Back in July, when the sun shone high and hot, Jessica Horton was in Studio 115A in Columbus imagining she was singing in a winter wonderland. With the thermostat down low and Christmas hats to help set the mood, Horton and producer Dennis McKay of M.A.C. Records collaborated to make “A Country Christmas.” Horton’s album features 11 tracks, four of them originals. It follows her debut project, “Both Feet In,” released in March.
For the Christmas recording, the artist — who in October won the fan-based Sunrise Artist of the Year Award at SGNScoops magazine’s Diamond Awards in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee — selected tunes that are most special to her.
“I picked songs that I vividly remember from my childhood,” explained the Eupora native who moved to Columbus in 2007. She grew up singing classic country and gospel music alongside her grandfather. She called him “Pops.” Even as a young girl, Horton performed with her granddad at opry houses, schools and festivals and learned from him how to play guitar. She went on to graduate from Mississippi University for Women with a degree as a soprano vocalist and music educator, but her grandfather’s early presence in her life still influences her work today.
“One of the first songs I picked (for the album) was “Christmas Time’s A-Comin’,” she said, remembering how her “Pops” urged her to sing it on stage every year.
“He died in November 2012. That song just hit me, and I said it has to be in there,” she continued. Horton does add some signature “spunk and swing” to the track.
“Everything I connect with is country; I wanted (the album) to definitely be country — and to have a little swing to it,” she said.
What started out to be a five-song EP expanded to a full-length album when supporters at Exceed Technologies in Columbus offered to sponsor the project.
“I was extremely humbled and flattered. It’s so special to have people like that in my life,” Horton said. “They carry you where you need to go.”
Horton’s sound is a distinctive one, said McKay, who played most guitar parts on the album. Raymond Miller of Starkville contributed steel guitar; Stephano Curtis of Starkville played drums. Columbus native Ronnie McGee, currently of Jackson, did most of the keyboard work and string arrangements, McKay said.
“We have one song on the project, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter,’ that Jessica produced 100 percent,” said McKay. “She played every instrument, did her own backup vocals — it’s 100 percent her.”
Horton’s voice reflects influences of country artists such as Patsy Cline, Reba McEntire and others with a recognizable quality, McKay added.
“When they hear a Jessica song on the radio, (people) know that voice,” he said.
“A Country Christmas” is available at jessicahortonmusic.com, or through iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Play and other online music outlets. CDs may also be purchased at Dennis and Leslie McKay’s M.A.C. Records/Studio 115A at 115A Alabama St. in Columbus. Call 662-889-2829. Follow her on Facebook.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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