RodNey CRoWell

Christmas everywhere NeW WesT 7/10

a Christmas album for grinches

Christmas albums are more often than not the cue for a gripping of pitchforks – but the great redeeming joy of this record is that few people understand this better than alt.country godfather Rodney Crowell. Christmas Everywhere brings Crowell’s characteristic bleary wit to bear upon both Christmas and the clichés of its songs. In company with a stellar array of guests – Lera Lynn, Vince Gill, Brennen Leigh – Crowell conjures a collection both wryly whimsical and devastatingly sincere: “When The Fat Guy Tries The Chimney On For Size” earns its title, and “Christmas In New York” sounds like something Tom Waits never quite got around to writing.