Old Crow Medicine Show Celebrate The Season With New Holiday Album ‘OCMS XMAS’

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Old Crow Medicine Show. Photo: Brooke Stevens

Old Crow Medicine Show is helping fans get in the holiday spirit this year with their new Christmas album, OCMS XMAS, due out Nov. 21 on Hartland Records.

Along with the announcement, Old Crow is honoring John Lennon‘s birthday with a timely take on his and Yoko Ono‘s global peace anthem “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” The song is stacked with choral harmonies from the children of the Episcopal School of Nashville, the East Nashville-based school founded by frontman Ketch Secor.

“Of all the Christmas songs the radio stations drench us with as soon as the Thanksgiving feast turns to leftovers, there is only one I never tire of hearing,” admits Secor. “John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s message of peace, unity, love and understanding makes ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’ an anthem all the world over.

“Some fifty years after the kids from The Harlem Community Choir lent their voices to this amazing track, the Old Crows gathered the Purple Martin Choir around a microphone in the basement of Episcopal School of Nashville, the school I started, to join us on this revered song celebrating the holiday which honors the Prince of Peace’s birth,” he continues. “Altogether, with young and old singing as one, Old Crow Medicine Show stands up with the peacemakers around the globe, pushing those in power to put an end to war.”

Featuring just two covers and 11 originals, the band’s first holiday album is decorated with seasonal spirit and string-band stomp. Old Crow Medicine Show aren’t just reinterpreting their favorite yuletide standards, they’re adding new songs to the canon and telling fresh stories. From barn-burners like “December 26” to the Zydeco-flavored “All About A Baby” and a tribute to New England winters called “North By Northeast,” OCMS XMAS also features a few classics, including a cover of “Holly Jolly Christmas” with horns from the Tennessee State University ensemble Brassville, and a rowdy version of the Appalachian standard “Breakin’ Up Xmas,” recorded live in the band’s East Nashville studio.

The new album will be supported by Old Crow Medicine Show’s first-ever “Holiday Hootenanny” tour, and they have also announced support for their annual New Year’s Eve performances at The Ryman Auditorium, with The 502s and AJ Lee & Blue Summit set for Dec. 30, and Shovels & Rope and The Creekers on Dec. 31.

OCMS XMAS Track List:
1. “Breakin’ Up Xmas”
2. “Holly Jolly Christmas” Feat. Brassville
3. “Jolly Man”
4. “North By Northeast”
5. “Corn Whiskey Christmas”
6. “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
7. “All About A Baby”
8. “Jinglin’ Jack Guy”
9. “Store-Bought Christmas”
10. “December 26”
11. “Krampus Night”
12. “Grandpa’s Gone”
13. “Bethlehem, PA”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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