For Christmas, Amanda Shires (Thirty Tigers)

Longtime readers will note that this site occasionally struggles with country-oriented artists, since we're the home of a rock 'n roll Christmas and we've often said that somebody out there should do a similar site to Mistletunes aimed solely at country music. Presented with this disc and the Pistol Annies' new collection for 2021, I've determined we should concentrate on Shires and leave the Annies to the Nashville mavens out there. Mainly it's because Shires, in connection with her hubby Jason Isbell, falls more into the not-so-country channel of Nashville. You may quibble with this when you hear her voice, which is steeped in the influences of generations of female country singers (my wife yelled "Dolly Parton" upon hearing this collection), and is further buttressed with several guest appearances by the McCrary Sisters. But give Shires credit for a solid collection of original modern Christmas songs shorn of most other trappings of a typical Nashville production. These songs mostly play like 70s singer-songwriter tunes rather than the modern bro-country clanging of the male artists and the Barbie-doll stylings of the more popular female artists. Among the originals I favor are "A Real Tree This Year," "Blame It On the Mistletoe," "Home to Me," and especially "Gone For Christmas," a snarling breakup song that would play well in any genre of music. She also takes an original tack on "Silent Night," painting a much bleaker picture with modified lyrics over a minor key on what is ordinarily a major key song. The one cover, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," comes over as Nashville after hours. A solid collection of Americana music with a strong lean toward country.