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CMT Crossroads Christmas: Brett Young And Friends Recap
This Christmas season, multi-platinum country artist Brett Young returns to the “CMT Crossroads” show to share with us his first Christmas album on the first-ever Christmas episode, “CMT Crossroads Christmas: Brett Young And Friends”. His all-star lineup of friends includes Boyz II Men, Colbie Caillat, Gavin Degraw, Maddie & Tae, Chris Tomlin, Darius Rucker, and Dann Huff to spread the Christmas spirit in this hour-long special.
To start off the special, Young sits down with singer-songwriter Gavin Degraw to discuss the creation of his first Christmas album, Brett Young & Friends Sing The Christmas Classics. The two of them begin the show with a rendition of “Silver Bells” with Grammy-Award-winning artist, Colbie Caillat. With the stage decked out in trees and Christmas lights, it’s hard not to feel the spirit within the classy piano backing the voices of the three great artists that blend together as they sing the holiday tune.
Musical duo Maddie & Tae share their experience working with Young before their performances saying, “Brett is phenomenal to work with. He’s an awesome human being. We kinda see him as an older brother and we’re like his little sisters ‘cause we’ve known each other for probably eight years now, and just growing up in the business together has been great.” Their relationship shines in their back-to-back performances of “Let It Snow” and “The Christmas Song.” It’s easy to tell they’ve been doing this together for years.
Chris Tomlin sits down with Young to describe the true meaning of Christmas and the roots that date back years within the music. “Christmas is the only holiday that has its own genre of music. And I think about the great carols, they’ve lasted for hundreds of years. And I think about the people that were writing them, they didn’t know they were writing these great carols,” he states before kicking off their duet of “Silent Night.”
In the next bit of the show, sitting down with Caillat, Young continues Tomlin’s idea from before, “There is nothing like Christmas music, it can cross genres, it doesn’t matter. The song is always the thing that jumps through. You can do it in an old crooners style, you can do it in R&B, or you can do it kind of a backbeat lo-fi record like we did. And nobody’s paying attention to that. They’re hearing a classic Christmas song they’ve known their whole life. And there’s an immediate Lake Tahoe or mom’s chili. And there’s some memory that comes back because of that song. And I think that’s really timeless.” Just as he said, the two put a spin on the Christmas classic, “White Christmas,” slowing it down in a manner that elevates the song to a new level.
Young goes on to collaborate with his producer Dan Huff on the most unexpected performance of the night, a rendition of “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).” The bit leading up to it is funny, wholesome, and everything in-between as Young explains how he just assumed everyone else knew the song– when half the people he spoke to about it had no idea what he was talking about. Nonetheless, the performance is entertaining with the assistance of Huff on guitar.
Ending the special on a high note with the most highly-anticipated performance of the show, “This Christmas” with Boyz II Men. They leave us with lifted spirits.
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