It takes a true Christmas lover to be able to get into the right frame of mind to record holiday songs in the middle of a scorching summer.  On his first Christmas album, "Christmas With Scotty McCreery," the American Idol winner proves that he was the right man for the job. 

Scotty McCreery openly admits that Christmas is his favorite holiday, so it was easy for him to get into the spirit while temperatures were climbing into the triple digits.  He says they hung lights in the studio, his mom brought hats for everybody and his tour manager made Christmas cupcakes and cookies.  One listen to "Christmas with Scotty McCreery" will show that it all worked.

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Scotty's Christmas project.  Christmas albums are usually saved for seasoned artists, one-hit-wonder pop artists.  At this moment, I don't think Scotty fits into either one of those categories, but he knocked it out of the park.  The album is mostly filled with his versions of the classics, but it does have a couple of new tunes for the 2012 holiday season.

One of the standouts for me is the Elvis classic, "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," which is one of my personal favorites.  Scotty said there was no way he could do a Christmas album without at least one Elvis song.  It was The King's music that influenced him to get into music in the first place.  "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" also gives Scotty a chance to stretch his vocal range a little.  Take a listen in the video below.

The new songs, "Christmas in Heaven," and, "Christmas Comin' Round Again," both hold their own among the traditional hits.  "Christmas in Heaven," was chosen for the album by Scotty's choir director.  He had been writing his own original song, but his choir director came to him with "Heaven," and he couldn't turn it down.  I have no idea what his original would sound like, but I think he made the right choice. 

If you like to stay up to date with the new holiday albums every year, "Christmas With Scotty McCreery," will be a welcome addition to your collection.  Not only does this teenager have a great voice, there's also an honesty in it that we don't often hear from the music industry veterans.  It's that honesty that makes his Christmas tunes stand out from the rest that are hitting the shelves this season.