Country-rock musician Mark Mackay is celebrating the season with his new Christmas EP, a mix of festive originals and reimagined classics. Listeners can hear Mackay's love of the season in his voice as he captures the warmth, nostalgia, and joy that make this time of year so special. It’s a holiday soundtrack made for cozy nights and merry memories.
What inspired you to create a holiday record?
That’s actually a funny story. Everyone who knows me knows that I love the holiday season. So one day we were playing a show in Utah at a ski resort in the middle of the summer. After the show, the promoter came to my green room and said he wanted to book me for some more shows and he wanted me to do some Christmas shows. I was ecstatic and I said I would love to. Then he said, 'You do have a Christmas record, right?' And of course, me being me, I said 'oh yeah, of course we do.' We definitely did not, but I came home to Nashville and we recorded one right away, and we are very proud of it.
Did you approach writing and recording these holiday songs differently than your other work?
Absolutely. I think that’s what I love the most about making a holiday record and touring around the holidays. It feels like it’s a completely separate project. Christmas songs have been done so many different ways that you get such creative freedom to do them your own way. I almost feel like it takes the pressure off of making the record. You feel very free and creative putting your own spin on Christmas songs.
What’s your favorite Christmas song of all time and did it influence any of the tracks on your record?
"Last Christmas" is my favorite Christmas song of all time. It did influence all of the tracks because I cut my own version of that song, and I feel like I had to make all of them sort of fit in the same vibe. I love how up-tempo my version of "Last Christmas" is. And every year as we approach the holidays, it puts me in a good mood so I guess I just wanted to try to share that enthusiasm with my listeners.
Were there any unexpected challenges or memorable moments during the making of this five song EP?
Yes! "O Holy Night" is so hard to sing in the studio. It’s a song that I have played live for years ever since we started doing a Christmas tour. But for some reason, it took me a lot of takes and overthinking to finally get that song to a place that I was happy with it. Other than that, I remember hearing the guitar solo come off the speakers on "Last Christmas" for the first time, and I just remember thinking to myself, 'Wow this is exactly what I was going for.' Surprisingly, you don’t have that feeling as often as you would think. There was definitely some Christmas magic happening there.
Outside of the studio, what are some of your favorite holiday traditions or memories?
I feel like my love for Christmas really grew as I got older. When I was a kid, we did all the standard things you do as a kid. We waited patiently for Santa Claus. We opened our presents. We went out and showed all of our friends all the cool stuff we got, etc. Now I just love the tradition of going to my girlfriend‘s family in Santa Cruz and seeing everybody and getting a chance to slow down. Later that evening, I head up to my family‘s house, which is up in the snow and we always have a white Christmas together. I’m very traditional about things and the holidays are my favorite time of the year. Some of my friends make fun of me because I actually listen to some Christmas music year-round.
Looking beyond the holidays, what’s next for you musically? Any new projects or tours on the horizon?
2026 is going to be our biggest year yet. We have a huge record ready to drop and we have been so lucky to tour all over the country with all of my heroes. And I mean that. We have spent so much time on the road with our friend Gary Allan this past year, and we have toured with REO Speedwagon and Night Ranger, Blake Shelton, Tim McGraw...I could go on forever. We’re now making repeat visits to a lot of these markets and we just can’t wait to see what happens. Touring is my life, I would spend every day on the road if I could and I hope that’s exactly what we do in 2026.
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"Some of my friends make fun of me because I actually listen to some Christmas music year round."