Ben Rector is still happy to be celebrating the holidays, even with all the challenges of 2020. The singer-songwriter is focusing on all he has to be thankful for this year, instead of how much things have changed.
“I think that anytime there are traditions, or any time there’s something that’s familiar that you do, there’s something that’s pretty meaningful about that to me,'” Ben told Everything Nash. “Especially the older I get, you realize that there are things in life that just feel pure and like, ‘Oh man, this good.’ I feel like just the idea of celebrating with family and having memories and traditions and kind of shared experiences, the older I get the bigger deal that stuff seems like.
“Obviously this year is different because a lot of people aren’t going to be doing what they normally do,” he added. “But I think realistically, just the older that I get, the more I realize how special traditions and time with family are.”
Ben penned “The Thanksgiving Song” to celebrate the holiday, and included it on his recent A Ben Rector Christmas album.
“I thought that people would feel warm fuzzies. I’m sure it’s just kind of 2020, but a lot of the reactions to the video for the song has been people saying they’re getting emotional about it,” Ben told Everything Nash. “To me, it’s super touching. Maybe some of that came out that way when I wrote the song, because I was feeling those things also, I think there’s some of the nostalgia that just, as soon as you start processing holidays as an adult, there’s just a lot more wrapped up in them.”
“My wife and I just had twins at the end of June, and we have a two-year-old daughter as well,” continued the singer. “Starting to think about holidays in that light and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s the circle of life. I used to be at the kids’ table and now me and my sisters have kids.’ Just watching all of the changes take place, it was kind of the perfect storm timing-wise because with three kids, I feel like that’s as officially adult as anything can be.”
All of Ben’s music, including A Ben Rector Christmas, can be found at BenRectorMusic.com.