Snow Jams
Were making our lists and playing them twice.
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Its almost audacious, then, for a musician to think they can add to that catalogue.
I went in there and I didnt know what to write, Stone admits.
Christmas is as much about family traditions as it is about fervent preparation and commerce.
But thats a slightly more ideal case than what Veit Renn experienced.
It was a crunch, he says.
I literally slept on the floor in the studio for a couple of weeks.
There was no time to go home.
Starting early means some artists make their albums in seasonally inappropriate conditions.
But that doesnt mean it cant feel like Christmasin the recording studio.
We go all out, he says, adding that they hadThe Kelly Clarkson Shows team decorate the studio.
I remember it was Fathers Day and I was wearing my Christmas pajamas.
Dont count any genre out.
I figured Id take my stab at making a rap record for the Christmas season.
Dont overthink the lyrics.
Many of the best Christmas songs start as any other song would: with something familiar.
I grew up in New York, and Christmas was always synonymous with snow, he says.
We feel like our other songs in our other records are snapshots into everyday real life, she says.
We just wanted to transfer them into everyday Christmas memories.
It doesnt have to be positive.
Christmases arent easy coming up in those places.
Parents do a lot of things just to put gifts under that tree for those kids.
And not all the songs had to sound sad.
Choose your curses wisely.
Its rare to hear a curse word in a joyful, otherwise PG-rated Christmas track, but it happens.
We had even worse ones thanhell, she says.
We were told we needed to calm it down.
It doesnt have to start as a Christmas song.
Some of the best Christmas songs began apart from the holiday.
But it made sense to him.
Its a real warm record, he adds.
And Monroe says the Pistol Annies were working on regular songs alongside Christmas ones during theirHell of a Holidaysessions.
That always happens when were together: We just cant help but start writing, she says.
The bigger the melody, the better.
Sure, there are Christmas ballads.
Its just infectious, and its up, and its that sort of melody, he says.
Being easy to listen to and easier to remember can help a song fit into store and Christmas-radio playlists.
Feel free to throw it back.
Stone, meanwhile, drew inspiration from her favorites, including Sinatra and Dean Martin.
Nothing about it is particularly cool, so I think, musically, that goes hand in hand.
Go for the live strings.
In other words, its an investment.
Be ready to hear it for years to come.
When Renn hears Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays today, he has two thoughts.
First, he picks out all the mistakes in the rushed song.
I hate the drums; I hate the piano, he says.
Even the beat itself.
Those mistakes haunt him.
For us producers and songwriters, they call a Christmas album a 401(k), he jokes.
To others, hearing their contributions to the Christmas canon is more sentimental.
