News

Our New App

10/6/2026

I just wanted to make the announcement, separate from the new player and everything else, that the Sounds of Christmas finally has an app again!

The new app is free, and can only be installed from the Sounds of Christmas website. I know many have concerns about Google and Apple, and I wanted this to be something simple, so you can click on the tree below, and it will open a window from Netify, which powers the app, where you can download it directly to your phone, tablet, PC or other device.

And that's it. It's free. You don't have to supply any info, and the app doesn't track anything. It is simply our player.

I hope you like it, and that you enjoy being able to take the Sounds of Christmas with you!

Listen To The Sounds Of Halloween 2026

10/3/2026

The new season of the Sounds of Christmas starts November 1. While we get ready for that, we're playing all Halloween music throughout October. We're also trying to make it as easy as we can to listen to the Sounds of Christmas (and the Sounds of Halloween).

There are three pretty simple ways to tune in.

First, simply click on the player on the front page of our website, or on the LISTEN NOW page. This way, you can listen to us as long as you're on that page, even if you open other windows.

Second, you can click on the tree on our front page (between the embedded player and the News Headlines) or on our LISTEN NOW page. That opens a pop-up player, so you can keep listening to us whether you stay on our website, or go to check your email, Facebook, etc. You can keep listening as long as you keep that pop-up player open.

Our new player has a POP UP button, too, so you can also do that from the player!

And third, you can find us through our app and the EmRadios app (for Android and Apple), and take us with you wherever you go!

For our app, just click on the image below and you can directly install the app to your phone, table, PC or other device.

If you'd prefer to use the Google Play or Apple stores, you can find us through the emRadios app (just open that app and search for the Sounds of Christmas)!

We'll keep the Halloween music going all the way through Halloween night! Then, on November 1, it's back to the best variety of Christmas music, with all your favorite tunes and artists, along with hundreds of brand new songs!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for listening!

May you always believe in Santa Claus! And the Great Pumpkin!

Meet The New Player

10/2/2026

Just in case you didn't see it, the Sounds of Christmas has a new player! You'll find it on the front page, and on the Listen Now page. And if you click on the tree on either of those pages, you'll find it there, too!

You'll also find it below this sentence!

SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS

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Loading current song...

Citrus3 is connecting…

Volume

Sounds of Christmas

RECENTLY PLAYED

A couple things about the new player...

First, this player should show up for everyone. The old player had a security flaw that prevented it from appearing in a lot of browsers.

If you click on POP OUT, a small version of this same player will pop out and you can listen while you roam around the internet. And, as before, if you click on three on the front page or the LISTEN NOW page, our player will pop out for you, as well.

A new feature on this player is the button that says LOVE THIS SONG. Clicking that allows you to vote for the song that is currently playing. That helps us to know what songs are listeners really like. And it's set so that you can only vote once for a song that is playing, to prevent overzealous fans from voting a hundred times (or more) for any particular song.

The other thing that this button will help with is the creation of a giant list of our listeners' favorite songs, which we'll actually reveal next summer when we count down the top 5000 Christmas songs as selected by YOU!

The Sounds of Christmas 5000 will happen in July, and you'll be able to vote through the season, and into 2027. I think we'll cut it off in May or June so we can compile the list and build the giant countdown!

If you have bookmarked our website or LISTEN NOW page, that all will remain the same. If you got our app, that will stop working in the next week or so. We also moved to a new server (better, faster, stronger), and the old one will go away at some point this month (probably next week).

There are new apps in the works, connected to our new server, and hopefully those will be available before the new season of the Sounds of Christmas begins on November 1.

In the meantime, there are a couple of apps that do feature the Sounds of Christmas station, and you will be able to listen on your device to those, once they switch their info to the new server.

That said, whether it's on our forthcoming apps, or on someone else's app, the only way to vote is through the players on this website (and that includes the pop-up players).

As with most new tech, there may be a few bumps in the road as we move through October, so please bear with us!

If you encounter any issues, please let us know, and we'll do our best to address them! In the meantime, we hope you like it and that you enjoy listening to the Sounds of Halloween on the new player!

The Best Variety Of Halloween Music (2026 Edition)

10/1/2026

This is a variation of a something I posted a few years ago, and it's become something of a tradition to revisit it each year.

I always say that the Sounds of Christmas plays the best variety of Christmas Music, and that's also true for the Sounds of Halloween. But I think the word "variety" has been so over-used these days that it no longer means anything.

So I thought I'd show you what I mean.

While I probably won't do this again until next year, here's a list of most of the artists we're playing (or we played, depending on when you see this) on the first day of October, when the Sounds of Halloween 2026 began.

