JD McPherson Has The Ugly Sweater Blues

Explaining Christmas to someone who's never heard of it is a strange proposition. As our guest and old friend JD McPherson puts it, there's a tree in your living room, a strange man's walking around your house at midnight eating cookies, and then you get clothes.

I imagine it's an even stranger proposition to write an album of modern Christmas originals. Christmas means so many different things to so many people, and the differences matter: Is your audience children or adults, religious or not? Are they jaded? Feeling humorous? Maybe sentimental? You've got a lot of options.

JD McPherson, however, is up for it, even if that means dragging a Christmas tree into a recording studio in May. The new album Socks is his take on the most wonderful time of the year, and it's equal parts earnest, loving, and irreverent. It's a bit like our conversation here — where we talk all things sweaters, socks, and the best Christmas gift he ever received. Hear the session in the player above.

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