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Sad country Christmas songs make me happy. But there’s one in particular that I can’t hardly listen to without crying, and that would be Kacey Musgraves’ original song, “Christmas Makes Me Cry,” which was included on her 2016 A Very Kacey Christmas album. It’s one of my favorite country Christmas albums, because it’s the perfect blend of original tunes and holiday classics that are so well done and truly beautiful. “Christmas Makes Me Cry” was co-written by Kacey along with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, where she details how, even though it’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of year, it makes her feel blue as she realizes another year has gone by and not everything is all sunshine and rainbows: “It seems like everybody else is having funI wonder if I’m the only oneWho’s broken heart still has broken parts just wrapped in pretty paperAnd it’s always sad seeing mom and dad getting a little grayerAnd they always say, ‘Have a happy holiday’And every year, I swear I sincerely tryOh, but Christmas, it always makes me cry“ For a lot of people, this is a beautiful time to reconnect with friends and family, but I’m sure we all have moments where we feel sad for any given personal reason. For Kacey, it’s realizing her parents are getting older and she’s maybe even mending from a broken heart, but I’m sure those reasons change and evolve over time. While I’m not saying you should walk around feeling sad during the holiday season, I feel like this song acknowledges that it’s okay if there are days that you do. It’s supposed to be a fun and festive time of year, but if you’re anything like me, sometimes you need a good cry… in addition to the fun, there’s a lot of stress and other emotions that come along with the holiday season, and that’s what I love so much about this song… she just gets it. Kacey explained that “Christmas Makes Me Cry” is meant to try to put into words the heaviness that so many of us can also feel during the holidays for many different reasons: “To me, there’s a lot of different facets and sides of Christmas. There’s a very nostalgic, whimsical childish side of Christmas, you know, with ‘Christmas Don’t Be Late,’ and ‘Let It Snow,’ ‘Rudolph’ and ‘I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas,’ and then to me, there’s kind of a melancholy sadder side of Christmas. I wrote a really sad Christmas song for this album, which was something I was really excited to do, to kind of tap into that unspoken, sometimes just melancholy heaviness that we kind of go through when we think about people that were here with us and maybe aren’t now.” She explained that Christmas can be kind of a marker to measure the passage of time, and we start to think about everything in a different perspective when we’re forced to feel the nostalgia of years past, and sometimes miss people that used to always be there: “We see our parents getting older and the passage of time and nostalgia, it can be kind of a sad subject for me. So this song called, that I wrote with Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark, I balled when we wrote it. And it was really really hard for me to actually sing, you know, and I’m away from my family a lot and Christmas is a time to reunite and see people that you haven’t seen all year long. You realize there’s a lot of distance and the ins and outs of every say that  you don’t see each other. So for me, tapping into the sad of Christmas was weirdly, ironically, fun.” I don’t know of many other Christmas songs like that, which puts it a cut above the rest in my opinion… And she turned many of the songs from her album into a Christmas special, which was released in 2019 called The Kacey Musgraves Christmas Show, where she performs holiday classics, and a few of her originals, with stars like Camila Cabello, Lana Del Rey, Leon Bridges, and it’s hosted by the hilarious Dan Levy, which is one of my favorite parts about it. If you’re feeling a little blue as we quickly approach Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, listening to this song is better than therapy. Not only does Christmas make me cry from time to time, Kacey’s angelic voice on :Christmas Makes Me Cry” does it every single time too: Here’s a little more of her explaining it: “Christmas Makes Me Cry”  The post Crying To Kacey Musgraves’ “Christmas Makes Me Cry” Is Better Than Therapy first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Jason and Brittany Aldean aren’t going to back down when it comes to sharing their opinions, and they made that very clear during their recent appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest. The country singer and his wife are longtime supporters of President Donald Trump, and have even joined Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home on numerous occasions. They’ve also been present for many of Trump’s big wins, and showed their support at the Republican National Convention. Their conservative beliefs have certainly drawn a lot of criticism from the liberal media, and even from more left-learning artists. They once (actually more than once) have butted heads with fellow artist Maren Morris. Remember when Morris called Brittany “Insurrection Barbie?” Those were interesting times… Then who could forget the needless controversy that came with Aldean’s “Try That In A Small Town” song, which caused outrage from the Democratic side of the aisle for a multitude of reasons. But despite that backlash, and everything else that critics come after the Aldeans for, the country music star and his wife continue to be open about their political beliefs. Why? Well, they actually explained the why of it all during a recent interview at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest. Brittany first handled the question about their outspokenness, saying that she was naturally born that way, and that her and Jason eventually just decided to go “full steam ahead” after a while: “I’m very outspoken. I’m very bold. I just don’t really care what people think. It’s a characteristic that the Lord gave me, and (He) knew that I was going to be in this position, honestly. I’m used to people criticizing us and everything we do. At that point, me and Jason one day were like, ‘Okay, we feel this way, we know so many people do.’ But so many people are afraid to speak out or lost their jobs, or maybe a record deal.’ (We asked) is this something that, because of the position we’re in, we’re going to (go) full steam ahead?” Jason Aldean said much of the same. The country music star says that he, like many others, grew tired of the “walking on eggshells” feeling that was running rampant in America. Now, no matter what criticism they face, Jason and Brittany are going to tell the world how they feel from here on out: “I think we live in a country now where a lot of times, if you are a Christian, you’re made to feel like that’s a bad thing. That’s not the way either one of us was raised. It’s not how we feel. We’re in a unique situation where a lot of things we do are under the microscope – as a couple and as individuals. I feel like when you’re in the situation that we’re in, you kind of have this obligation to speak out when you hear and see things that don’t seem right. For us, it’s just been about being unapologetic. You can think we’re crazy, you don’t have to agree with it, that’s fine, but this is how we feel and you’re not going to tell us any different.” Jason Aldean on speaking out boldly and unapologetically: “You can think we're crazy, you don't have to agree with it, that's fine, but this is how we feel and you're not going to tell us any different.”@BrittanyAldean and @Jason_Aldean live at AmFest 2025 pic.twitter.com/gjmrydFOvh — Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) December 19, 2025 The post Jason & Brittany Aldean Explain Why They Have An “Obligation” To Speak Out About Their Beliefs first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

While most holiday events are largely forgettable, these ended in injury and/or death.

A true blues legend. The post The blues guitarist Billy Gibbons said was out of everyone’s league first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The queen of them all. The post Who was the first female artist to have three singles sell more than 10 million copies? first appeared on Far Out Magazine.

The greatest challenge for the kings of harmony. The post The Beatles song George Harrison struggled to sing: “We had to really learn it” first appeared on Far Out Magazine.