220 Volt, 4 Flops, 5 Seconds Of Summer, a-ha, AC/DC, Adam Sandler, AdELA, Aimee Mann, Alan Parsons Project, Alana Davis, Alfie Boe, Alice Cooper, Alixandrea Corvyn, Allan Sherman, Allman Joys, Amanda Brown, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Pacific, Amy Wallace, Andrew Gold, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Andy Williams, Angelina Jordan, the Animals, Anita Baker, Ann Wilson, Annie Lennox, Annie Marie, Archie King, Arnold McCuller, Arthur Brown,

Ashleigh Murray, Ashton Gardner & Dyke, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Aurelio Voltaire, the Bacarrudas, Bacon Brothers, Baked A La Ska, Barefoot Movement, Barenaked Ladies, Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon, B.B. King, Benny Spellman, Best Coast, Better Than Ezra, Betty Grable, Bettye LaVette, Big Bee Kornegay, Big Bopper, Bill Buchanan, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, Billie Bust Up, Billy Idol, Billy Sheehan, Bing Crosby, bird and the bee, Black Keys,

Black Oak Arkansas, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Blackmore's Night, Blenders, Blondie, Blood Sweet & Tears, Blue Öyster Cult, Blues Brothers, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Bob Malone, Bobby Bare, Bobby "Boris" Pickett, Bobby Caldwell, Bobby Curtola, Bobby Darin, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vee, the Bobs, Bon Temps, Bonzo Dog Band, Boo Radleys, Booboo Stewart, Boots Walker, Bow Wow Wow, Bowling For Soup, Brandi Carlisle, Brave Combo, Brendan O'Malley,

Brian Setzer, Broken Peach, Bruce Springsteen, Bryan Ferry, Buckwheat Zydeco, Burl Ives, Buttondowns, Cab Calloway, Cage the Elephant, Canned Heat, Carl Bonafede, Carmen McRae, Cassandra Wilson, Cast of Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, Chandler Kinney, Charlatans, Charlie Daniels Band, Charlie Musselwhite, Charlie Sexton, Chelsea Wolfe, Cher, Chipmunks, Christine Coleman, Classical Renaissance Symphony,

Claypool Lennon Delirium, Cliff Richard, Clovers, Coasters, Combustible Nuts, Conway, Count Lorry and the Biters, Cowboys Junkies, Cramps, Creed, Crossword Smiles, Crypt Keeper, Dandy Warhols, Danny Jacob, Dartmouth Aires, Dave Kennedy and the Ambassadors, David Arkenstone, David Bowie, David Cassidy, David J, David Johansen, DBone and the Remains, DCappella, Dead Milkmen, Dean Gitter, Del-Vikings, Delta Rae, Devo, Dick Cavett,

Dick Robinson, Dickie Goodman, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dokken, Dollyrots, Donovan, the Doors, Dove Cameron, Dr. Hook, Dr. John, Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band, Drugstore Cowboys, Duprees, Duran Duran, Dylan Glatthorne, Eagles, Eddie Money, Eddie Thomas, Elites, Ella Fitzgerald, Elmo, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Erutan, Ervinna and the Stylers, Extreme, Fans Of Jimmy Century, Fawn,

Feargal Sharkey, Five Man Electrical Band, Flat Five, Flight of the Conchords, Florence + the Machine, Fred Hall, Fuzztones, Gary Brooker, Geoff Castellucci, George Thorogood, Gerald McCann, Ghost, Glass Prism, GLEE Cast, Glenda and Glen, Glenn Page and the Always October Orchestra, Gnarls Barkley, Golden Earring, Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, Gordon Lightfoot, Groovie Ghoulies, Groovy Ghoulies, Hairy Growlers, Hannah Gill, Happy Fangs,

Harry Belafonte, Harry Gold, Hawthorne Heights, Hellogoodbye, Henry Hall, Hipwaders, Hollies, Hollywood Vampires, Home Free, Hoodoo Gurus, the Hooters, Hound + the Fox, Hozier, I The Mighty, Imogen Heap, the Incurables, Invader Zim, Iris Has Friends, J. Geils Band, Jack and Jim, Jack Black, Jackson 5, Jan Edwards, Jeff Richmond, Jeff Whitmire, Jennifer Rush, Jeremy Messersmith, Jerry Reed, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmy Cliff, Jingle Punx,

Joe Jackson, Joey Batey, John Fogerty, John Mayall and the Blues Breakers, Johnny Cash, Johnny Otis Show, Johnny Winter, Jonathan Coulton, Joseph Trapanese, JP Ashkar, Judas Priest, Kaia Jette, Kate Bush, Kathryn Hahn, Katie Melua, Kay Starr, Keith David, Kenny Neal, Kesha, Keytones, Kingston Trio, Kip Tyler and the Flips, Kohl, Kitzmiller, Kords, Kris Kristofferson, Kristin Chenoweth, Krokus, Krystina Alabado, Kylie Cantrall, Lady Gaga, Larkin Poe,

Lathums, Laurie Berkner Band, Lennon & Maisey, Levi Stubbs, Lex Land, Librarians With Hickeys, Little Richard, Little River Band, Liz Kennedy, Lone Justice, Lord Luther, Lou Reed, Louis Armstrong, Lucinda Williams, Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats, LVCRFT, Mary Fahl, Matthew Parker, MC Hammer, Meg Donnelly, Men At Work, Michael Burks, Michael Jackson, Michael Schenker Group, Middle Aged Dad Jam Band, Midnight Chimes, Milo Manheim, Misfits,

