Scotty McCreery has made no secret of his love for the holidays, and his love of Elvis Presley. The 29-year-old combined the two for a cover of Presley’s Santa Claus Is Back In Town,” as part of CMT’s Campfire Sessions.

“If you know anything about me, you know I love Christmas,” McCreery says ahead of his performance. “I love Christmas music. I sing it all year long. On the bus, backstage, at home. It’s constant. I love it. And something I love even more than that is Elvis Christmas music. I think it’s as good as it gets. So I’m going to play you one of my favorite Elvis Christmas songs.”

 

McCreery also performed on Sunday, December 4, as part of the Grand Ole Opry’s annual Opry Country Christmas event.

“The Opry, country music and Christmastime, What’s not to love?” McCreery tells Everything Nash. “It’s just my favorite season. It’s my favorite kind of music. I sing Christmas music all year long, so to get to do it at the Grand Ole Opry, and have a packed house there at the Opry House, I’m gonna be in hog heaven. I love it.  I can’t wait for that.”

McCreery and his wife, Gabi, have another reason to celebrate the holidays this year: their newborn song, Merrick Avery, born on October 24. The American Idol alum spent several weeks off the road, soaking up his new role as a father.

“I’m a pretty go-with-the-flow kind of guy, so I’m not sure I knew what to expect, ” McCreery says. “I don’t know if there are too many surprises for me. I will say, I never changed a diaper before, and I thought it would really, totally gross me out. But there is something about when it’s your kid, it’s like, ‘All right man, come here.’ It hasn’t grossed me out as much as I thought it would.”

For now, McCreery is on the road solo, but he already has plans to tour in 2023 as a family of three.

“For the end of this year, he’s not gonna make it out to any shows,” McCreery says. “He’s still young, but next year we’re gonna bring out a baby bus, so we’ll get him out there. Gabi will be out there a lot with me too, so he’ll have his own little crib and everything. It’ll be a completely different way to do the road for me. I’ve been doing it now over ten years. I’ve got my system, so this is gonna throw that for a loop, but I can’t wait. It’s gonna be awesome.”

McCreery’s Same Truck: The Deluxe Album is out now. Dind music and tour dates at ScottyMcCreery.com.

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