The Bottom Line
This Christmas album is one of the better country ones I've heard for awhile. It has all traditional holiday music and you can't ever beat family harmonies. In this case, the family happens to be 10-time Grammy winner Ricky Skaggs and his family. He also counts as part of his family blue grass greats The Whites. Ricky is married to Sharon White-Skaggs and the two families perform together often. I highly recommend this album for all the traditional holiday music lovers out there.
Pros
- The Christmas Guest"
- "Mary, Did You Know"
- "Little Drummer Boy"
Cons
- Absolutely none.
Description
- Released by Skaggs Family Records.
- Produced by Ricky Skaggs.
- There are 13 tracks on the album.
Guide Review - The Skaggs Family - Skaggs Family Christmas
This Christmas album will definitely get you in the holiday spirit as soon as you pop it in your CD player. It is no surprise that the blue grass greats who put this album together picked traditional favorites to share with their fans. It is also a special album in that the concept for it was not born in a studio, but in the living room of the Skaggs family while they were celebrating Christmas and having a family sing-a-long. Ricky thought they sounded so good that he wanted to share the harmony and love with their fans. The first step to the album was a few concerts over the holidays last year and there will also be a special airing on CMT between Thanksgiving and Christmas featuring performances by the family.
Performing on the album are Ricky Skaggs and his band Kentucky Thunder, The Whites (Buck White, Cheryl White and Sharon White-Skaggs), Molly and Luke Skaggs (Ricky and Sharon's kids) and Rachel White. Molly's pure voice takes the lead on "Little Drummer Boy" and "Christmas Time is Here." Rachel incorporates a bit of a celtic flair to her rendition of "What Child is This" and it brings home the close ties between the blue grass and celtic musical genres. Buck White does a beautiful version of "The Christmas Guest" and Ricky and Kentucky Thunder do an instrumental version of "Deck The Halls." Cheryl White sings "Mary Did You Know" and Sharon sings "White Christmas." This is an excellent Christmas album for any collection.
