Amanda Shires will release her first Christmas album, For Christmas, via Silver Knife/Thirty Tigers on November 12. Today, Shires unveiled “Gone For Christmas,” the LP’s lead single featuring renowned gospel quartet The McCrary Sisters along with an accompanying video for the track.
For Christmas contains nine originals and a pair of covers. The Nashvile-based singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is backed on the record by 400 Unit bassist Jimbo Hart, longtime collaborator Peter Levin on keys, drummer Fred Eltringham (Sheryl Crow, Lucinda Williams) and guitarist Pat Buchanan (Dolly Parton, The Chicks). The McCrary Sisters contributed to four tracks on For Christmas, while Lawrence Rothman joined Shires on “Always Christmas Around Here.”
“Gone For Christmas” is one of the originals featured on For Christmas and finds Amanda singing about her wishes for the holiday season. “‘Gone for Christmas’ is a truth. You’re going to ask for things for Christmas, so what do you really want? I liked the idea of the outlandish mixed with how you actually feel. We actually feel like, ‘Oh my, I’m so tired of all this shit, and I want a different scene,’” Shires explained regarding the track. “But maybe you don’t want really that, but you just want to say extreme things. I was thinking of the ultimate Christmas list, and then at the end, I was thinking about how most of the items on it were impossible.”
Shires worked with Deren Ney (Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers) and stars in the visual for her new single. Watch Amanda Shires’ “Gone For Christmas” video below:
For Christmas Tracklist
- Magic Ooooooh (ft. The McCrary Sisters)
- A Real Tree This Year
- Let’s Get Away (ft. The McCrary Sisters)
- Home To Me
- Blame It On The Mistletoe (ft. The McCrary Sisters)
- Slow Falling Snow
- What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?
- Silent Night
- Gone For Christmas (ft. The McCrary Sisters)
- Wish For You
- Always Christmas Around Here (ft. Lawrence Rothman)
