[ Tommee ] I dreamed of making this Christmas album for fifteen years . In 2015 when I was a student in college one of my assignments was to rearrange a Christmas song , and I had so much fun doing it that I knew one day I wanted to make this big soundtrack reworking all of the Christmas classics and just telling the epic story of Christmas . As I was working on this album , I really didn ’ t know who I was going to have sing on it , it actually started out as an instrumental album . Very quickly it just didn ’ t feel like that was the right direction , and as I was arranging , I had my friend Stanaj sing on one song . It ’ s called “ Noel ( He is Born )”. As soon as he recorded his vocals on that song and I heard how dynamic and big that could be , it changed the entire album for me .
So , I went from there and as I started arranging every song an artist would pop up in my head , their voice specifically . And it wasn ’ t Capital artists , or specific artists that I wanted because of their name , it was literally their voice . I knew that their voice would be perfect and that it was necessary for that song to come to life the way that I envisioned it . So , a song would be like , “ We have to get Kari Jobe to sing this or it won ’ t work ”. Other songs it was like I needed to ask Nicole Serrano to sing , or my friend Brooke , or maybe people who aren ’ t as well-known , but their voice was just perfect for the sound . So , I really was just going for the sound of the songs and what they called for . It was a blast to collaborate , most of these artists were either friends or people I ’ ve worked with in the past , so I just kind of reached out , and everyone said , “ Yes ”. Everyone was super on board and excited about the idea of making an epic soundtrack . It ’ s a very eclectic group of artists that all came together to make this epic story come to life .
[ WM ] This record is in fact , epic ! It ’ s a huge 17 song offering spanning traditional hymns to contemporary expressions , each sonically approached with grandeur , respect , and loving arrangements . Tell us about your thoughts on the production of this project ? I will ask you about some of the individual tracks next .
Crowder
“ Sing with the angels the Savior is here ”! You can ’ t just sing that quietly with the passion that you would order food from a restaurant !”
[ Tommee ] I think it ’ s really about the story for me . If you think about the story of Christmas … a king is being born and he ’ s greeted by angels and he ’ s coming to save the world . That ’ s the most epic synopsis to a story you could ever write , so it absolutely deserves the epic soundtrack to go with it . So , I think big tracks , big music , big vocal performances only make sense . It ’ s a declaration , “ Sing with the angels the Savior is here ”! You can ’ t just sing that
Avril
quietly with the passion that you would order food from a restaurant ! You want to shout this earth-shattering message out with orchestral music and a big declaration . It feels like joining in with heaven , singing with heaven and singing with angels that this king is here … and that shouldn ’ t be taken lightly .
[ WM ] Your work is often described as having a “ cinematic production ” and you ’ ve definitely projected a huge Christmas world upon our ears and imaginations with The Birth of a King . The range of artists on this is staggering and surprising , many of whom I ’ ve interviewed in past issues of Worship Musician . Tell us about taking an African American spiritual and reimagining it with Crowder ?
[ Tommee ] Some of the songs I kept timeless and classic , and I know that people don ’ t really like their precious Christmas carols to be messed with , and rightfully so . It felt right to take some creative license and for the sake of the album continuity . I think “ Go Tell it on the Mountain ” was one of the songs that probably wouldn ’ t have worked had it been kept in its traditional sense . Making it kind of dark and minor and adding a gospel choir and David Crowder ’ s cool , raspy voice , just sounded so unique and different but also fit the record . He was one of the guys where , as soon as I started playing it on piano as I was figuring it out , his voice came to mind , and I texted him immediately that day . He jumped on a Facetime call and he recorded vocals in his studio while I was Facetiming him .
[ WM ] And what a surprise to hear Avril Lavigne ! How did this collaboration happen ? I would assume that because of the pandemic , much of this project was done remotely via digital practices ?
[ Tommee ] A lot of it was done remotely and a lot of it was just me in the studio by myself arranging and producing and recording vocals at the very end . Avril Lavigne is someone that I started working with about a year ago , we just kind of became friends and love collaborating