Mitchell Hope, Molly Hatchet, Morris Day, Morrissey, Move, Munsters, Murray Schaff, MST3k RiffTrax Guys, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Norma Tanega, North American Hallowe'en Prevention Initiative, Ozzy Osbourne, Paralandra, Pat Godwin, Paul Roland, Paul Williams, Pete Best Combo, Pharrell Williams, Philly Joe Jones, Piney Gir, Pixies, Plain White T's, Red Buttons, Reel Big Fish, Relient K, Revered Horton Heat, RiffTrax, Rihanna, Rob Thomas, Rob Zombie,

Robert Johnson, Roky Erickson, Rolling Stones, Rosemary Clooney, Ryan Adams, Saint Chaos, Sci-Fi Romance, Scott Walker, Screamin' Lord Sutch, Seaway, Sesame Street Cast, Sinead O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sparkle Jets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, the Stephens, Sterling Holloway, Stileto, Sting, Stonegarth, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Swingin' Neckbreakers, Tag Team, Tigger, Tom Waits, Tommee Profitt, Tony's Monstrosities, Tracey Thorn,

Tracy Stafford, Trisha Yearwood, Tuesday Knight, U2, Valerie Broussard, Vampire Lestat, Vincent Price, Vista Blue, Warren Zevon, White Zombie, Whitney Avalon, Willie Bobo, Willie Nelson, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Zig Zag Birds!

Whew!

Of course, that's not close to everything we'll be playing. Not by a longshot. But it gives you an idea of what we mean when we say we play the best variety of Halloween music!

And if you don't see your favorites here, don't worry. This is just the line-up of most of the artists that we're playing (or we played, depending on when you see this) on the first day of October. There's a lot more to come!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for sharing this early part of the Halloween season with us!

May you always believe in the Great Pumpkin!

Ken

The Sounds Of Halloween 2026

9/21/2026

The Sounds of Christmas station switches to the Sounds of Halloween in October, which is now just around the corner.

I get questions about that a lot, and I've posted variations on this blog several times, and I've recorded similar podcasts episodes about it in the past, but since this is starting up next week, I thought it was time to talk about it again..

This is a tradition I started years ago, in the early days of the Sounds of Christmas station. I’m going to share this story once again - the how and why of the Sounds of Halloween, and how it happened in the first place.

Like most families, Halloween and Christmas have always been big at our house. Lisa and the kids are on the Halloween side, while I'm with Santa.

I learned long ago not to try and convert any of them. I think what happened at Disneyland once explains it best. In one of the studios at California Adventure, you can use this machine to determine which hero or villain you are.

I was Tarzan. All three of them were villains. Oh, well.

They love me, anyway. .

So as we move toward October, I get super-busy working on the new season of the Sounds of Christmas. While the station stays on year-round, I had decided to make a change in October, turning the Sounds of Christmas into the Sounds of Halloween from October 1 through Halloween night.

I admit, mostly, this was just for my family, while I kicked the tires and otherwise make sure everything was good to go for the coming season, and I load lots of new music.

But in doing this that first time, I found there are a lot of other people that love Halloween and Halloween music, too, so, year after year, I've expanded the playlist, finding more and more Halloween music.

So, that's how it started, and why it continues.

With all that said, the other question I get a lot is - what exactly is Halloween music?

Some of it is pretty obvious. Monster Mash. Purple People Eater. Ghostbusters. Songs about things you associate with Halloween - ghosts, monsters, werewolves, vampires and witches. Some are scary stories, and some are about candy or trick-or-treating. And some are just about Autumn.

I also include songs from scary movies and TV shows. Some of those are pretty creepy. And some are funny. Many are in-between.

While there are some kids' songs (like The Count from Sesame Street), a few of the songs do have bad language. And some of the themes of some songs are straight out of horror movies, and those probably aren't for little kids, either. I only say that so you’ll know that, for the month of October, parental guidance is suggested.

By the way, did you know that Sesame Street's Count has a name? Don't think too hard. It's Count von Count. Really, what were you expecting?

Anyway, like the Sounds of Christmas, I add new stuff to the Sounds of Halloween every year - like new songs from Green Day and Smash Mouth (not together), tracks from the Broadway adaptation of The Lost Boys and the TV show The Vampire Lestat, and a gem I recently tracked down - Mel Tormé' singing "Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives" from a 1980s Daffy Duck Halloween special.

On the Sounds of Christmas, I play many versions of many songs, so you won't just hear Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas". You'll hear lots of different singers and bands, old and new, offering their takes on that classic. And l do the same thing with the Halloween tunes. For example, I have over a dozen versions of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", around thirty versions of "Ghost Riders In The Sky" and over three dozen different takes on “I Put A Spell On You” (though I may not get to all of them this year, as I try to separate songs and artists so you don't hear the same songs and same voices over and over).

During the Sounds of Halloween, you will hear from many of your favorite Christmas music singers and bands, including Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Mannheim Steamroller and even Bruce Springsteen!

There are songs about Killer Tomatoes, Black Magic Women and Haunted Houses. There are also songs about Alien Invasions, Invisible Men and over a dozen versions of “Monster Mash").

And I play lots of movie and TV songs, including animated classics, new releases and even at least half a dozen songs from Mystery Science Theater 3000.

