A Rock By the Sea Christmas Volume Three, various artists (Rock By the Sea)

This 2012 collection benefits the Pediatric Brain Tumor Program at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando, Fla. Given the Dixie location, you might want to doubt the veracity of the title, but it's valid; it's rootsy, and there are a few nods to country, but there's also blues, folk and straight-up rock here. Will Turpin of Collective Soul kicks things off with a version of "What Child Is This" that almost sounds like it could be Morrissey fronting the Old 97s, the song is reprised at the end by Mama Gypsy in a 70s hard rock arrangement, and Dave Philip of The Automatics contributes a new version of that band's "Christmastime Is Coming" that is more rootsy sounding than the punkish original, Travis Denning goes all "Uneasy Rider" on us with the talk-sing country song "Ballad of Rudolph," in which the glowing guy is a bit down in the mouth this year. Ernie Halter does a nice unplugged "All I Want For Christmas Is You," Michael Lyons cranks his axe for a blues instrumental version of "Last Christmas," yes THAT "Last Christmas," and Martin Rivas gives us a funky "Christmas Already?" "Snow For Johnny" by Lauren St Jane and the Dead Westerns is a country ballad bemoaning the warm holiday weather, Steve Everett depicts what happens when the white stuff falls in "Love in Snow," "Catch the Midnight Flight" by Mikey Wax is a bluesy call to catch a big metal bird home for the holidays, Todd Carey offers a "Perfect Christmas Day" and Saints of Valory extol the "Winter Lights." Good cause, good tunes. Click the cover to get it from Amazon. By the way, I stumbled over an interesting coincidence involving an earlier volume of this series; hope to post something about it in the near future.