About this podcast
The Twelve Songs of Christmas runs from Christmas in July (July 25) to Christmas with weekly conversations about Christmas music. Music journalist Alex Rawls talks with the musicians who make Christmas music and people connected to it, discussing how it fits into their personal, musical and professional lives. Guests come from across the musical spectrum and include such stars of Christmas music as George Winston, Mannheim Steamroller and Robert Earl Keen, as well as such indie artists as Amanda Shires, Mega Ran, Sara Noelle and Eli “Paperboy” Reed.
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- William Shatner, Jane Monheit, and Kelly Finnigan
by e_xander on December 5, 2025We’re in December now, and this week we have three conversations. William Shatner’s face is on the pop culture Mt. Rushmore, and when I had a chance to […]
- AI for Christmasby e_xander on November 26, 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) made itself part of this year’s music story with AI acts The Velvet Sundown, TaTa Taktumi and Breaking Rust making news one way […]
- Remembering Brian Wilson Pt. 2: “What I Really Want for Christmas”by e_xander on November 20, 2025
Multi-instrumentalist Probyn Gregory remembers playing and recording with Brian Wilson from 1999 until he retired from live performances in 2022. We talk about […]
- Remembering Brian Wilson Pt. 1: “The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album”by e_xander on November 13, 2025
I started thinking about how to address Brian Wilson’s death on the podcast since we learned of his passing. “Little Saint Nick” and The Beach Boys’ […]
- A Ping Pong Kung Fu Christmas with Shawn Leeby e_xander on November 6, 2025
Producer and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee has a history of making recordings that hover uncertainly in time. Sounds from different eras and genres come […]
- Kristian Noel Pedersenby e_xander on October 23, 2025
Toronto’s Kristian Noel Pedersen has released 27 EPs or albums of Christmas music, 26 of which are on his Bandcamp page. What started as a goof became a […]
- Steve Lukather’s “Santamental” (an encore presentation)by e_xander on October 16, 2025
I’ve been out of town this week, and when I thought of an episode from the archives to revisit, this one from 2021 with guitar hero Steve Lukather came […]
- Doing All-Christmas Radio Right with Kevin Robinsonby e_xander on October 9, 2025
Since streamed playlists and all-Christmas radio are the way most people hear Christmas music, they’re fascinations of mine. This week I’m back on the […]
- Sloanby e_xander on October 2, 2025
Chris Murphy of the Canadian indie rock band Sloan describes them as “a cult band,” but they’re a cult band with legs. They started in 1991 and recently […]
- Christmas at K-Mart with Mark Davisby e_xander on September 25, 2025
Mark Davis has turned the in-store music cassettes he pocketed while working at a K-Mart in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s into “Attention K-Mart […]