As a further example, and to give you a better idea of what I mean by Halloween music, here are a dozen songs I randomly shuffled from the Sounds of Halloween library as I put this latest blog together and added it to the Sounds of Christmas website...

Jimmy Hombs "Voodoo Dolly"
Charlie Kinney “Halloween House Party"
Lynn Anderson "Devil Went Down To Georgia"
Link Wray and His Wraymen "The Shadow Knows"
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes “Science Fiction Double Feature"
Bobby Bare "Marie Laveau"
Madison Metricula Roberts "Come Little Children"
Mellomen “Heffalumps and Woozles"
5 Seconds Of Summer "Voodoo Doll"
John Fogerty "Haunted House"
the bird and the bee "Witch”
David Bowie "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)"

You probably recognized some of those songs, and probably some of those artists, but maybe, at least in some cases, not both. And you might not have realized some of those artists had recorded a version of something, like Lynn Anderson's version of "Devil Went Down To Georgia". Now, I have a bunch of versions of that, including the original by the Charlie Daniels Band (of course), along with versions by Zack Brown, Jerry Reed and Nickelback, just to name a few, along with the sequel by Mark O'Connor (which also features Johnny Cash). Hope that makes sense.

One thing that is different this year, at least different than most previous years. The Sounds of Halloween will run until 6am (Eastern) on November 1. That way, the West Coast of the U.S. (and even Hawaii) will get a chance to finish celebrating Halloween, before the new season of the Sounds of Christmas begins.

I hope you enjoy this upcoming celebration of Halloween throughout October! And then the new season of the Sounds of Christmas will be here, starting on November 1!

May you always believe in Santa Claus (and also the Great Pumpkin)!

A New Way To Listen

9/4/2026

I know there have been some issues with the apps for the Sounds of Christmas. While we continue to work on that, we do have another solution for anyone that wants to listen on their phone, tablet or other device.

The Sounds of Christmas is now available to stream on EmRadios (www.emradios.com). This can be done on your desktop, or through your phone (EmRadios has apps in both the Google and Apple stores).

Simply download their app (Google or Apple), and create an account. Then search "Sounds of Christmas" and you can start streaming right away. And if you make us one of your favorites, we'll be right there when you open the app!

It's really that easy, and best of all, it's all free!

Our 20th Season

8/2/2026

20 seasons. It’s hard for me to believe it’s been that long. But in the Fall of 2007, thanks to Mannheim Steamroller and their then-new album Christmas Song, we went on for the very first time.

I am a huge fan of Christmas music, and I always have been. Increasingly over the years, I became more and more disillusioned with the way traditional radio stations went about playing Christmas music.

I worked in traditional radio, and was so excited when stations began going All-Christmas in November. But that excitement didn’t last long, as they played the same bunch of songs over and over, avoiding the variety that many of them used as part of their station’s slogan.

Year after year, they seemed to roll out the same 100 songs right around Thanksgiving, and play them all over and over until Christmas Day. It's no wonder that so many people groan when this begins each November.

There are tons of great Christmas albums out there, and most seem to get ignored, while Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" and Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song" get featured seemingly every hour, alongside Mariah Carey, of course.

Don't get me wrong, I love Bing Crosby and Nat "King" Cole. And Mariah Carey. I love Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Andy Williams, Judy Garland, Johnny Mathis and the Chipmunks, too. But there's a lot more than just those artists and the one song they’re mostly known for. And while the albums from those artists continue to sell, showing that there is an interest in their other Christmas music, traditional radio ignored it.

In 2007, I hoped that the Sounds of Christmas station could offer up all that other Christmas music that just didn’t exist on traditional radio.

Those first few seasons, Mannheim Steamroller sponsored us, and they had a new album each year. And each year, those new albums zoomed up the charts. More than anything, that should have shown those "traditional radio stations" that people love the new Christmas music as well as the old. But most of those stations only played Mannheim Steamroller’s version of “Deck The Halls” from their first album from 1984. Even though the new albums were selling really well, which seemed to me to show that people wanted the new music, too. But traditional radio ignored them.

In 2007, Josh Groban released his Christmas album Noel. It sold so well it broke records held by Elvis Presley! In fact, it went on to become the best-selling CD of the year! Not just the best-selling "Christmas" CD, but the best-selling CD, period.

Traditional radio kinda gave that one a sniff, mostly because of "Believe", his big hit a few years earlier from The Polar Express. But still, their tried and true playlist remained largely intact.

Meanwhile, I added brand new Christmas music from Tracy Lawrence, Chris Squire, Kimberley Locke, Keith Sweat, Boney James, Jars of Clay, Olivia Newton-John, the Smithereens, Diamond Rio, Juice Newton, the Verve Pipe, the Isley Brothers, Barry Manilow, Michael W Smith, Relient K, Marie Osmond, Dave Koz, Patti LaBelle, Mindy Smith, David Phelps, Asleep At The Wheel, Captain & Tennille, Randy Travis, KT Tunstall, Taylor Swift and Yolanda Adams. Just to name a few.

