FIVE-TIME GRAMMY® AWARD WINNER RUSS TAFF BRINGS IN THE CHRISTMAS SEASON CROONER STYLE

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Five-time GRAMMY® Award winner and legendary recording artistRuss Taff has just released a new, long-awaited Christmas recording, Another Sentimental Christmas (A Classic Crooner Collection), available today everywhere music is sold.  The Spring Hill Music Group release marks the second Christmas collection from Taff, who showcases the vocal power and musical style that have made his debut Christmas album a staple in the collections of countless fans for over a decade.

Another Sentimental Christmas, produced and arranged by James Hollihan, contains such Christmas classics as “The Christmas Song,” “Christmas Time Is Here,” “Jingle Bells,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Silent Night” in addition to the favorite “Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep),” penned by Irving Berlin for the 1954 movieWhite Christmas and made popular by Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby among others.

The release includes Taff’s emotional rendition of “Peace,” a song released by Michael McDonald and written by McDonald along with Beth Nielsen Chapman, and also the well-known “Christ Is Born,” written by Domenico Bartolucci and Ray Charles.  The release is stylistically reminiscent of recordings by balladeers such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra with its lush orchestration and big band influences.

“For those of us who have a hard time putting away the Christmas tree, Russ Taff’sA Christmas Song has become one of the perennial ‘musts’ of the season,” stated Melissa Riddle Chalos, writer/editor/media consultant for RiddleMeThis Communications.  “In fact, I’ve put ‘another Russ Taff Christmas CD’ on my Christmas list for 19 years now.  So you can imagine my delight at the arrival ofAnother Sentimental Christmas. The only question that remained:  ‘Could it possibly live up to the first?’

“But the answer came as sure as Grandma’s Christmas fruit cake will go mysteriously missing just in time for dinner:  Yes.  This one stands right up there with its ‘auto repeat’ original, filed carefully alongside Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, Charlie Brown Christmas, Steven Curtis Chapman’s The Music of Christmas, The Muppets’ A Red and Green Christmas, Amy Grant’s Home for Christmas and Tom Hemby’s An Acoustic Christmas…yet another reason to keep that tree up ‘til February.”

“Ever since I released my first Christmas album years ago, I’ve wanted to record another one,” described Taff, “and this felt like the right time to do it.  James (Hollihan) and I have been making music together since high school, and he knows my voice better than anyone else—somehow he has a way of always getting the best vocal performances out of me!  We had a ball framing some of my favorite Christmas songs, creating something that has that same fat, big-band feel that people seemed to love so much about my first Christmas album.

“We’ve included some classics that everybody always wants to hear this time of year because I love those songs too. But one of my favorites is something I just found called ‘Peace.’  It’s written by Beth Nielsen Chapman and Michael McDonald and is one of the most vulnerable Christmas songs I’ve ever heard…it just wiped me out!  The song is saying, ‘Lord, I’m weak, I struggle, I’m feeling all alone out here…it’s Your grace I seek…in You I find my peace.’  It’s a simple, beautiful Christmas prayer that perfectly describes the longing in each human heart for a relationship with our Father.  And the birth of Jesus was God’s answer to that prayer.”

A multiple GMA DOVE Award winner and GMA Hall of Fame inductee, Taff has been described by Billboard Magazine as “the single most electrifying voice in Christian music.”  Currently traveling over 100 dates annually, his musical journey has garnered fans across multiple genres including pop rock, southern Gospel, country and rhythm and blues.  A regular on the Gaither HOMECOMING videos and arena tours, Taff has released nine solo recordings in addition to others made during his tenure with groups such as The Imperials and The Gaither Vocal Band.

Another Sentimental Christmas, available now online and at retailers everywhere, is distributed by EMI CMG Distribution.  Taff will be performing on this year’s Gaither HOMECOMING Christmas arena tour.  For further information, visit www.russtaff.com.  For further inquiries regarding Another Sentimental Christmas or for artist interviews, please contact cwinstead@springhillmusic.com.