I’ve always wanted to create a Christmas Album.  I’ve written a few Christmas songs in my life — up until a couple of months ago, actually two.  I have always kept a stock of favorite Christmas CDs – a Barbara Streisand one, a James Taylor one, a Bebe Winans one – that sort of thing.  Oh, and there’s also WFM’s own “The Twelve Songs of Christmas” a compilation of some of our company’s best Christmas songs that I haul out every Christmas day and enjoy.

Christmas Albums are normally created in June.  Yes, it can easily take 6 months to pull that sort of thing together, or more.

So this past June 1^st I decided to take the dive and I’ve been living Christmas every day since.  Not a bad idea at all considering that Christmas has always been my favorite time of year.  That all started when I was three and first woke up to the idea of Santa and presents under the tree.  I’ve been excited by the idea ever since, whether or not I was givin’ ‘em or getting’ ‘em.

I wrote a multipart (5) Blog Series a number of years ago on my childhood Christmas Experiences that I often enjoy reading through and remembering.  If you’re interested, follow this link:  http://sparksfromthefire.org/2009/12/the-spirit-of-christmas-part-1/

I wrote some new songs and rearranged some classics and decided to go with the idea of Julia Wade and Friends as the title.  We then asked Rebecca Minor and Jenny Burton, two other Watchfire Music artists, to join us on the album.  Three distinctly different, but wonderful artists and three truly singin’ ladies and one guy with a lot of memories and an imagination.

When I was a kid, my folks always dedicated Christmas Eve to the birth of Jesus and Christmas Day to Santa.  It was always first things first with Mom and Dad.  That seemed to work pretty well, so we decided to make the album about both guys and live the fullness of Christmas spirit on the album.

So, keep your eye on this blog now for the next few months and we’ll try to impart some of the true Christmas spirit we’ve been living every day now since June.  We promise a terrific album, full of new stories and time-honored classics.

The stockings on your mantle are in for a treat.  We wish you a very early Merry Christmas!  Stay tuned.