Let’s face it: This Christmas season is shaping up to be less than a beaut, Clark. Fortunately, there’s some new country and Americana recordings to dull the pain. Some extol the virtues of simply getting drunk or stoned, while others look to brighter and more clear-eyed days ahead. Here’s your must-hear holiday playlist.
Katie Pruitt, “Merry Christmas Mary Jane”
Katie Pruitt is finding a little spark in “Merry Christmas Mary Jane,” a languid blues-rocker that celebrates the power of a good joint to chase away the holiday blues. “If the fire’s blazing, why can’t I?” Pruitt sings. Merry spliffs-mas to all, and to all a good high!
Hiss Golden Messenger, “Grace”
M.C. Taylor — a.k.a. Hiss Golden Messenger — reimagined the idea of a holiday album with the melancholy yet hopeful O Come All Ye Faithful, a collection of hymns and originals. “Grace” is a standout of the latter, a reassuring song about lighting a candle for those who grieve — which, this season, is pretty much all of us. (Check out the dub version too, jammy, jazzy and transformative.)
Morgan Wade, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
Morgan Wade’s voice is the thing that really shines in her cover of the Bing Crosby standard. Rather than the raspy edge of her breakout single “Wilder Days,” Wade sings the chestnut in a soft croon that leaves plenty of space for her trademark Virginia drawl but also ratchets up the wistful feeling of homesickness.
Pistol Annies, “Hell of a Holiday”
The country music trio of Ashley Monroe, Angaleena Presley, and Miranda Lambert put their signature rowdy spin on the holidays with this original song, the title track of the group’s debut Christmas record. “Happy, spooky, merry, ya’ll it’s here/Santa better get his butt in gear,” Lambert sings, a wry nod to the yuletide season starting earlier and earlier each year.