A Traditional Christmas

1	Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! 2:10
2	Away in a Manger 2:50
3	I'll Be Home for Christmas 2:06
4	Silent Night 3:37
5	White Christmas 3:11
6	Silver Bells 3:23
7	Winter Wonderland 3:03
8	O Holy Night 3:35
9	Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas 4:23
10	The Christmas Song 3:01

Barnes & Noble

A good year for Joe Nichols just got better. His first Yuletide offering, A Traditional Christmas is a genial, heartfelt winner. With the help of producer Brent Rowan, Nichols revivifies these familiar seasonal offerings with tasty arrangements heavy on acoustic instruments (an electric guitar chimes in on occasion, but only briefly), with tin whistle, autoharp, and recorder adding rustic touches to a couple of tracks, and a clarinet lending a Dixieland flavor to the bouncy celebration of "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is irresistible as a pop-styled shuffle energized by a crooning chorus, a speed-picked gut-string guitar solo, humming organ, and dancing piano runs. Jim Hoke's keening tin whistle cries add a poignant air to a reverential treatment of "Silent Night." Taken at a casual lope, "Winter Wonderland" is doubly engaging for Hoke's warm, shimmering harmonica fills and a western swing feel Bob Wills would endorse. The ingredient that brings it all home is, of course, Nichols's vocalizing. Echoes of young Merle Haggard all over him, Nichols lays down one affecting performance after another: He's engagingly playful on "Let It Snow!...," somber and reflective on "O Holy Night," welcoming and avuncular on a lilting "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and soothing on a dreamy, romantic take of "The Christmas Song." Minus even a trace of bombast, outsized emotions, or sugar-sweet sentimentality, A Traditional Christmas evokes the feelings and values that should bind folks together throughout the year, not only during the holidays. It plays like an instant classic. David McGee

All Music Guide

It may be a little early in Nichols' career for a Christmas album, yet this alto-baritone delivers a simple one. But simple's a good thing when it comes to holiday albums. The ten-track collection covers all the favorites, so there's no room for anything new. Nichols' take on such traditional fare as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Silver Bells" and "O Holy Night" is pure country, steady and strong. The Alan Jackson sound-alike makes you wish for Christmas more than once a year. ~ Maria Konicki Dinoia, All Music Guide