Ocms Xmas [CD]

"We're in the joy business," says frontman Ketch Secor, who launched the Grammy-winning band in 1998. "From the very start, a lot of the virtues of Christmas - the revelry, the singalongs, the happiness - have been present in our show." Nowhere is that more apparent than OCMS XMAS, the group's first holiday album. Decorated with seasonal spirit and string-band stomp, it's the rare breed of Christmas record that packs a punch all year long, shining new light on the band's chart-topping version of American roots music. Old Crow Medicine Show aren't just reinterpreting their favorite yuletide standards; they're adding new songs to the canon, too, from "Jolly Man" - a country-blues number inspired by Mississippi John Hurt and laced with harmonica, sleigh bells, and resonator guitar - to the Zydeco-flavored "All About A Baby."A real legacy, indeed. Old Crow have thrived for more than a quarter century. Like many of their heroes, they've become torchbearers of classic folk music, reshaping those sounds for the modern world. They're creators, not replicators, and OCMS XMAS finds them tackling another tradition - the time-honored Christmas album - with humor, hillbilly twang, and novel ideas. Supported by the band's first-ever "Holiday Hootenanny" tour, OCMS XMAS just might be the start of a new tradition itself: a celebration of the seasonal sounds, shared joy, and holiday rituals that bring us all together. Christmas just got a new soundtrack.