Brett Eldredge on Holiday Album 'Glow' & The Song He Was Nervous To Record
By Nicole Mastrogiannis
December 2, 2016
Like the popular holiday movie Elf tells us "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." And nobody knows this better than Brett Eldredge. The country singer has had an exciting year, releasing his single "Wanna Be That Song" from his 2015 sophomore album Illinois, heading out on the road with Keith Urban on his "Ripcord World Tour," and not to mention his favorite baseball team -- the Chicago Cubs -- won the World Series. With so much to celebrate, Brett is also ringing in the holiday season with his new Christmas album Glow, which was released on October 28th via Atlantic Nashville. This album marks Brett's 3rd full-length studio album and first Holiday album he's released.
Glow features 11 covers of many Christmas classics like "White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Baby It's Cold Outside" (which features Meghan Trainor), and many more. The album also features an original song written by Brett called "Glow." Glow, the album, has reached No. 2 on the US Top Holiday Albums and Top Country Albums charts, and No. 29 on the US Billboard 200.
We recently caught up with Brett, and he told us all about his new Christmas album, Glow, during an exclusive interview. As you read on, you'll learn about what Christmas and Christmas music means to him, how he came to record "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Meghan Trainor," what some of his own holiday traditions are, and more.
Why Brett Made a New Christmas Album
Brett has released two full-length studio albums (2013's Bring You Back & 2015's Illinois), but Glow is the first holiday album that Brett has ever recorded, and he explains to us that releasing a Christmas album is something that he's always wanted to do.
"I've been waiting to put out a Christmas album since I was a kid, literally. I love Christmas music all-year around and when I got signed a record deal, the head of my record label, John Esposito, said, 'One day, we're going to record a Christmas album.' Then, this year, he says, 'This is the year. Let's not wait another 2 or 3 years. Let's do it now,' and I got to fulfill a dream, record this whole album in New York City, and it's one of the most magical projects I've ever been a part of."
Brett recorded Glow in New York City, and even though it was springtime, he made it feel like Christmas every day in the studio. He explains he put up decorations like Christmas lights, put his suit on, and would put himself right into holiday mode. "I would get up in the morning, I would go to the gym, and I would put on my suit. I would pour a glass of whiskey as soon as I walked in the studio, I would sip on it, and I would live this big band classic Christmas sound. We decorated lights up in the studio. It was just a magical vibe, even in the middle of May when we were recording it. It felt like December 25th and that was an amazing experience."
On selecting songs for the Glow & his favorite track
Glow includes many of the amazing classic Christmas songs that have been around for years and years. With many of these songs coming from iconic musicians, it's understandable such a fan of Christmas, like Brett, would be a little nervous to cover these tunes.
"I was really nervous to record 'White Christmas' because I love that song so much in the original [version]. And this is the same for a lot of these classic songs. They're so classic, you're like, 'How am I going to make that any better?' Well, the way you make it really good is at least to just keep a lot of the things you loved about it, and put your own voice and your own little twist on it, but still keep the magic of the original. 'White Christmas,' I was like, I'm not going to beat Bing Crosby, but I can at least honor him with this, and do a great version of it, and I think it turned out great."
With so many amazing Christmas songs to choose from, Brett tells us that one of his favorites is "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." He explains, "'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' I would probably pick as one of my favorites, if not my favorite, because it is everything I want to say in a Christmas song. I want everyone to find the magic in Christmas music that I found in Christmas, in general. Every time I sing it, I want people to believe that, and feel that, and hope that I can spread that wonderful time of year."
On the meaning behind his original song "Glow"
"I think Christmas music, especially classic Christmas music, is so sacred to me. It's like, if I'm going to record a classic Christmas album, if I'm going to write one for it, it's got to feel like it was recorded 60/70 years ago. It's got to have that classic vibe that feels like it could've been recorded back then; something that Dean, or Frank, or Bing or somebody could've sang. I wrote this song 'Glow,' and it just felt perfect in that vibe, in that world, and it fit this album so well that we named the album Glow. It was the one song I wrote, and I'm proud of this song, and if I don't ever write another Christmas song, I'll be always proud of 'Glow.'"
One of the most famous songs of the holiday season, and winter time in general as the weather gets colder, is "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The original song was written in 1944, but has since been covered by many notable musicians over the years, and now, Brett has recorded his version with Meghan Trainor. The country singer says he met Meghan at a People magazine party, and they bonded over being the only two musicians there.
On how his collaboration with Meghan Trainor came about
"Meghan Trainor and I have been pals for quite a while now. We were two people that were in the People magazine's 'One's to Watch' issue and so, we went to the party and all these people from 'Game of Thrones,' actors, and all these movie stars and TV people were all there, and it was like, Meghan and I. We were the singers that were out of Nashville. We bonded there, and we were like, okay, we don't know any of these people, I mean, we're not friends with any of these people. Let's be friends. Then, when I came to record this song, I was like, 'There's one person I want to sing on this. Who is a lot of fun? Who has a sexy, soulful voice, and who is an amazing person that is going to make this vibe perfect?' It's Meghan Trainor."
On Brett's holiday traditions
A Christmas superfan like Brett has many holiday traditions. Some of them include going to church with his family on Christmas eve, eating his family's delicious meals, cocktails with his uncle, and more.
"I have a lot of holiday traditions. My family is very much into the whole tradition of going to church on Christmas Eve as a family, sitting in the same church pews every year, lighting the candles. I would always light the candles to 'Silent Night,' and I would try to see how close I could get my face to the flame with that. My mom would always start yelling at me, and I'd start playing with the fire in church, but I never got burnt. I'm still here. We would do that, then we would go open presents at my grandmother's house, now my aunt's house. My aunts and my mother are the most amazing cooks, so the food is amazing, the desserts are amazing. The Brandy Alexander that my uncle makes with ice cream and some kind of booze brandy, we do that. We eat, drink, and be merry, and we celebrate finishing the year together as a family."
On Christmas gifts & his favorite gift he's received from a fan
The best Christmas gift for Brett this year was his Chicago Cubs winning the World Series, and says he doesn't need anything more than that. "I think the Cubs winning the World Series this year was an amazing Christmas gift for myself and -- I think I got to sing in front of 5 million people at a parade -- so at least another 5 million people, and millions and millions across the world watching on their TVs at home, and just their families and everybody. My grandparents were huge Cubs fans. So, I think that was a great Christmas gift. I don't think I need anything else."
In fact, one of his favorite gifts he's ever received from a fan involves the Cubs. A fan gave the country singer a mini Cubs baseball jersey for his dog Edgar -- it even has his name on the back of it! "I got a gift from a fan recently that was actually a jersey for my dog, Edgar. It was a Cubs jersey, and it has his name on the back of it. I have my own jersey with my name on the back of it, so I thought that was a really thoughtful gift. It took a lot of work to make that gift and it was a very authentic looking jersey, and so I'll always remember that gift for sure. I get a lot of amazing gifts."