Grant Maloy Smith Celebrates Christmas Early with New Album 'THE CHRISTMAS HEART'

When Grant Maloy Smith performs traditional Christmas songs, he does so in a non-traditional way.

The multi-award-winning singer/songwriter's latest album, THE CHRISTMAS HEART (Tiger Turn/Suburban Cowboy Records), features 10 tracks, two of which are original while the rest offer a unique musical interpretation of classic tunes.

"Fans have been telling me for years that I should make a Christmas album," Smith said. "I had always planned to do it, but other projects kept getting in the way. Because I was playing fewer concerts due to COVID, I decided to finally make it a priority, so I just put my head down and didn't stop until I was finished. Christmas is a very important to time to me and billions of people around the world. At its center it is a celebration of the birth of Christ, but it's also a special time of year, when many people get the Christmas spirit. Families come together, and generosity seems to be easier to access for most people."

Though known primarily as an Americana artist, Smith explores diverse musical genres on THE CHRISTMAS HEART, including Country, Jazz, and even Caribbean. "Go Tell It On The Mountain" is performed in an old-timey Gospel style. "In the Bleak Midwinter," based on the 19th century poem by Christina Rosetti, is updated to the 21st century with a touch of jazz, thanks in part to Thomas Hutchings on saxophone and Noshir Mody on guitar. Perhaps the most surprising song on the album, from a purely musical perspective, is "What Child Is This?," which Smith imbues with an almost danceable Caribbean beat.

"It's not exactly Reggae or Calypso, but it has a strong Caribbean vibe," Smith said. "I wanted to bring a sense of fun to this song. Many of the classic Christmas songs have too many verses to suit today's ear, so I interspersed two verses after the first chorus in a 'call and answer' vocal arrangement. It was a lot of fun to record."

While experimenting with various musical styles on the classic tracks, Smith remains closer to his Country/Americana roots with two original songs, "All On Christmas Day" and "On This Day."

"There are many people for whom the holidays are very difficult," Smith said. "My song 'On This Day' reaches out to those who are lonely or suffering, promising that salvation can be theirs despite their pain. 'All On Christmas Day' is a fantasy song about all the troubles in the world suddenly disappearing on Christmas Day. I know it's naive, but it represents the best of what the meaning of Christmas is supposed to be about."

A multi-instrumentalist, Smith is ordinarily associated with the guitar, but his piano skills are also on full display on several tracks, perhaps most notably on "O Holy Night." Sitting in throughout the album are several guest artists including Matt Combs (Loretta Lynn, John Hartford, Kacey Musgraves, Little Big Town), pedal steel player Mitchell Smithey (Ray Price, Lee Ann Rimes, TG Sheppard), percussionist Matthew Burgess (3 Doors Down, Brandi Carlile, Spencer Davis), saxophonist Thomas Hutchings (Artists Without Labels founder), Jazz guitarist Noshir Mody (Global Music Award winner), background vocalists Kimberly Fleming and Kim Mont (Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Hank Williams, Jr.), and Grammy® nominated Judy Pancoast.

The album was produced by Billboard Top 10 charting Grant Maloy Smith (2x Grammy® certificate awardee), then mixed and mastered by HMMA Award-winner Jeff Silverman (Rick Springfield, The Allmann Brothers, Stephen Bishop).

"I was inspired by José Feliciano's classic Christmas record," Smith said. "He made his own unique arrangements of classic songs, putting a whole new spin on them. I wanted to do the same thing in effect, putting my own imprint on these classic songs."

Listen to the new album here:

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