Wrapped Up in Your Arms for Christmas

Personnel: J.P. Pennington (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Les Taylor (vocals, acoustic guitar); Sonny LeMaire (vocals); Marlon Hargis (keyboards); Steve Goetzman (drums).
Audio Mixer: Tony Cottrill.
Recording information: Blackbird Academy Live; Blackbird Studios; Buckhorn Resort, Kerrville, TX; Dosey Doe, The Woodlands, TX; The DAWghouze.
Photographer: Amanda Hodge.
For their 2016 Christmas album -- the first seasonal record in the band's long history -- Exile decides to dabble in several different sounds, something evident from the track listing itself. Scanning through the titles, several classic carols pop up, but so does the Chuck Berry rocker "Run Rudolph Run," Buck Owens' twanging "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy," not to mention two songs -- "Merry Christmas from Cancun" and "Bluegrass Kind of Christmas" -- that make their styles apparent in their title. Elsewhere, Exile indulges in a bit of soft soul on the title track, runs through "Go Where I Send Thee" with downhome gusto, and skips through "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," resulting in a surprisingly varied holiday album. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine