Farmhouse Christmas

Joey + Rory | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sugar Hill Records
• ASIN: B005JLN8WC
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,694 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Award-winning duo Joey+Rory have set October 11, 2011 as the release date for their A Farmhouse Christmas album on Sugar Hill Records. In a unique move for holiday albums, 10 of the 12 cuts on the new CD are either new songs or cuts never released as Christmas songs. The farmhouse Christmas theme for this album is right at home for the duo, as their personal lives are rooted in the 1870's farmhouse where they live in the small community of Pottsville, TN. "We made this record with hopes of trying to bring the listener into our home and share a small piece of our world at Christmas time with them," Joey says. "Christmas means so much to Joey and me," Rory adds. "It brings on so many feelings that other times of the year just don't. We seem to laugh (and eat) more, think deeper, reminisce more, and for a short time, most of our priorities all come into perspective."

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Wonderful Christmas CD!! October 27, 2011

By Delaware

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

This Is Absolutely One Of The Most Wonderful Christmas CD's That I have Ever Invested In!!
Not Just Another Remake Of Every Other Christmas CD!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Something different December 27, 2011

By S. Gilchrist

Format:Audio CD

I saw the special on RFDTV and at first, I didn't plan on hanging around to watch it all, especially since I wasn't too familiar with their music and I hadn't really given them much of a listen and they seemed to kinda come outta nowhere - but I was kinda drawn to these songs because they were original, funny and had nice harmonies...'Remember Me' is a really nice song, but - I have to agree with Aaron's comment. When it got to the part...'What the hell, it's the Holidays'...I thought...OK, why not 'heck' - why would it not have the same connotation? I think outside of the expletive, it would've fit better anyway! No more familiar than I am with them personally or their beliefs - It's not as much about what they believe as it is about simply using the right taste in a Christmas song lyric- one that kids may listen to - one that may be heard and played for many years even-and sans that word, maybe even one that becomes a classic. It would've made more sense to just use the word heck for the CD and then if they felt compelled to say 'What the hell...', they could do it live to get their fix - but there's no way they didn't get to that lyric and not ask themselves about it, and then decide to go with 'What the hell'... maybe they're trying to fit into the Outlaw crowd of the Big & Rich's, Gretchen Wilson's, etc(nothing against B&R or Gretchen for the record!). And so I wonder when some other reviewer will make some smart comment about this as it may seem prudish, but I know I'm nowhere near prudish - it's a matter of taste. I can see different opinions with this, and by all means - please have whatever opinion you want - I guess if it was a bad song, I really wouldn't care to say much about it, but this CD overall is really good and I otherwise enjoyed the songs, and they harmonize perfectly - So I know it may sound petty to say that and then seemingly 'nick-pick' over one word. I just hate to see such a great effort in original songwriting, especially Christmas songs, include 'anything' (even one word) of questionable taste.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent traditional country Christmas music November 5, 2012

By Peter Durward Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

For those who remember Christmas albums by Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens and others released in the sixties and who wonder if that type of Christmas music was consigned to history, Joey and Rory provide a reminder that there are still people willing to record that kind of Christmas album, just as Reba McEntire did in the eighties with Merry Christmas to You.

Rory Feek had a background as a songwriter, proving hits and album tracks for other artists, while Joey had ambitions as a singer, an ambition that was fulfilled after they appeared as a duo on a reality TV show.

My review is of the standard 12-track edition. Four bonus tracks are available elsewhere, these being C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S (recorded by Joey when she was four), Nothing but a child (a cover of a Steve Earle song), What you give (an original song that I'd love to hear) and the Christmas version of their 2008 hit Cheater, Cheater. If you must have these four tracks, don't buy the standard 12-track version.

The opening track (It`s Christmas time), an original written by Rory and sung by Joey, is exactly what a traditional country Christmas song should be. Even though it doesn't mention a farmhouse, it was inspired by one (Joey's childhood home) so it's really the title track. Rory also co-wrote Remember me, Let it snow somewhere else and Another wonderful |Christmas.

Another noted songwriter, Stephanie Davis, wrote two of the songs here (The gift, The Diamond O). She is also an excellent singer, and the two songs featured here also appear on her own Christmas album, Home for the Holidays. Garth Brooks has recorded some of her songs, but he is represented here via I know what Santa's getting for Christmas, a song he co-wrote with Kent Blazy. Two fun songs (What the hell it's the holidays, Come sit on Santa Claus' lap) are covers of the writers' versions, but unless you've heard Wynn Varble or Shawn Camp sing their respective songs, they'll be new to you (unless of course somebody else has also recorded them).

This album also features some Christmas classics, these being Blue Christmas (first popularized by Ernest Tubb and made even more popular by Elvis), Away in a manger (surely the most famous song featured here) and Merle Haggard's If we make it through December, with Merle providing duet vocals.

Joey does most of the singing here, but Rory gets his chances to show that he can sing too. This is my first album of theirs, but I doubt that it will be my last. My only quibble with this album is the omission of What you give; I'd swap it for one of the songs I'm familiar with from elsewhere, but the album in its standard version is excellent. Definitely one for fans of the kind of country music that dominated country radio from the mid-sixties to the mid-seventies.