Jason Crabb‘s Miracle In A Manger album has been a long time coming. The singer released the ten-track project on Red Street Records, as a way to celebrate his favorite time of the year, and all that it encompasses.

“It’s been a record dream of mine,” Crabb tells Everything Nash. “I love Christmas music. There’s nothing that I enjoy any more than putting on a good record, getting around the fireplace, turning on the Christmas tree lights, getting something cooking on the stove — I could eat breakfast all day long, so let’s just cook breakfast — to put us in the mood, and hear that warmth that makes you love being with family, being at home. It’s what the holiday is all about. I’ve always wanted to do that. I love the old sounds of the strings and those horns, the producers of like Bing Crosby and Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra. I just love that stuff.”

In fact, when Crabb met with Jay DeMarcus, prior to signing with Red Street Records, Crabb said one of the projects he really wanted to do was a Christmas record. Unfortunately, renowned arranger, producer and musician Tim Akers passed away last fall, making Miracle In A Manger a touching tribute to Crabb’s collaborator and friend.

“Tim was just one of the best arrangers there was,” Crabb reflects. “And right in the middle of this record,  his cancer came back really strong, and he never came out of the hospital. There’s a picture that I have where Tim is sitting there with a keyboard in the hospital room, before he went into ICU, working on this record. This was the last thing that he was working on before he passed. And so we dedicate this whole record and this music, we dedicate it to his legacy, and his family.”

Miracle In A Manger includes classics like “Joy to the World” and “O Holy Night,” along with fun songs like “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Let It Snow.” For Crabb, it was important to have a mixture of songs on his project.

“There were some that said, ‘You need to go completely faith-based. Make sure that people know exactly what you’re talking about, that the gospel line runs all the way through,'” Crabb says. “And that’s my heart. That’s why I celebrate and love to do Christmas, because of my faith. I travel and do Christian music, but there’s also sometimes that’s in between the lines that you love, the warmth, the love that God gives us for our family, and that comes from the Lord too.  I just think it’s really neat. I see life I think a little deeper than most because if there’s joy in the home and there’s joy in your life, I believe God put it there.”

Crabb has several concert dates on the calendar for the remainder of 2022. Find Miracle In A Manger and a list of all of his upcoming shows at JasonCrabb.com.