Scotty McCreery's 2012 CD Christmas with Scotty McCreery. Photo courtesy of UMG Nashville.
Christmas with Scotty McCreery is the album that the history-making country phenomenon was born to make. "My
stage debut was as Baby Jesus when I was first born, in the church
musical," reports the million-selling sensation. "Then, in the fifth
grade, I was Joseph and sang ‘O Holy Night.’ That was my first solo. I
did the Children’s Choir, went to Youth Choir and participated in all
that for the church. We sang ‘Mary Did You Know’ for Christmas Eve
services."
He had no idea then that those first performances
were paving the way for a meteoric rise in country music. He recently
made his first entry into the Guinness World Records Book for being the
youngest male to enter the U.S. album charts at No. 1. In 2011, his
debut album, Clear As Day, premiered atop the all-genre Billboard 200
albums chart and was certified platinum for sales of 1 million copies in
just three months.
The album garnered the highest sales of any
country solo album released last year and held the No. 1 spot on the
Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks.
His first two singles were certified gold and he was named New Artist of the Year at
the Academy of Country Music Awards and the American Country Awards.
In
September, he was ranked No. 4 on Billboard’s list of "21 Under 21:
Music’s Hottest Minors 2012," which was his second consecutive year to
be ranked No. 4 on that prestigious list. Recently, he was among only
five musical artists to be included in Variety’s Youth Impact Report
2012 that detailed those under age 21 who are driving forces in the
entertainment industry.
Making a Christmas album had been a
dream of Scotty’s since he started thinking seriously about a career in
music, so he knew right away what he wanted his second album to be. It’s
no surprise that much of the repertoire for Scotty’s first holiday
collection is drawn from the music of his youth. "Winter Wonderland" and
"Let It Snow," for instance, are both drawn from vivid memories.
"The
earliest Christmas I can remember – I was maybe three or four -- it was
snowing outside. Just a little bit, just a little dusting. I came
downstairs dressed like I wanted to go outside. Forget about the
presents, I want to go see the snow. We don’t see much in North
Carolina.
"Our one real white Christmas, it snowed a couple of
days before Christmas, and we got a lot of it. So we were still having
to shovel snow. I was about 15 or 16, old enough to do all that
shoveling, but young enough to still get out there, sled around, make a
snowman or have a snowball fight."
At
age 10, he received his first guitar, a Christmas present from his
grandfather. "It is probably my favorite Christmas present. I started
strumming right away. I might not have sounded good, but I was
strumming. That guitar carried me a long way, for sure." Actually, he
became so obsessed with the instrument that he slept with it that
winter. "Choosing songs for this record wasn’t that difficult.
Songs like ‘O Holy Night’ and ‘First Noel’ and ‘Mary Did You Know,’ I’ve
sung those songs for years, so those songs have a history with me."
He
also has a history of loving the music of Elvis Presley. As a boy, he
was inspired by a book his grandmother gave him that offered suggestions
on how to be like Elvis. He listened to Elvis cassettes and even
dressed up like Elvis for Halloween.
"My favorite Christmas
album, it might be obvious, was the Elvis Christmas album. There’s
nothing like it. He puts a spin on things, and it works, because he’s
the King. So it was cool that we have an Elvis Christmas song on the
record, ‘Santa Claus Is Back in Town.’
I tried to channel the King. I
might have had a little lip curl when I was recording it. I’m proud of
that one." He knew he wanted to include some holiday standards, such as "Jingle Bells," "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "First Noel," as well.
"I
also heard a couple of new songs. ‘Christmas in Heaven’ and ‘Christmas
Is Coming Around Again’ really touched me. As soon as I heard them, I
knew they were going to be on the album. I knew I was supposed to record
them, and people were supposed to hear them. In the end, it was very
clear which ones were supposed to be on the record.
"Recording
this album was definitely a lot more comfortable and a lot more relaxed
than Clear As Day was. Clear as Day was definitely a little more hectic.
We started as soon as Idol got done, right out of the gate recording in
Portland, Oregon, Nashville and Los Angeles. We were everywhere.
"But
for this one, we were all in Nashville, and everybody was relaxed.
We
had Christmas lights in there and Christmas cupcakes, even though it was
in the middle of July and August. It was a cool experience this time
around, for sure."
You’d never know it from his unfailingly
polite, unflappable demeanor, but the rise of young Scotty has been
blindingly rapid. Following a youth spent singing in church in the
Raleigh satellite community of Garner, N.C., he led a praise-and-worship
group called Audience of One. More significantly, he sang with an
advanced high-school chorale group called Die Meistersingers. It
required him to sight-read music, perform classical pieces and compete
with similar groups on a national level.
"Both
of these groups helped me to really learn to be a professional about
music," says Scotty. "I think the classical training that I got has
helped me in the country world, as far as my voice technique, all
around." His other passion was baseball, and Scotty pitched for his
high-school team while he pursued music. He also worked briefly in an
auto-mechanic shop and for a longer stint as a grocery cashier
throughout his junior year in high school. Then came the American Idol
audition in Milwaukee 2010, where he impressed the judges by singing
"Your Man."
In May 2011, he won the show at age 17, becoming the
show’s first country male winner and its youngest male winner in any
genre. "I Love You This Big" was instantly issued as his debut single.
On June 10, he staged his debut at the Grand Ole Opry. From July 6 to
the end of September, McCreerey toured in the "American Idols Live!"
show. In between tour stops he worked on his album Clear as Day with
producer Mark Bright.
The album came out in October as he turned
18, and "I Love You This Big" became a gold record. By the end of the
year, Clear as Day was certified gold, as was its second single, "The
Trouble with Girls." In December, Scotty was named Billboard magazine’s
No.1 new country artist of the year and won New Artist of the Year at
the fan-voted American Country Awards.
Just three months after
its release, Clear as Day was certified platinum in January 2012, and
Scotty began touring with country stars Brad Paisley and The Band Perry.
He took school work for his senior year in high school with him, helped
by his mother, a former teacher. That spring, he introduced his third
single. "Water Tower Town," won the Academy of Country Music’s New
Artist of the Year trophy and earned a Breakthrough Video honor at the
CMT Awards.
Immediately after his performance on the CMT
telecast, he flew home to North Carolina to graduate the next morning
with distinguished honors from Garner Magnet High School. During the
summer, he worked on Christmas with Scotty McCreery, enrolled in the
North Carolina State and moved into his first apartment, within walking
distance of the school’s Raleigh campus.
"There have been so
many wonderful things and great things that have happened to me since I
got off Idol," says Scotty. "It happened so quick, I didn’t get the
chance to forget who I was. I’m still deeply connected to my community. I
had a great church, a great upbringing, a great family. They wanted
what was best for me, but helped me remember where I come from. "Getting
to tour with Brad Paisley, a guy I’ve looked up to for so long, was an
honor. But it all really goes back to the fans. Seeing them sing the
songs back to me that weren’t even singles, it was really cool to see
that. They’ve had my back since Day One."
Again produced by Mark
Bright, Christmas with Scotty McCreery showcases more of the subtleties
and nuances of the young star’s singing voice. Whether enjoying the
traditional warmth of "The Christmas Song" or conveying the deeply
devotional "O Holy Night," the album promises to remain a household
favorite for years to come. "Christmas time is definitely a time
of year when we can all get together and rally ‘round," he says. "It
gives us all hope. It means so much. It really is a special time of year
for me. I try and live, year-round, by my faith, and this is one of
those years we can really celebrate that."
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