I remember a few years after our debut, a friend of mine, who is a music artist, was so excited because New York’s "Christmas music station" had picked one of her songs as one of the five new ones they were adding that year. They added five new songs. You just saw a partial list of artists whose new music was added to the Sounds of Christmas in 2007.

And this past year, 2025, I added new music from the Accidentals, American Authors, Art Garfunkel Jr, Asa Orbison, the Backstreet Boys, Bailey Taylor, Boney James, Brad Paisley, Bryan Adams, CeCe Winans, Celtic Woman, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Colbie Cailat, Gavin DeGraw, Dan + Shay, Dan Ashley, the Darkness, David Archuleta, Fall Out Boy, Gabby Barrett, Gary Hoey, Herb Alpert, Hunter Hayes, Jim Brickman, JJ Heller, the Jonas Brothers, Jordin Sparks, Joss Stone, Kate Hudson, Kenny Nolan, Kylie Minogue, Leon Bridges, Norah Jones, Matthew West, Mediaval Babes, Melinda Doolittle, Natalie Grant, Old Crow Medicine Show, Olivia Van Goor, Paloma Faith, Pentatonix, the Pretty Reckless, Sara Evans, Sixpence None The Richer, Steven Curtis Chapman, Straight No Chaser, Train, Trisha Yearwood, and Willie Nelson, Just to name a few.

In 2007, the Sounds of Christmas playlist was around 3000 tracks. Heading into our 20th season in 2026, it's more than six times that.

While I love Bing's "White Christmas", having such a wide and diverse playlist means that it doesn't get played every hour on the hour. Besides, Bing has lots of other great Christmas songs. In fact, most if not all of the artists I've mentioned have more than just one Christmas "hit". It seems really short-sighted, and a dis-service to Christmas music fans, to ignore that and just play the same ones over and over.

That’s how I felt when I launched the Sounds of Christmas station in 2007. And I still feel that way.

This station was something I had wanted to do for a long time, and thanks to Mannheim Steamroller's sponsorship during those first few years, I was able to make it happen.

I just hoped I wasn’t the only one that loved all the rest of the Christmas music.

So I launched the Sounds of Christmas in October of 2007.

This was back in the days of Live365, and I quickly became the top new Christmas music station, out of dozens. I think there may have even been over a hundred by the time Christmas rolled around.

That first season, and several more after, the Sounds of Christmas went live at some point in October, and then ended on January 7 (after Epiphany).

Since the Sounds of Christmas went off the air in January, we were considered a new station each fall when we went back on. And each year, we quickly became one of the top Christmas music stations on Live365.

As the audience grew, email and social media messages started coming in, asking to keep the Sounds of Christmas on year-round.

I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. I mean, I liked the idea of a year-round Christmas music station, one that would always be on whenever I wanted some musical Christmas spirit. But would I be the only one who turned it on when the calendar was on April? Or July? Or really any month between February and September?

Turned out that I wasn’t the only one that liked the idea of Christmas music year-round. And while there wasn’t always someone listening when we started staying on year-round, that grew. And soon there were people listening around the clock, all over the world and all year round! In fact, as I write this in early August, there are listeners across the U.S. and in 43 other countries!

Years ago, when I first started in traditional radio, I worked on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was all Christmas music, and as long as I stuck to that, I could play just about anything I wanted to. Despite long shifts on both days, it was actually kinda fun. I heard from lots of nice people, some I knew and some I didn’t, and it was a little like I was celebrating part of the holiday with them.

All these years later, I still get that feeling, getting email and messages from friends old and new, and no matter what time of year it is, I feel like I’m getting to spend a bit of the holiday with them!

I originally started the Sounds of Christmas station because it was the kind of Christmas music station I wanted to listen to. I programmed the usual suspects that you’d expect to hear on a Christmas music station, and then I added thousands more.

Lots more songs from Bing Crosby in addition to "White Christmas". Lots more songs from Nat "King" Cole in addition to "The Christmas Song". And lots more songs from Mariah Carey, in addition to "All I Want For Christmas Is You".

I also did the same for the other so-called major Christmas music artists. And I added songs from more recent artists - some whose Christmas music was well-known and some whose Christmas music wasn’t.

I connected with a lot of singers and bands, some who chose to sponsor the Sounds of Christmas, some who sent in music and some who made short recordings for the station.

Of those who did choose to support the Sounds of Christmas, many returned the next year and the year after. Mannheim Steamroller started that with their support covering our first three seasons.

And so far for 2026, I have 14 artists that have signed on, and all but one of them have been with us before.

So it seems like the listeners and the artists like the Sounds of Christmas, and I couldn’t be more grateful!

It’s still early, but here’s a little of what I have planned for this upcoming 20th Season.

First, of course, the Sounds of Christmas will turn into the Sounds of Halloween on October 1. For the entire month of October, you’ll hear the best variety of Halloween music. And for those who listened last year, you’ll find lots of new songs added in among your favorites!

Then, on November 1, the 20th season of the Sounds of Christmas will begin. Lots of new music on the horizon, including reported Christmas albums from Shaun Cassidy, former Barenaked Ladies’ singer and guitarist Steven Page and pop star Ava Max.

