Johnny Reid’s Xmas gift
Crooner’s second holiday album takes more traditional approach
Christmas albums are becoming a known quantity for Johnny Reid.
In 2009, the Scottishborn Canadian countrypop crooner released his first festive offering, Christmas, which included favourites like I’ll Be Home For Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock and Blue Christmas — all delivered with a hefty dose of country and rock swing.
For this year’s A Christmas Gift To You, which takes Reid on a cross-country tour, Reid has cranked it up a notch with the help of uber-producer Bob Ezrin. His latest Christmas helping oozes with strings and choir voices and bombast, while focusing mainly on religious traditionals and tried and true Christian classics.
If his first attempt at a Christmas album felt closer to his roots musically, his second is closer to his deep spiritual side, the multiple Juno-winning singer said in a recent interview.
“The first Christmas album speaks closer to my childhood: Santa Claus and reindeers and Chuck Berry,” Reid said with his trademark Scottish burr.
“The last record was a real kitchen party, real rock ’n’ roll — a festive holiday album, if you will. But I’ve always wanted to make a true Christmas record — basically the opposite of the previous record. I wanted it to sound grand and epic.”
Ezrin, whose claims to fame include producing massive hits for Pink Floyd, Kiss and Alice Cooper, brings a grandiose sense of production to A Christmas Gift To You, an album that is sonically miles away from Reid’s first Christmas effort and oozes with a more solemn — yet pop-driven — sense of style.
There are no Frostys or Rudolphs to be found on A Christmas Gift To You. Rather, Reid uses his well-worn voice to emote the familiar notes of O Holy Night, Mary Did You Know, Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night.
“I was talking to a label person in Toronto and they were saying, ‘So you’re making a holiday album.’ And I said, ‘No I’m making a Christmas record.’ It was really important to me to make a real Christmas record.
“They sort of equally remind me of my childhood. One reminds me of the innocence and magic of the season. This new album takes me to a different place in my childhood: A place walking down over to the parish and singing O Come All Ye Faithful. I wanted to make a reverent record.”
Reid remembers his Christmases growing up in Scotland well.
You can hear the quiet emotion in his voice as he describes the smell of the coal furnace and the sight of his mum preparing tea and breakfast, the rustle of the wrapping paper as he and his brother tear through the presents under the tree — presents that their father, a mechanic by trade, had slaved to earn enough money for.
It’s a feeling he has carried over into his adulthood, one he now shares with his four children, who split their time with Reid between Nashville and Toronto.
“Because of what I do for a living, I really respect the time we have,” Reid said. “It’s the same, I’m sure, for a lot of other people. One of my favourite things to do come Christmas morning is to get a cup of tea or a cup of cocoa and sit on the couch and watch them open up their presents.
“I find myself, seeing myself and my children, thinking, ‘This is probably what my dad felt like.’ Christmas is interesting like that. It’s a real reflective thing. I see a lot of myself in my children: The excitement and the innocence, the big bags stuffed full of wrapping paper, the dog picking up all the extra food, and the chocolate melted into the couch — all the good stuff, you know?”
Reid ad m itted that recording the album’s string sections at Nashville’s historic RCA Studio B in the middle of July — while wearing shorts and sandals — made for a kind of surreal atmosphere.
“Sharon House, the lady that runs the studio, had all the interns come in the night before and dress up the studio. When we walked into the studio, it looked amazing. It really put you in that mood. It was fun how that happened.”
As far as stage design goes for this tour, Reid admitted he didn’t want to overdress the stage. Instead, the singer has opted for a “simple and elegant” design.
“I’m bringing 12 musicians on stage, and because I’m bring 12 musicians I wanted to keep it simple. So a lot of the atmospheric changes will take place using projections. In the past, I’ve had the band on multiple levels. The band is going to be on one riser — just nice, clean elegant lines so people can sit back and enjoy.”
If the album closes with a slightly less spiritual (but no less spirited) White Christmas, it may be especially appropriate for Reid and his family this year. They will spend the holidays in Nashville after the Canadian tour that will take them from coast to coast until midDecember.
“The original idea was to fly to Toronto and spend Christmas in Toronto, but it just so happens that we had some engagements in Tennessee on Dec. 22. So it was just easier for my mom and dad to fly out there.
“I doubt there’s going to be snow. I think we’ll have to spray-paint the windows.”