Amanda McBroom
Wintersong
(Gecko Records)
February 6, 2025
Reviewed by Elliot Zwiebach
Amanda McBroom is a woman for all seasons, and though the focus in her newest CD Wintersong is the year-end holidays, the sentiments expressed are year-round and life-long, and they sweetly reflect McBroom’s warm, resonant, straightforward style. An added plus on the album is the musical backing from a contingent of Nashville musicians that supports the vocals; there are fiddles, banjos, and guitars alongside more traditional orchestral instruments that give Wintersong a distinctive twang.
McBroom had a hand in writing six of the album’s 12 songs, and the sentiments reflect her direct, simple approach to emotions, particularly in two of her own solo compositions. These are “A Christmas Memory,” a touching reverie that recalls the joys of childhood from the perspective of adulthood, and “Strike Down Love,” a moody reflection on love as the best gift of all.
Singers looking for songs to perform next Christmas will certainly find a trove of treasures in this album. They are the uptempo “All About Love” (written with Michele Brourman) that reflects the similarities of different religious beliefs, and “Maybe This Christmas” (Ron Sexsmith), whose bouncy feel suggests there’s a chance for new beginnings.
McBroom handles a couple of traditional Christmas songs to perfection: a warm version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” (Hugh Martin) and a beautifully realized “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (James Gannon/Walter Kent), that includes the song’s tender verse.
Two songs lend a more sacred tinge to the CD: “Mary Said No,” (McBroom/Brourman), a fascinating song about Mary’s initial reluctance to being part of God’s plan, and the uplifting “A Star Stood Still” (Norman Kerner), with its lovely imagery about the night Jesus was born. The album also includes “My Christmas Angel” (McBroom/Tom Snow), a tender song about the gift of love; “The First Snow of the Year” (Ken Hirsch/Rosie Casey), a memory song about Christmases past; and Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Auld Lang Syne,” a reflective song about looking back on lost innocence. It closes with “A Happy New Year” (McBroom/Ann Hampton Callaway) about appreciating the good things in life—of which this album is certainly one.
