Jeremy Camp has recently sprung up to be one of Christmas music’s top artists. Celebrating ten years of music and ministry, 32 No. 1 hits, as well as a Platinum and several Gold-certified albums, Jeremy Camp is certainly an artist that is talented enough to put his hands to Christmas songs.
Christmas: God With Us is a wonderful collection of nine Christmas carols that Jeremy revamped nicely, as well as his one original--the title track, “God With Us.”
Camp managed to make a Christmas album that is more worshipful than it is jolly and fun, although he did pop in a few radio-worthy tracks in the opening of the album. Fans of Jeremy’s will love his renditions of these tracks, no doubt, as Christmas albums are mostly for fans of the artist anyways.
NRT's Bill Lurwick chatted with Jeremy about the Christmas project, the holidays at home, and golfing.
It's your first full length Christmas project, God With Us. You've had a bunch of songs on Christmas compilations, right?
Right. Just a couple. I've only done a couple of Christmas songs.
This has been in the works for a while and we've got 10 tracks on here and we've got the title cut, the original song. I imagine it's always got to be difficult for an artist to narrow it down to the songs that are chosen. How does that work? Do you get to choose the songs or does a label choose the songs?
No. I wanted to do the songs myself because I wanted to be able to sing the songs that are familiar to me. I think I wanted to sing a lot of it was the songs that we would sit down listening to as a family--songs like "Joy to the World." I knew we could do some kind of special part to it that would make it my own and make it more worshipful. I think it was the song that's most familiar to me that I sing with my family that I wanted to do, so that when I sang it it wouldn't be here's this song that somebody told me to sing. It made it more real for me.
Did you pop the CD in the car with the kids in July or August?
Totally did.
"Let's listen to daddy sing the Christmas songs!" That's a little weird, right?
It's definitely weird because in May I'm singing "Let it Snow." The weather outside is frightful. Not really. It's beautiful and sunny.
When you tackle a song like "Mary, Did You Know," is that kind of scary to do something like that?
Actually it was because it was a song that I grew up listening to and there's been some amazing singers that have sang that song. I think for me I knew that it was a song that impacted me so much that once I got in there it would just come out naturally, and it felt like it did.
There's this super high note and I'm like, "I don't know if I can do this." It just came out and it was something that was literally from the depths of my soul. It was really cool because for years I didn't want to do a Christmas record because I just didn't want to do it because everyone wanted me to.
The label's like, "Do a Christmas record." It was something I wanted to do because I felt like it was time. Last Christmas I'm sitting around listening to music with my daughters and my wife and we're like, "I think I want to do a Christmas record." It was special that way.
The original song that you wrote is "God With Us." Is it harder to write a Christmas original song than it is a regular track?
A little bit. As you're thinking about more the birth of Christ and what happened and the whole thing that popped into my head was something about Emmanuel. Emmanuel is God With Us. When He was born He was amongst the people and I started thinking about that and that song just came out.
It's definitely a little more difficult because you're tied to one theme. Then I go, "What's God doing in my heart right now?" It's a little more difficult, but it was good. I can't believe I wrote a Christmas song. The Lord totally gave it to me.
Jingle Bell Rock is always a favorite and I imagine this is one you can play in concert too.
Yeah. We go to this kids home, underprivileged kids every Christmas, and I play that every time we go and the kids absolutely love it. It's fun and we enjoy that time.
You brought up Joy to the World and actually my favorite track on the project. I love the hallelujahs you added and also the scriptures that were thrown in there too. How'd that come about? That was not spontaneous, was it?
Honestly it was spontaneous. The hallelujahs were weird. We were messing around, me and Brown, and he was playing piano and we're singing. He goes, "What about this sound?" I'm like, "No. How about a little more this?"
We're talking and then I started singing and then all of a sudden I just start doing the hallelujahs. We're all like, "Oh my goodness. That's perfect." That's what came out for me.
The scriptures are one of those things where I just had a moment where we felt like there needs to be something here. We felt like that's what we had to do. It was amazing.
What's Christmas look like in the Camp household? Do you guys do eggnog and all that kind of stuff?
When we wake up in the morning is eggnog. We sing songs and we read a story in Luke before we even do anything. We pray. We make sure it's not we wake up and everyone is just handed presents. It's very much remember what we're doing.
We make sure we pack up little boxes for either operation Christmas child or we'll send things. We're sending some Christmas stuff to an orphanage we support in the Dominican. Really getting that across to the girls. It is better to give than receive. It's a joy to receive and it's great to get the gifts for Christmas, but we make sure it's something we do every year.
We take time as a family and put together boxes and gifts for the kids. It's awesome.
To ensure that Addie and the kids listen to this program also, I will give you an opportunity to tell them what you want for Christmas.
I love it. I want a new golf club.
The Calloway Driver?
Actually I want the ping driver. Calloway is my second choice actually. I almost got it the other day and then I'm like, "Wait a second. I've got to wait to get something for Christmas."
There you go, Addie and the kids, the ping driver. That's on the top of dad's Christmas list. It is God With Us, the first ever full length Christmas record from Jeremy Camp. Always exciting and great to visit with you Jeremy. Thanks.
You too, Bill. Appreciate you.
