Mark Scott's "This Christmas" makes a great Thanksgiving, Christmas and holiday party host/hostess gift (at only $5 per copy, "This Christmas" is more affordable, longer-lasting and more personal than a bottle of wine or scented candle!) And when you buy multiple copies, shipping is only around $1 per copy. So give the gift of music this year to friends, family members and co-workers with Mark Scott's "This Christmas."

The idea to do this Christmas CD came about in November 2005 when I had the opportunity to record “Amazing Grace” at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The Ryman is the former home of the Grand Ole Opry and is considered the Mother Church of Country Music because of the enormous number of country music legends who have played on that stage. I’ve always loved Christmas music and with the success of my debut album “County Line” (which is also available here on CD Baby), I decided to move forward on this project as a gift to family, friends and fans.

My producers on this project, Bryan Cole and Marvin Taylor, and I used the very country, back porch feeling of the “Amazing Grace” recording from the Ryman as the launching point for this CD and generally aimed for very stripped down arrangements using traditional country music instruments – guitar, banjo, mandolin – with church and “jingle” bells, strings and a few other sounds mixed in as accents. My bluegrass version of “Deck the Halls” was the first song we decided to do, and that turned out to be a real toe-tapper.

“Saints and Angels,” a big hit for Sara Evans a few years back, has always been a favorite of mine. I’d always liked the themes of the song and while not really a Christmas song, I felt those themes fit what I was wanting to accomplish with this CD. We started “Saints and Angels” with a very simple arrangement like on the other songs, but when we started building and layering it with some accent guitar, drums, etc., Marvin, who played most of the instruments on this CD, had some amazing inspirations. This tune evolved from a simple country ballad to a real energetic piece of music with a Keith Urban feel to it. It’s a beautiful song and the one that’s closest to a Nashville pop-country production and closest to the work I did on my first CD, “County Line.”

“Christmas in the Country” and “This Christmas” are two songs I wrote specifically for this project. As a singer and songwriter, I wanted to add something creative to “This Christmas” and not just interpret others’ work. I’m really pleased with how these two songs turned out. Listen for “Christmas in the Country,” the single from this CD, on country radio in the next couple of weeks!

During the course of making this CD and traveling back and forth to Nashville a few times, I wrote the lyrics to “Those Dreams (Music City).” BassMaster D., the bassist in County Line, my band, wrote the music to it. It’s a realistic yet hopeful take on the hopes and dreams of all musicians – making great music and making it big. I think all musicians write one of these kinds of songs. “Those Dreams (Music City)” is ours. It’s a bonus track on “This Christmas” and will also appear on the next CD project I do with my band, Mark Scott & County Line.

Finally, I included “Crossing that County Line,” the single from my debut CD, “County Line” as another bonus track on this CD. “Crossing that County Line” has been a favorite of fans who’ve heard it on the radio and on-line and is always requested at our live shows. For those of you who will first hear me on “This Christmas,” “Crossing that County Line” is a taste of that CD. Feel free to check it out also here on CD Baby.

This CD has been a year-long labor of love and the result is the CD you see before you. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!