Yes, I busted my CHRISTmas music out on November 1!

I love Christmas music.  I always have, always will.  I like hearing new versions of old classic, and you've got to admit there are some HILARIOUS parody Christmas songs.

My top 5 favorite bands include Hanson, Thousand Foot Krutch, Jars of Clay, Anberlin and Switchfoot.  And can I say- in my biased opinion - they have produced some AMAZING Christmas music.

I think part of it has to do with rehearsing Christmas music in Choirs beginning right after school starts.  My first day in Symphonic Choir in high school we began rehearsing "Carol of the Bells".

Perhaps it's a spiritual thing.  Yes, 80% of the music that I listen to are from Christian artists (or are children's music, but that's for another blog).  But there is just something about certain Christmas songs that really help me to reconnect with my faith - some songs that I will listen to all year long to help me reconnect with my faith.

However, there are some really fun non-traditional Christmas music that I just adore, and can only get away with listening to durning the Christmas season... ;-)

Here's a few songs that I love, but you probably won't hear on 'Christmas on the River' - for most of them you'll have to check out  YES FM

• "Heat Miser" and "Snow Miser"  - TFK/FM Static did an amazing job on these - my kids love dancing around to them.  (On a side note, when I was 7 months pregnant with Samantha, my oldest, I was working at YES FM when TFK was in town for a concert.  She was rawking out in my belly during the show, her foot got stuck in my rib! The band prayed over us at the end of the night.  Thanks guys, she's become quite the little musician herself).

• "Snowball Fight" - OK, for real, how fun is this song?

• "Dominic the Donkey" - You probably won't hear this on YES FM or that often on any other station, but I think it's hysterical!  

• "Evergreen" - This is one of those songs that I could easily listen to all year 'round.

• "Baby Please Come Home" - There isn't anything special to me about this song, I just love Anberlin's version of it!

• "Carol of the Bells" - this goes back to 15 years ago sitting in choir; I still love this song, especially when it rocks like this version by August Burns Red

• "Mary Did You Know" - a recent favorite.  I particularly enjoy the Spoken version of it. 

• "Little Drummer Boy" - this has always been my Dad's favorite Christmas song.  He prefers the David Bowie/Bing Crosby version, but this version by Jars of Clay runs a close second.

• "Silent Night" "O Holy Night"  "O Come All Ye Faithful" - OK, so this particular medley is almost 15 years old (wow, I'm old).  I'm waiting for it to be re-recorded, there's something about the composition that still gives me goosebumps after all these years.  

I could probably add a more, but I've only scratched the surface of my Christmas iTunes playlist.  Hey, it's only the first week of November...