And I’m working on a few themed specials that I hope will happen in December (though it’s possible one or more of them may get pushed back to 2027). In various stages of development are a tribute to It’s A Wonderful Life, featuring music inspired by that classic movie, a celebration of Christmas music that was featured on The Ed Sullivan Show, a celebration of the Christmas music from the Rat Pack and a fun hour or two of fan club Christmas songs!

I’m looking forward to having some special guests on the Sounds of Christmas podcast this fall, but I don’t like to mention any names until the episodes are recorded, because any number of things could occur to keep those episodes from happening.

But if you enjoy conversation about Christmas music and related topics, I think you’ll enjoy what’s on the way!

Thanks so much for listening! And may you always believe in Santa Claus!

The Sounds Of Christmas From A To Z (Year 4)

6/7/2026

Now that it’s June, that means Leon Day is just around the corner. That’s June 25th, six months until Christmas Day. And not to wish the days away, but just passed that, it will be July - and for many Christmas podcasters (and Christmas peeps in general), that means Christmas In July!

For the last three years, I’ve done something on the Sounds of Christmas I hadn’t done since I launched the station in 2007 - I played nearly every song in our library in alphabetical order. And as you’ve probably guessed, that tradition will continue this year.

Once again, I have added hundreds of songs since this time last year, around four hundred more since last July. Well, there are four hundred more songs in the first part of the A-Z event, where I play almost every song in our library alphabetically by song title. So this year, it will take over twelve hours just to get to Mariah Carey’s "All I Want For Christmas Is You"!

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that the Sounds of Christmas from A To Z will be a lot different, and much longer, than last year’s. And while it is a lot of work, it does seem to get a really nice response, and I just had to keep the tradition going. It seems to be a pretty good way to spread some more musical Christmas spirit, even though Christmas is still far away.

So here’s how it works.

Starting on July 1st, at 6am Eastern, I’ll be giving you the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z, playing almost every song in our library in alphabetical order by song title. And, at this point, I honestly have no idea how long it will go on. Last year, it took over 20 hours just to get through all the songs that start with A (which was five hours longer than the year before).

So, a couple things about this.

First, here’s how I came up with my list. I took my master library list and put it in a Google doc, then I set it to alphabetize all the entries by song title. For the most part, I think this worked okay. In some instances, punctuation in the song titles made it tricky. Sometimes, I was able to move those songs around where they made the most sense, but that probably wasn’t always the case. So you may hear a song that seems out of place, and that could be the reason.

Or it could be other things. Sometimes artists change the name of a song they’re covering. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" becomes, simply, "A Merry Little Christmas". "My Grown Up Christmas List" becomes just "Grown Up Christmas List". And "Run Rudolph Run" is sometimes listed as "Run Run Rudolph". I’m sure there are plenty of others, but those are the ones that leap to mind.

I tried to deal with that as best I could, but this was a huge undertaking, trying to organize thousands of songs. Another reason that, upon occasion, there may be a song that seems out of place. And while I tried to get all the versions of particular songs together, sometimes I just didn’t catch the differences in titles, so it’s possible the same song (by different artists) might pop up in two different places. Maybe even three.

That said, I’m not playing every different version of every single song. I did consider that in the beginning when I first started doing this, and I thought it might be interesting to hear so many different artists with their own interpretations of each song. I took a look again and, if I did that, there would be over eleven hours of different versions of “Silver Bells”.

I like “Silver Bells". A lot. Maybe even more than most. But I don’t think even I would listen to eleven hours of it.

So I went through and picked one particular version of each song that had multiple versions, to kind of represent the song. This year, for the most part, I went with the first version (or at least the oldest I could find). That didn’t always work, and it wasn’t even always the case. But that was my plan when I started putting this together this year, and I think that, most of the time, I stuck to it.

I didn’t include Chanukah, Kwanza or New Years songs, or Thanksgiving or Halloween songs. However, Christmas songs that also included elements of Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, Thanksgiving and Halloween are part of the A to Z event.

For songs that started with numbers, I simply spelled out the numbers, and you’ll find them accordingly. I also took out a lot of the the’s and a’s that started a song title. But not all. I made a lot of judgment calls on that, taking away the ones I thought were unnecessary, while leaving others I thought were important. Like “The Christmas Song”. That’s how everyone refers to it, not just “Christmas Song”, so that “the” stayed. And when I could, I tried to respect artists’ decisions on the titles of their songs, so some of those retained the a’s and the’s. You get the idea.

I included lots of medleys, and some of the songs included in those will be found elsewhere in the entire A to Z event. I went back and forth on this, and finally decided that medleys are just more popular in Christmas music than in any other genre, so excluding them just seemed wrong. That’s why you’ll hear "Let It Snow" followed by a medley of "Let It Snow" and "Winter Wonderland". And a couple other medleys that also start with "Let It Snow".

And there are some medleys artists released that they simply called Christmas Medley, so that’s where I put them, between "Christmas Means More This Year" and "Christmas Memories".

