Jim Brickman‘s on tour in support of his latest holiday album, A Christmas Symphony, featuring Jim performing Christmas instrumentals backed by a symphony orchestra. However, a few songs feature vocals, like his current single “Carols of Christmas,” a medley of classic songs like “What Child Is This” recorded with his pal, Five for Fighting‘s John Ondrasik, singing lead.
“I’m a big fan of medleys at Christmas time, because a lot of the…carols, are really short,” Jim laughs. “So I thought if I put it together with his voice and then instrumental in between, we could do ‘What Child Is This?,’ ‘We Three Kings,’ ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,’ ‘Carol of the Bells,’ and weave them all together.”
Jim says he was eager to get John, known for hits like “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” and “100 Years,” to use his voice in a different way.
“People hear his voice in such a pop fashion — when you hear it, you know it’s him,” explains Jim. “And I was like, ‘Your falsetto would sound so beautiful.’ So he was all for it, for sure.”
Jim’s been doing Christmas tours for years, because he says his holiday music seems to be his most popular stuff.
“Christmas has always been my time of the year, for sure. Ever since The Gift album, I think people have associated my music with holidays,” he tells ABC Audio. “When I run into somebody who’s a casual fan, usually they’ll say, ‘I have your Christmas album! We listen every year!'”
“I think it’s because there’s not a lot of relaxing, calm piano versions of a lot of Christmas hits,” Jim adds. “Instrumentals give you the flavor and the soundtrack and the memory and the nostalgia, without feeling like you’re hearing, you know, [a] redux of everything.”
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