Country Alt-Christmas Playlist
After the success of Gothic Fall, here comes Country Christmas. No, it's never too early.
One of the absolute worst things about Christmas is that all the shops and offices, stations, hospitals, and schools all play the same tunes from the 1970s and 80s. Slade, Wizzard, Jona Lewie.
Most of them only wrote one song and that song was a novelty Christmas single. One of the most memorable Christmas No. 1 singles of that time was, of course, Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall (We Don’t Need No Education), a macabre little number that did at least feature school children.
Perhaps my favourite of all time is Kirsty MacColl’s drunken rant at her trampish pal, the perfectly cast Shane MacGowan. A rare highlight in more recent years was another novelty record, by a novelty band, The Darkness.
The way my 2025 turned out has given me an opportunity to rewrite the Christmas playlist at Tennessee Vibes HQ. I will add a few more as the season nears its end, but there is plenty to get you started. Lots from Dolly, of course, but also more recent delights from Lola Kirke, Margo Price, Lera Lynn, Colbie Caillat, Kacey Musgraves, and some Americana classics too, not least the Cyrena Wages version of Blue Christmas.
Kirke & Kimes in London
I thought I had seen and written it all before. I’d read the book, played Trailblazer to destruction, including the deluxe edition. My wife had made me watch a bit of Girls. I had re-listened to All Right Now. I was at Sinners in an actual cinema and watched it twice. I had become determined to out-research myself. I have seen 100% of the
Cyrena Wages @ Christmas
Last Christmas, after a busy year promoting her debut solo album, Vanity Project, Cyrena Wages released two very different Christmas tunes. We dig into them again, as those nights get longer, the days get colder, and the only thing to live for is some turkey and baubles.