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What it's like to spend "10,000 Hours" on Christmas morning with Dan + Shay

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ABCDan + Shay treated fans to a special holiday gift recently: Two brand-new Christmas songs, “Take Me Home for Christmas” and “Christmas Isn’t Christmas.”  But when it comes to their own Christmas celebrations, the “10,000 Hours” duo says it involves a lot of dogs — and a lot of boxes.

“Christmas morning…it’s the best, it’s just always has been and still is,” says the duo’s Dan Smyers. “With four dogs, it’s a lot.”

“[My wife and I] get the dogs lots of presents, and they’re running around getting all their toys, getting all their treats,” he explains. “We usually spend [Christmas] out at our farm and it’s the best time ever. This year, I’m hoping for a little snow on Christmas.”

As for Shay Mooney, he’s got his hands full with two young sons — Asher and Ames — and he’s hoping Asher will be left “Speechless” by his presents for a change.

“This’ll be my youngest’s first Christmas: Ames, this’ll be his first one and Asher, I think this’ll be the first that he knows kinda what’s going on,” Shay laughs. “He usually plays with the boxes, so maybe he’ll actually look at the gifts this year!”

By Andrea Dresdale
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dan + Shay tuck another present under fans’ trees with cozy, acoustic “Take Me Home for Christmas” video

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John Russell/CMAJust in time for Christmas, Dan + Shay have one more musical offering to share. The duo released an acoustic performance video of “Take Me Home for Christmas,” one of a two-pack of holiday originals they shared earlier this year.

The acoustic version of “Take Me Home for Christmas” finds Dan + Shay singing the song holidays-style, cozied up in a festively decorated living room with a couple of good old friends accompanying them on keyboard and acoustic guitar.

“We wanna spend the night before singing ‘Take Me Home for Christmas’ acoustic at the farm with our ‘friends from the emo days’ friends,” the band shared on social media, along with a clip of the new performance. “Merry Christmas Eve, y’all!” they added.

Dan + Shay closed out 2020 with a festive one-two punch. Along with “Take Me Home for Christmas,” they also released a heartstring-tugging second original song, “Christmas Isn’t Christmas.”


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Carrie Underwood and John Legend’s “Hallelujah” tops 'Billboard'’s Hot Christian Songs chart

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Randee St. NicholasCarrie Underwood and pop star John Legend are claiming a new Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart hit this week courtesy of their duet, “Hallelujah,” an original Christmas tune that appears on Carrie’s My Gift album.

The song ascended to the top spot on the chart dated December 26, marking John’s first-ever number-one on the Hot Christian Songs ranking. That’s an extra-special milestone, since he co-wrote “Hallelujah.”

Meanwhile, it’s Carrie’s third time topping the chart, and with her newest success, she’s replacing another song of hers. As “Hallelujah” ascends to the top, it’s succeeding the singer’s 2020 holiday release, “Favorite Time of Year,” which spent two weeks at the top of the Hot Christian Songs chart and is a bonus track on My Gift.

Carrie’s hot streak on the chart marks the first time a female artist has ever replaced herself at the top of the Hot Christian Songs tally. In fact, besides Carrie, only one other artist has ever accomplished that feat in the chart’s 17-year history. Singer-songwriter and The Voice alum Jordan Smith first pulled it off when he swapped out his “Great is Thy Faithfulness” for “Hallelujah” — no relation to Carrie’s current hit — in December of 2015.


By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Luke Bryan’s niece got a Christmas marriage proposal, and the singer’s reaction was priceless

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ABC/Image Group LALuke Bryan’s Christmas just got a little bit more festive: His niece, Jordan Cheshire, got engaged this week.

On her Instagram stories, the singer’s wife, Caroline, shared their family’s good news, and also posted snapshots of Luke’s surprised reaction to the proposal. “Our precious niece is engaged and this is the picture that explains our night!!!” wrote Caroline, alongside a stunned selfie taken against a backdrop of silver and gold balloons.

Next, she shared a picture of the newly-engaged Jordan showing off her ring, with Luke feigning jaw-dropping amazement as he checks out his niece’s new piece of jewelry.

Jordan, who is in her mid-20s, is the oldest of three children born to Luke’s older sister, Kelly, and her husband, Ben Cheshire. Kelly died in 2007 and Ben died in 2014, leaving behind then-20-year-old Jordan, as well as 16-year-old Kris and 13-year-old Til. 

Luke and Caroline have since been very active in the three kids’ lives and Til moved in with country superstar couple, joining their two younger sons, Thomas Boyer and Tatum Christopher.

Luke’s family has always been a big, blended affair, and with the addition of a new fiancé, the household is getting even bigger.

In addition to the usual holiday festivities, Luke and his family have been enjoying Pranksmas, an annual tradition of pulling pranks on friends and each other. The most recent target? Little Big Town’s Phillip Sweet, who was on the receiving end of a prank during a dinner party gone wrong.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dierks Bentley celebrates Christmas “Colorado style” with a tree made out of skis

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ABCDierks Bentley and his family have spent quite a bit of time in Colorado during the pandemic, and by the looks of things, they’re really embracing life out West.

This week, the singer marked the holiday season by posting a picture of himself — and his unusual Christmas tree — to social media. While the tree looks traditional enough from far away, decorated with twinkling lights and a colorful star on top, a closer look reveals that the branches are all made out of snow skis.

“Merry Christmas and happy holidays…Colorado style…ha!” Dierks wrote in the caption. His tree wasn’t the only thing celebrating “Colorado style,” either: The singer wore a flannel shirt and jeans in his picture, along with a beanie over his grown-out, quarantine hair.

Dierks and his family checked out of everyday life in Nashville and headed for the mountains early on in the pandemic. Although the singer’s certain he’ll be back once the music industry gets back to normal, he’s putting his time off to good use by spending time with family and working on new music. Most recently, Dierks released his new single, “Gone,” which is the first taste of solo music from him since 2018’s The Mountain album.

By Carena Liptak
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.