Jason Aldean has released an effortless vocal cover of Alabama’s “Christmas In Dixie,” and it’s just in time to get us into the holiday spirit.
In a social media post about the song, Jason calls the band Alabama his “musical heroes,” and says that it’s only fitting for his first Christmas song to be “a nod” to them.
And it truly is a nod, because Jason keeps all the traditional Alabama elements in the song, doing a classic vocal cover.
Alabama released this Christmas classic in December of 1982, so this Christmas will be it’s official 40-year anniversary. The song captures the essence of Christmas in different parts of America, while also eluding to the peacefulness and serenity of Christmas time in Dixie. And although Alabama probably didn’t know it at the time, this song has become a staple on every holiday playlist.
It comes without saying that Jason is the last guy we expected a Christmas song from, but I’m here for it. His choice to keep the song Alabama-esque makes the track an easy listen, and a nice backdrop tune while you dig those decorations out of storage.
Jason and his band recently wrapped up his Rock-N-Roll Cowboy Tour, and he announced he’d be taking a few months to work on a new album.
When asked in a recent podcast interview with Tracy Lawrence about his album-making-process, Jason shared:
“[the songwriting process] it drives me nuts… I’m hard on songs man, I take ‘em and I have a folder on my phone, and as I find stuff, I’ll stick it over there. And I just listen to stuff non-stop, man.”
“And if I ever start getting tired of ‘em, I’ll take it and move it out of the folder and kind of put it in another folder and the ones that are still in the folder when it comes time to cut the record, those are the ones that typically make the album.”
“But I’m actually trying to write a bit more for this next one… hopefully I’ll get back in the writing game a little bit.”
“Christmas In Dixie” is the first result of Jason’s time in the studio, so it’s worth wondering if Jason is finding some songwriting and album inspiration in his old favorites.
Lucky for listeners, he decided to record and share this one with us. Check it out: