Recently in Christmas music Category

I figure most of you are out shopping today, but I thought I'd share a Christmas song that my friend Mark Weber wrote called "Who Wants To Cry At Christmas." I know most of just just had a few lovely days with family, but there are a lot of people out there who are lonely or without loved ones, and I thought this might be a nice message for you. As Mark sings, "There's still a hope at Christmas, that God will find a way, to meet me in my sadness, and help it go away."

Mark and Johnny Juarez, an internationally touring Latin-Christian-pop-rock recording artist, teamed up for a series of Christmas in Spanglish concerts this Christmas. "We sang in both Spanish and English (Spanglish), in a wide variety of venues, including a Presbyterian church in an artsy city neighborhood, a famous chain secular bookstore in the suburbs, a youth-oriented coffeehouse, a soup kitchen, an inner-city Christian Center geared toward kids, and a Pentecostal church in downtown Toronto on the snowiest of snowy nights," Mark told me.

You can see some clips of those shows on Mark Weber's YouTube.com page.

I told you back in October about Scott Krippayne and Jeff Peabody , the songwriters who wrote the "American Idol" song "This Is My Now." Last year, they wrote the song "Crying For A Christmas" for their church's youth group to use in a video project. The song was popular on Seattle's Spirit 105.3, so this year they've been promoting it to other stations through some grassroots efforts. Back in November, the song was picked up for adds on holiday playlists on hundreds of radio stations around the world.

Jeff wrote to me this week and told me, "Just wanted to let you know our little song defied the odds and made the [R&R] charts, coming in at #27 in the Christian AC category (with most new spins last week)."

The song also debuted at #27 this week on Billboard's Hot Christian Adult Contemporary charts.

I wrote back in 2007 that Krippayne is no stranger to Christian music. He's recorded seven albums which have spawned numerous #1 hits, and his songs have been recorded by artists like Point of Grace, Avalon, Sandi Patty, Jaci Velasquez, and John Tesh. Peabody is an advertising exec-turned pastor. But this is still a pretty nice accomplishment for a little song that's not on an album and not released by a label. It's just a simple, lovely song written for Krippayne's and Peabody's church, with a message that's obviously resonating with listeners.

You can get the song at digital outlets like Amazon.com and iTunes. For more about Scott Krippayne, visit his website.

BarlowGirl's Home For Christmas recently received high praises from USA Today and the New York Times, who called the album "stunning" and "delightful."

The song "Carol of the Bells" has claimed over 24,840 downloads since the project released in September, with 7,340 downloads this week alone. The song also reached #18 on the Holiday Songs Chart at iTunes and is currently #4 on the Christian/Gospel Digital Tracks charts.

They might be getting rave reviews from the press, but this cartoon at ChristianityToday.com is ... um ... er ... ridiculous? Apparently it's part of Ignite Your Faith's Heroes of Rock cartoon series. Um ... I'd stick to the girls' Christmas album.

Last month, I started working on a gallery for Beliefnet on the best versions of some traditional Christmas carols. Like I told you earier this week, there are thousands of versions of these songs, and it's hard to just to pick just one "best."

So I narrowed the pack down to only songs with spiritual themes and then only versions from Christian artists. Even then, it was tough to pick just one best version of each song, and to pick only 12 songs. But I was reminded that Christmas is probably the only time where we get to sing about Jesus out loud and in public on mainstream radio. There are a lot of Christmas carols that everyone, even if they're not Christian, sing at this time of year.

So I did the best I could, and picked 12 songs that I thought were unique or that really helped define the message. Head over the Beliefnet gallery of 12 Songs of Christmas, and then let me know what you think!

What do you think? Did I pick the best versions of these songs?

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What's your favorite Christmas song?

In a recent letter to Amazon.com customers, company CEO Jeff Bezos talked about the "wrap rage" many people feel when trying to get products out of "nearly impenetrable packages."

Christian music artist Sara Groves feels his pain and shares her own thoughts on wrap rage in her new Christmas single, aptly titled "Toy Packaging," from her new holiday album, O Holy Night.

Says Groves, "Last year at Christmas I had to use a screwdriver, wire-cutters, and scissors to open a toy and nearly cut off my finger in the effort. I was relieved to see on Amazon.com that I am not the only one who suffers from 'wrap rage' - where better to vent my feelings about toy packaging than on a Christmas album!"

Follow this link to get a free download of Sara Groves' song "Toy Packaging."

Here are the lyrics to the song, if you want to sing along. It's a catchy little ditty :