Brett Eldredge Says Recording Debut Christmas Album Was ‘Magic’

"It was magic. I'm as proud of this record than anything I've ever done," Eldredge tells us. 

Written by Kelly Brickey
Brett Eldredge Says Recording Debut Christmas Album Was ‘Magic’
Photo by Katherine Tyler

Ho ho hold your horses because Brett Eldredge took to social media last night to make the big announcement that he will joining in on the holiday festivities with the making of his first-ever Christmas album.

All day on Wednesday, Eldredge had been preparing fans for a huge announcement that he had been excited about for a while. After tending to his dog, Edgar, and his broken foot (get well soon, pup!), Eldredge spread the word about his Christmas album on Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter.

Posting a video of some of the production for the holiday record, Eldredge can be heard singing the classic “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow,” with a jazzy twang to his voice. Specifically for the album, Eldredge snuck away to New York City to record, but got into the Christmas spiSrit despite the fact he was singing the holiday songs in the middle of May.

“I talked to the head of my label this year and I was like, ‘How about this year be the year we do it? I think this is the big year for it,’ so I went and lived in New York for a week. I didn’t tell anybody on social media. No one knew why the heck I was up there in the middle of the summer and recorded this album and lived in the studio pretty much and put Christmas lights in the studio and just lived Christmas. It was the best experience I’ve ever had in the studio. It was magic. I’m as proud of this record than anything I’ve ever done. It’s that special, so I can’t wait to put it out,” Eldredge said during a phone interview with Sounds Like Nashville.

While the video mostly shows Eldredge in the studio with his producers and band members, he mentions the talent they have on the record from legendary bands throughout music history.

“We have guys from [Bruce] Springsteen’s band. We’ve had guys from Sting’s band,” he tells the camera before someone else in the studio butts in to say that the trumpet player was a part of Prince’s band to Eldredge’s shock.

Not only did Eldredge book some of the best musicians for the project, but also took inspiration from some of his musical heroes who also lent their voice to holiday songs back in the day.

“A lot of people might not know that I’m a huge Sinatra fan, just classic nostalgia, just classic Christmas music, the swing jazz kind of smooth you turn on while you’re decorating the tree or turn on while you pour a glass of bourbon and sit in a cool bar, wherever it is. It’s good for all of that, and I’ve loved growing up listening to Bing Crosby and Dean Martin and Burl Ives and Sinatra, all these people, so I made my own classic Christmas record,” Eldredge told SLN.

The album does not have a set tracklist yet, but there will be all Christmas covers with one brand new song on the record. The only real question here is if it could just be December right now because the anticipation for Eldredge’s holiday album is about to be as high as Santa’s sleigh.

“I did one original song, and then the rest were just classics,” he explained to SLN. “I don’t want to give it away what songs are on there, but a lot of them everybody knows and I put my own spin on it, but I tried to make it heartwarming like all those early original ones that made you fall in love with Christmas music.”

Those waiting for the Christmas album to release will just have to be patient and wait for the wintertime to come. In the meantime though, fans can go see Eldredge play on the Ripcord Tour with Keith Urban and Maren Morris throughout the fall. Dates and information are all available on Eldredge’s website.