City on a Hill: It's Christmas Time (CD - 2002)

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

Personnel: Derri Daugherty (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric 12-string guitar, programming, background vocals); Dan Haseltine (vocals, Moog synthesizer, percussion); Julie Miller (vocals, background vocals); Cliff Young, Danielle Young, Andrea Baca, Leigh Nash, Mac Powell, Michael Tait, Out of Eden, Paul Colman, Sara Groves, Terry Scott Taylor, Danielle Kimmey (vocals); Matt Slocum (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, cello); Chris Donohue (electric guitar, viola da gamba, recorder, bass guitar); Mark "Anarchy" Lee, Brad Avery (electric guitar); Matt Odmark (12-string guitar); Charlie Lowell (dulcimer, keyboards, background vocals); David Davidson (violin); Nate Sabin (flute); Phil Madeira (accordion, chamberlin); Aaron Sands (French horn, bass guitar); John Painter (horns, pump organ); Tom Howard (piano); Jamie Kenney (keyboards); Steve Hindalong (glockenspiel, drums, percussion, bells, chimes); Tai Anderson (bass guitar); Dennis Holt, Todd Bragg (drums); Garett Buell (percussion); Mitch Dane (drum programming).

Audio Mixers: Derri Daugherty; J.R. McNeely.

Recording information: Dogtown; Ihof, TN; Jamie Kenney's Dining Room; Neverland, Franklin, TN; Planet Of The Tapes, TN; Roswell East, TN; Sputnik Sound, Franklin, TN; The Bennett House; The Book House; The Jukebox, Atlanta, GA.

Arrangers: Derri Daugherty; John Painter; Matt Slocum; Steve Hindalong; Tom Howard.

The third release in the acoustic-based CCM all-star series is an easy-spirited introduction to the concept for those preferring the sweet familiarity of traditional holiday classics. But it's not just a nice compilation of songs you've heard over and over. Amidst the organic readings of "Silent Night" (vocal by Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer) and "Away in a Manger" (done solemnly by Julie Miller and Derri Daugherty) are new songs by Terry Scott Taylor (the loping folk tune "Holy Emmanuel"), Caedmon's Call (a very Celtic-flavored "Babe in the Straw"), and Jars of Clay (very elegant and restrained on "Bethlehem Town"). Other highlights are "In the Bleak Midwinter" by the Paul Colman Trio and the gorgeous harmony vocals by Sixpence None the Richer's Nash and Michael Tait on the closer, "Oh Holy Night." The point of this series is not just to gather and further expose top CCM artists to a wider audience, but to show that less is sometimes more in the often over the top realm of Christmas music. ~ Jonathan Widran minimize