Brantley Gilbert was never much for the holidays, at least until he became a parent. The father of three-year-old son, Barrett, and 15-month-old daughter Braylen, is finally getting into the holiday spirit, even though he still isn’t as avid about the Christmas season as the rest of his family.

“Christmas has never really been my deal,” Brantley admits to his record label. “I like Christmas ’cause it’s Jesus’ birthday. But outside of that, I’m all about it for the kids. My wife [Amber] is huge on Christmas. My son loves The Grinch, man, just fell in love with The Grinch, and we watch that movie even when it’s not Christmastime.

“Christmas is big at my house,” he continues. “Amber starts decorating really early. I’m not as big of a Scrooge as I used to be, but I think I still got a little ways to go. I’m not quite as over the top about it as they are. But it is fun and it warms my heart and it means the world to me to see them getting excited.”

The Georgia native previously admitted he struggled through 2020, at least at the start of the pandemic, when he was unable to tour for the first time in his adult life.

“When all this really started I feel like we were one of the first people off the road, so we’ve been here for quite a while,” the 35-year-old acknowledged. “To be honest with you, I’ve got to spend a lot of time with family and got to see my kids every day and my wife every day, and it’s absolutely amazing to be able to spend time with them like I’d never been able to do that since they’ve been born. But, at the same time, I will say that I don’t think I handled quarantine too well. I’m programmed to run a hundred miles an hour, and kind of stopping and slowing down like that just really threw a stick in the spokes for me. I didn’t really know how to act.

“I walked about a million holes in the floor and two in the driveway and one out in the middle of the highway, but I handled it the best way I knew how,” the father of two continued. “One thing we did do and we still are doing is I’m building what’s called ‘The Dawg House.’ It’s kind of the massive version of a man cave here at my house in Georgia. And that and being able to spend time with my wife and kids kept me from completely losing my marbles.”

Brantley’s latest single, “Hard Days,” is currently in the Top 30.