Jess Moskaluke – A Small Town Christmas (Deluxe Edition)

MDM Recordings

Release Date: November 24th 2023

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Jess Moskaluke– A Small Town Christmas (Deluxe Edition) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

The Little Drummer Boy
Winter Wonderland
Grown Up Christmas List
Santa Baby (feat. Cassadee Pope)
With Bells On (feat. Paul Brandt)
Sleigh Ride
Mary Did You Know (feat. The Hunter Brothers)
Thank God For Christmas
O Holy Night (feat. The Lovelocks)
Counting Down Christmas
White Christmas

The beauty about Christmas music is that so, so many artists release Christmas music- that you’d take the leap of… faith? Or something… and you’d listen to artists you wouldn’t normally listen to. You’d listen to an artist that you may have a passing interest in, and perhaps the fact that they’ve released a Christmas album is the opening you need. For me, I was listening to Christian music for a long time. I still am. But since Jon’s and my blog series, I have been branching out and listening to more and more different types of music- and being ministered to any type of music that God imprints on my heart. But, I’ve got to say, that over the past couple of Christmases, my repertoire of music has widened even more- and it has been due to the fact that I can unashamedly listen to artists I wouldn’t normally though; because of the fact that it is a Christmas album. Listening to Christmas albums has opened my eyes to the fact that not all music artists whom I stereotypically assumed were ‘bad’, are actually ‘bad’. If you’ve read our reviews lately about Christmas music, you can see that we’ve reviewed albums over the past few years, from many different artists. From artists like Pentatonix, Kristin Chenoweth, Teddy Swims, Brett Eldredge, Maddie & Tae, Meghan Trainor, Blake Shelton, Tommee Profitt, *NSYNC, Ronan Keating, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Faith Hill, Hanson, Runaway June, Walker Hayes, Bryan Adams, Sara Evans, Andrea Bocelli, Sugarland, Rachel Wammack, and Leslie Odom Jr to name a few. These artists, and more, weren’t even close to the kind of music I was listening to 5 years ago. And it goes to show that one album can really change your outlook on music for the better- because all of these artists are inspiring, comforting and hopeful. And as such, now I’m much more aware of what’s out there. Fast forward to now, and given that we’re still in the Christmas spirit, it’s time to dive into another Christmas project. Throughout all of my years reviewing, I think in terms of branching out and taking a leap of faith and reviewing music that I wouldn’t normally; I reckon it’s safe to say that I almost never do that, except for at Christmas time. Every year without fail, I stumble across an artist that I actually like and had it not been for their Christmas music, I probably wouldn’t have checked them out and would’ve just let them pass by. Canadian Jess Moskaluke, who is relatively famous in Canada but less so in the U.S., is one of the latest artists to offer up her renditions and takes on Christmas carols and holiday songs this year in her album A Small Town Christmas (Deluxe Edition), and with a voice and presence like Martina McBride and Shania Twain; how does Jess rank amongst other Christmas albums this year and amongst her contemporaries like Meghan Patrick, Tenille Arts, Tenille Townes and Lindsay Ell?

The short answer? Jess holds her own as a singer and as a performer, and I reckon she’s just as good as any female country artists out there- especially her soaring, powerful and hard-hitting vocals. 9 of these 11 songs are five years old, with only 2 new additions; however, for the uninitiated (which might be some of you), Jess’s Christmas ‘re-release’ will be a perfect place to start. Carols “Little Drummer Boy”, “Mary Did You Know” and the worshipful “O Holy Night” are recorded to near-perfection, as Jess brings the ‘Christ’ aspect back into Christmas; while staple holiday songs included here are “Winter Wonderland”, the newly recorded “White Christmas”, the bouncy and joyful “Sleigh Ride” and the part-suggestive and part-creepy “Santa Baby” (sung with Cassadee Pope). Jess superbly relays to us her impressive and exquisite rendition of Amy Grant’s “Grown Up Christmas List”, while another heavyweight Jess tries to emulate is Dolly Parton, in the Dolly and Kenny Rogers classic “With Bells On”, a melody about wanting to be home for Christmas so that the entire family (immediate and extended) can start the festivities and start the traditions that bring about nostalgia and sentimentality. “Thank God It’s Christmas”, an original from Jess that was first released way back in 2012, speaks about the sacredness and the sanctity of the holiday and about the spirit of giving, the spirit of togetherness and the spirit of family that the holiday and the season can invoke in all of us. While “Counting Down Christmas”, one of the two newer songs, rounds out the vulnerable and powerful holiday album, with Jess enthusiastically counting down the days until Christmas when she can be with family and friends and home after a busy period on the road and from her tour.

The best part about Christmas for me is being at home with my loved ones. This year looks a little different for me with the ‘Winter Wonderland’ tour taking place right up until the holiday season starts, and I really think this song reflects that yearning to be home. As a kid my dad used to say ‘4 more sleeps until Christmas’, and while that used to mean opening presents and seeing if Santa ate his cookies, now it means ‘4 more sleeps’ until I get to be with the people I love most in the world.

Jess Moskaluke isn’t a household name yet, and it’s also possible that some could count this Christmas release as a ‘nice’ album and then forget about Jess and her accolades. But this young woman reminds us that female country music artists have a bright future, and Jess should be proud of this effort, and always striving to improve her craft. Will Jess ever break into the American market? I hope so because she undoubtedly has the talent. But whether she does or doesn’t what matters the most is that she has released albums like this- an album that stops you in your tracks and inspires you to think more about Jesus and about family this past holiday season. Well done Jess for this superb Christmas release, and I can’t wait to hear what is next from you in the future!