The second album in two months from the viral father-daughter duo of
Mat & Savanna Shaw, Merry Little Christmas sets their graceful, stage musical-friendly singing deliveries to a mix of traditional carols and modern Christmas classics. They fare best here with their piano-accompanied arrangements of the more tender selections; those include a string-embellished "Mary, Did You Know?" (originally by
Gaither Vocal Band's
Michael English), "Thankful" (penned by
Carole Bayer Sager,
David Foster, and
Richard Page and debuted by
Josh Groban), and a well-harmonized "O Holy Night." The album debuted at number one on the Billboard classical albums chart. ~ Marcy Donelson