New 'Christmas Country' Music Updates from Lady Antebellum, Joey + Rory & Vince Vance

Posted by Lisa L. Rollins Dec 17, 2008

For those country fans who love it when artists record Christmas-themed country music, recent first-time Country Music Association winners Lady Antebellum--whose lineup includes Dave Haywood, Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley--has just recorded a new holiday song, Baby, It's Cold Outside, that's now available for purchase and download exclusively at iTunes.

Lady Antebellum guitarist-songwriter Dave Haywood, in a Dec. 16, 2008, e-mail message, said, "We have always loved this song and thought it would fun to surprise Lady A fans with a holiday tune to close out the year. It's the time of year to be thankful and grateful, and we certainly feel we were blessed this year by the country music community and by our fans. We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!"

The 2009 Grammy nominees also wish "all of their fans a happy and safe holiday and looks forwarding to see you in the new year! "

Traditional-country duo Joey + Rory, who gained widespread attention as the runners-up on CMT's Can You Duet talent show, also released a holiday track, the "Sleighbell Mix" of their first single, Cheater, Cheater. The great thing is, the Christmas-themed download is free--yes, free--and can be sampled on the pair's MySpace page at www.myspace.com/joeyandrory. ... Be sure and listen to the tune through to completion to get all the little Santa-like surprises that husband-and-wife team tucked in the song for fans.(P.S. The couple's debut CD, Life of a Song, would make a jolly great gift for the country fans on one's Christmas list.)

In related Christmas-meets-country music news, Vince Vance, founder and leader of VInce Vance and the Valiants and a co-writer of the modern-day holiday classic titled All I Want for Christmas Is You, checked in to share news that the yuletide hit is officially gold, according to a Dec. 15, 2008, report in Country Aircheck.

On page 2 of the industry trade, Vince Vance and the Valiants' yuletide hit ranks as No. 1 in the "Christmas Country Gold" list, followed by Brenda Lee at No. 2 with Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and No. 3 is George Strait's Christmas Cookies. The list of 20 songs also includes holiday tracks by Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Alabama, Garth Brook, Clint Black and three songs by Alan Jackson, as well as Gene Autry's Rudolof the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and at No. 20, Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton.

Country broadcaster Lon Helton, in his "Fun Fact" of the report, also writes about who was the first at country radio to ever play the Vince Vance song.

Pened Helton: "We ran into Stroudavarious Records CEO, noted producer and musician James Stroud at a Music City eatery last week. He told us that he produced and played drums on the Vince Vance & the Valiants cut, All I Want for Christmas Is You. And, during an e-mail battle between Regent VP/Programming Bob Moody and KMDL/Lafayette, LA PD/middayer Scott Bryant over who was the first to play the song, (one-time VVV) lead singer Lisa Layne told them her late husband was a jock in Tyler, Texas, in 1989, and he was the first-ever to play the song."