The 2023 Country Music Christmas Playlist

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There are many Christmas music playlists out there. But only one focuses solely on country music, on brand new recordings all from this year including new original songs vying to become classics, and is painstakingly curated by culling through all the Christmas music released in a given year. It’s the Saving Country Music Christmas playlist, and it’s finally here.

The playlist available on Spotify, YouTube, as well as Amazon Music, and you can find the respective players below. And for anyone who just wants to see the new songs selected, there is a list of them all below that, as well as a list of recommended albums below that as well.

There’s just something about the steel guitar and banjo that pairs perfectly with the music of this time of year, along with the sense of home and hearth that country conveys better than other genres. Each year Saving Country Music is blown away by the amount of great new Christmas recordings.

In 2023 though, there seemed a curious amount of rather pedestrian offerings, people covering the same songs (there were a dozen “Blue Christmas” renditions), making the search for the best stuff that much more difficult. There were also a strange amount of depressing recordings, like Sam Williams “I Hate Holidays.” Actually not a bad song, but not exactly what we’re going for with a Christmas playlist.

This playlist is also a great opportunity to discover and talk about artists we otherwise might not. The MVPs of the 2023 Christmas playlist are Scott Southworth who offered up two original songs as a songwriter (“Wooden Sherriff’s Gun and “Buckaroo Christmas Eve with Daryl Dasher), Amanda Stewart who also offered a couple top notch tracks, Jay Bragg who released a Christmas album including multiple new original songs, and Jon Pardi who probably released the country Christmas album of the year.

Merry Christmas!


* = original song

  • *Matt Castillo – “Christmas Without Her”
  • Jon Pardi – “Swing Down To Texas”
  • Austin Moody – “Tennessee Christmas”
  • Randall King – “Silent Night”
  • * Few Miles South – “Winter Warm”
  • *Zach Top – “For You For Christmas”
  • Brett Kissel – “I Want A Massey Ferguson For Christmas”
  • Andy Thorn – “Joy To The World”
  • *Beth // James – “Marfa Christmas Lights”
  • Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers – “Christmas At The Old Home Place”
  • Darin and Brooke Aldridge – “Little Saint Nick”
  • William Beckmann – “Blue Christmas”
  • Scotty McCreery – “Feel Like The Holidays”
  • Dunlap & Mabe (& Friends) – “We Three Kings”
  • *Scott Southworth – “Wooden Sheriff’s Gun”
  • Melissa Carper and Hayes Carll – “Christmas in Prison”
  • Wynonna – “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem”
  • *Daryl Wayne Dasher – “Buckaroo Christmas Eve”
  • The Kelley Family – “Angels We Have Heard On High”
  • *Jay Bragg – “Santa’s Pub”
  • *Amanda Stewart – “Since It’s Christmas”
  • The Po’ Ramblin’ Boys – “I’m Going Home, It’s Christmas Time”
  • Karen Jonas – “Blue Christmas”
  • *The Northern Belle – “Silver Bows & Bells”
  • Uncle Kracker – “Frosty The Snowman”
  • *Hellroys – “Santa Claus Is a Commie”
  • Koe Wetzel – “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
  • Eric Paslay – “Run Rudolph Run”
  • Jason Byrd feat. Billy Dean – “There’s a New Kid In Town”
  • Shelby Lee Lowe – “Christmas Eve Tennessee 1999”
  • Brei Carter – “Old Fashion Christmas”
  • Darin and Brooke Aldridge – “Christmas Time Back Home”
  • *Joshua Ray Walker – “Christmas in Dallas”
  • *Brandy Clark – “My Favorite Christmas”
  • *Bryan Ruby – “Christmas With You”
  • Van Plating (feat. Jack Barksdale) – “In The Bleak Midwinter”
  • *Jack Lorry – “Mama, Santa & Cowboys”
  • Jon Pardi – “Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy”
  • *Logan Mize – “First Christmas”
  • Amanda Kate Ferris – “Timeless Joy / O Holy Night”
  • David Adam Byrnes – “There’s A New Kid In Town”
  • *Bryan Ruby – “It’s a Wonderful Life”
  • T. Graham Brown – “Santa’s Got His Baby Something Good”
  • Whey Jennings – “Hallelujah”
  • Jesse Lynn Madera – “Frosty The Snowman”
  • Amanda Stewart – “Long December”
  • Chris Janson – “Holiday Road”
  • Andy Thorn – “Auld Lang Syne”

2023 Christmas/Holiday Country Albums:

  • Jon Pardi – Merry Christmas From Jon Pardi
  • Jay Bragg – Light It Up
  • Darin and Brooke Aldridge – Hometown Holiday (bluegrass)
  • Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers – Because It’s Christmas Time (bluegrass)
  • Andy Thorn – High Country Holiday (Instrumental)
  • Fred Eaglesmith, Tif Ginn – A Christmas Card
  • The Kelley Family – Kelley Family Christmas
  • Michelle Malone and the Hot Toddies – Toddie Time (rockabilly)
  • Hillbilly Casino – Hang Your Stockings and Say Your Prayers (rockabilly)
  • Randall King – Silent Night EP (all his prev. Christmas songs in an EP)
  • Beth // James – Christmas at the Burchills EP
  • Brei Carter – Twinkling Tales of Christmas EP
  • Koe Wetzel – Koe Wetzel Presents … Wetzel’s Wonderland EP
© 2023 Saving Country Music

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