I wrote my first Christmas song, "Boogie Woogie Christmas" in 1996 while preparing for my inaugural appearance in J.R. Sullivan's "Hometown Holiday" staged in Rockford, IL. Pat Donohue sang it on Prairie Home Companion the following year and the famous children's cartoon character, Arthur, included an abridged version on his first PBS holiday special. Every year since, I have written new songs, parodies, and arrangements for the season usually starting at the last minute towards the end of November. And every year the audience asks if I've released a Christmas album. My standard response is "I would have to start thinking about it in May and I typically avoid thoughts of Christmas from Dec. 26 to November 30 so it's unlikely it will ever happen." But this Spring I found myself with some time on my hands and a modest budget so I booked a studio, called some musicians, and dug out my holiday charts. You may be familiar with some of the fine ...