Rising country star Baylee Littrell, son of Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell, chatted with Music Mayhem about what fans can expect from the upcoming Backstreet Boys Christmas album, A Very Backstreet Christmas, due out on October 14.
“That Christmas record is probably hands down the best Christmas album,” said Littrell. “I cannot wait for people to hear that. I love Michael Bublé’s Christmas record and that’s usually like a top 10 favorite. This for me is like right up there with that.”
He revealed some of his favorite tracks from the album, including an original song and a cover. “I forgot if the title is ‘Christmas in New York’ or what it is, but that one’s gonna be great. And then ‘Last Christmas,’ their new rendition of George Michael’s song. That one is definitely one of my favorites too.”
A Very Backstreet Christmas will include classics like “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, “Last Christmas”, “Silent Night” and originals like “Christmas In New York,” “Together,” and “Happy Days.” The exclusive Target version will feature two extra tracks: “Feliz Navidad” and “It’s Christmastime Again.”
Will Littrell ever record his own Christmas project? “I never thought I would say I’m looking forward to winter, but definitely a Christmas record one day. I mean, I might even think about doing that next year.” He said that if he had to pick one Christmas song to record, it would be “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”
Littrell just released his latest single, “Change Your Mind,” which was inspired by his late grandmother and influenced by Morgan Wallen.
The true seal of approval on the song came from his beloved “Gee,” his maternal grandmother. “My grandma was sitting on the porch and I asked her if I could play her some songs and I played her a plethora of songs that I’d recorded. And she said, ‘Well, I like ‘Change Your Mind’ the best.’” Tragically, his grandmother passed away in June before the song was released. “I give a lot of credit to Gee on this when she picked it… I wish she could have seen it come out, but I’m just glad she picked it. She knew it.”
In addition to his grandmother’s inspiration, “Change Your Mind” was also influenced by Morgan Wallen. “I heard ‘Quittin’ Time’ and I heard the harmonies and I was like, we need something similar to this song with the harmonies,” said Littrell.
When it comes to other new music, Littrell teased, “I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve, but definitely new music… I don’t really have a time frame. I’m starting to get creative. My mind has changed quite a bit on the direction to go. I was definitely thinking, album number two by July, but now I’m gonna be looking at, single this July and later this year I’ll probably release some more, but not all of it yet.”
Follow Baylee Littrell on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.