I may have made some mistakes. I probably did. I’m pretty sure I did. As with the past three years, this was a much bigger thing to put together than I thought it would be. So some songs might come up in the wrong place. Some songs might play more than once. And some might not show up at all. None of that is on purpose. Just human error. My apologies if there’s a song you want to hear and somehow it doesn’t show up where it seems like it should (or you miss it because it’s just in the wrong place).

I also get that you may not agree with the choices I make as far as which version of a particular song gets played. In most cases, as I said, I tried to go with the first version, but a couple times I shook things up a little to pick something you might not expect. And once or twice (maybe more), I picked an instrumental and a vocal version for a particular song.

I know that this isn’t for everybody. When some people listen to Christmas music, they want Bing’s “White Christmas”. They want Nat King Cole and Elvis. For others it’s Mariah Carey and Kelly Clarkson. And while all of those artists do appear, more than once, in the Sounds of Christmas from A to Z, it will take a while to get to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”. And if you miss Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” on that first day, you won’t get to hear it again for a long time.

But, if you love Christmas music, all kinds of Christmas music, you’ll get a real taste of what I mean when I say the Sounds of Christmas plays the best variety of Christmas music. You’ll hear lots of songs you may never have heard before, and you’ll hear lots of artists that you may have never heard before, either. But I think you’re going to like it (at least I hope you do)!

I’ll probably send periodic updates through social media to let you know where we are as the month of July rolls on (and possibly August).

I’m set to kick this off on July 1st with Faith Hill’s “A Baby Changes Everything”, and then keep on going until at some point we get to “Zydeco Christmas” by C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band. It seems like it took a couple weeks to do this last year, and there are a lot more songs this time around, so it should take a little longer, but since I’m still programming it all, I really don’t know. I guess we’ll find out together.

And lastly, I started this episode off, mentioning that I’ve added hundreds of songs since I did this last year. Those weren’t all new songs from 2025. There were lots of old releases that came back into print, or were finally released for the first time (or in a slightly different configuration). So I also added a lot of songs that hadn’t been available for a long time (and in some cases, songs that had never been released in the first place). And I also came across a few surprises - songs I didn’t know existed, or rare songs that I hadn’t been able to find before.

Anyway, despite all the caveats and possible mistakes, I hope the whole thing is fun, and that, if you do tune in, you like what you hear.

Happy New Year 2025!

12/30/2025

Happy New Year! And thank you for an amazing 2025!

I feel like I say thank you a lot, but I really want to convey how grateful I am that you continue to listen to the Sounds of Christmas station and podcast.

For the station, I don’t know that we broke any records this year. And, to be honest, with more people than ever listening on their phones, tablets and other devices, and with security improvements made to protect your privacy, we have an even higher percentage ever of listeners in unknown areas.

In fact, unknown has more listeners than most - there are only seven other countries with more listeners: Hungary, the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, Korea and Ukraine (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t hit the number one spot in the next couple years).

Bulgaria and Norway round out the top ten.

I’m not bragging, and I hope it doesn’t sound like I am. Frankly, these days, when it’s easier than ever to make a Christmas music playlist, I am so grateful, and even humbled, that so many seem to return to the Sounds of Christmas, year after year (and, since the station is on all year long, that so many continue to listen long after the traditional season has wrapped up).

And, really, the geographic particulars aren’t that important, at least not to me. I started the Sounds of Christmas back in 2007, hoping to share my love of Christmas and Christmas music with any who might be interested. And it’s beyond gratifying to know that, as I wrap up the eighteenth season, people are still sharing at least part of the season with me. No matter what state, or what country, they’re in.

I’m writing this as New Year's Eve becomes New Year’s Eve, at least on the East Coast of the U.S. And while I’m doing that, I’m listening to a "Always In the Season" by Pomplamoose (along with listeners in Cincinnati, Tuscaloosa, Redwood City, Toronto, Bulgaria, Hungary, New Zealand, Germany and Ukraine). And I think that’s pretty cool. I’m just so appreciative of everyone that takes the time to spend even just a little of this very special season with me.

So, thank you for listening. And while traditional radio stations have already put away their Christmas music, the Sounds of Christmas is still on, playing the Best Variety of Christmas all year long (except, as you probably know, when October rolls around and we switch to Halloween music for the month).

I’m also grateful for the support you’ve given to the Sounds of Christmas podcast. I believe we just posted our 298th episode, as we near the end of our fifth year.

Like the Sounds of Christmas station, I wasn’t sure that anyone else would be interested in listening to me talk about Christmas music, but I thought I’d give it a shot. And I owe a tremendous amount of thank you’s to you for streaming and downloading so many episodes. Especially during the past year, which saw the podcast pass the 500k mark.

Previously, I’ve mentioned several awards that the Sounds of Christmas podcast received and lists we made for top Christmas music podcast. I don’t think that’s something I want to do again, as it just feels like bragging. In fact, this is probably the last time I’ll mention the streaming/download milestone we just passed.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely thrilled to have the Sounds of Christmas podcast recognized like this, but it’s pretty amazing to be around so many other terrific podcasts. And I hope if you check any of the top Christmas podcast lists (and you can just Google that, if you want) you might find me there, but you’ll also find a bunch of other really good Christmas podcasts, and I hope you’ll check those out. I’m pretty sure you’ll find some that you like.

