone
Ann McCrary   Background Vocals
Steve Patrick   Trumpet
Deborah Person   Background Vocals
Jimmie Lee Sloas   Bass
Tim Lauer   Piano,Accordion,Keyboards
Dorian Crozier   Drums
Roy Agee   Trombone
Tom Bukovac   Electric Guitar
Alfreda McCrary Lee   Background Vocals
Regina McCrary   Background Vocals
Danny Rader   Acoustic Guitar
Steve Herrmann   Trumpet
Whitney Coleman   Background Vocals
Jeffrey Holstein   Background Vocals
Kiely Phillips   Background Vocals

Technical Credits

Adolphe Adam   Composer
Dolly Parton   Composer
Irving Berlin   Composer
Kenny Loggins   Composer
Bob James   Composer
Billy Smiley   Composer
Harry Simeone   Composer
Katherine K. Davis   Composer
Jim Hoke   Horn Arrangements
Henry Onorati   Composer
Julian Raymond   Arranger,Producer
Howard Willing   Engineer
Lars Fox   Engineer
Tim Lauer   Arranger
Noel Regney   Composer
Gloria Shayne   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Becky Reiser   Art Direction
Sandi Spika Borchetta   Art Direction
Justin Ford   Graphic Design
John Wesley Work   Composer
Adam Chagnon   Engineer
Greg Wayne Davis   Composer

Customer Reviews