Really, all I can say is Wow. And thank you.

Thanks so much for listening, helping me share some Christmas Spirit and for continuing to support the Sounds of Christmas station and podcast.

May you always believe in Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas 2025

12/30/2025

Merry Christmas!

I have been so excited to be able to run the Sounds of Christmas these past eighteen seasons, and I wanted to start this off by thanking you for listening - whether you just found us this year, or you've been listening all along, or you're somewhere in the middle. I am so grateful that I was able to spend at least part of the holiday season with you!

For years, people asked us to stay on year-round. While we've been fortunate enough to have a growing audience over the last nineteen seasons, I didn't really think there would be many who would actually listen to a Christmas music station throughout the year.

Then, near the end of December 2017, I watched "A Christmas Carol" again, as I try to do at least once every December. And this part really struck a chord with me. “I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”

So we decided to do it.

Instead of signing off after Epiphany, as we did for the first ten years, we stayed on year-round. And while our daily audience did decrease by a huge percentage, it was gratifying to see that some were still listening - maybe not every day, but often enough that we noticed.

I'm sure there are those who will continue to scoff at this. There might even be a few who are really annoyed at the idea of Christmas music all year long. My hope, though, is that whenever you feel like you could use a dose of Christmas spirit, you'll remember that we're still on.

And if you like what we do, and feel so moved that you'd like to help keep us going, we'd be happy to have your financial support to help stay on! You can just click below and donate on the Paypal link, putting whatever you can or whatever you want to in our virtual tip jar!

Mostly, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas! And I wanted to thank you for listening - to this station and also to the Sounds of Christmas podcast.

I started the Sounds of Christmas podcast near the beginning of 2021, with no real idea what I was doing or if anyone would be interested in what I had to offer. After all, “Christmas music and other related topics” seems like a pretty small niche.

Along the way, I met some really cool folks in the Christmas Podcast network, who all do a wide variety of podcasts, all dedicated to some aspect of this season that we all love.

It’s been fun being a part of this group, and I’ve been fortunate to have even been able to have some of them on this podcast over the last few years, and I’ve been honored to have been invited onto some of theirs, too. I look forward to all of that continuing into 2026.

I also want to thank the artists that have advertised on the Sounds of Christmas station, or given their time to appear on episodes of the podcast.

Those include Liz Kennedy, Muirgan O’Mahony from Celtic Woman, Cliff Beach, Dan Ashley, Bob Sirois, Michael Sweet from Stryper, Mellani Day, Olivia Van Door, Kenny Nolan, James Robert Webb, Kevin Scott Hall, Dionya Marie, Linda Imperial, Luminare Christmas, Michelle Malone, David Arkenstone, Fans Of Jimmy Century, Judith Owen, Kenny Davies, Laurie Berkner, Suzanne from Suzanne’s Band and the Hound + the Fox.

You’ve gotten the chance to meet most of those singers and musicians on the last couple months of episodes, and one of the things I usually talk to singers and musicians about is being categorized as this kind of performer or that kind, and how the industry likes to put artists in boxes, even though there are multiple genres that they love and perform in.

I’m sure that applies to all of us. And even though you’re reading this on the Sounds of Christmas website, there are probably more things that you love about Christmas than just music. So I encourage you to check out some of those artists, and invite them to help you further enjoy the season, and maybe you'll find some of their non-Christmas music that speaks to you!

Mostly, though, I want to thank you. Thanks for listening to the podcast, and for listening to the Sounds of Christmas station.

And while I don’t usually like to talk about numbers, the podcast hit a milestone recently, as we went over five hundred thousand downloads and streams! Thank you so much for that. As I mentioned earlier, when I started the podcast, I wasn’t even sure if anyone besides me, and maybe my Mom, would listen. It is really amazing to find that there are so many others that love Christmas music so much they want to listen to conversation with others who also love Christmas music, talking about, for the most part, Christmas music!

I’m writing this on Christmas Eve Eve, and there are thousands in the U.S. listening to the Sounds of Christmas station right now, as well as thousands more in eighty three other countries. Wow!

When I first got into traditional radio, and was working on Christmas Day at my first station (two shifts on that day that totaling eighteen hours), it was kind of a thrill to get to feel like I was playing music that was a part of so many other people’s celebrations and observations of the holiday. And now, I’m lucky enough to get to do that again. In fact, this is the end of the nineteenth season of the Sounds of Christmas, so I’ve been lucky enough to be able to do that for a long time.

And I still get that feeling, that warm Christmassy feeling that means I’m getting to spend at least a part of the Christmas season with you, and with so many, all over the globe.

Thank you for that, too. I started the Sounds of Christmas station with the idea that there was just so much great Christmas music out there, and so little of it was actually getting played on traditional radio, maybe some other Christmas music fans would like an alternative, where you really got to hear the Best Variety of Christmas music.

And now, season after season, I get to share the Christmas music I love with so many others who love it, too.

Thank you. And I hope you have a wonderful, Merry Christmas, and that 2026 is your best year, yet.

And, I hope you always believe in Santa Claus!

Ken