Cozy Christmas, Haley Dreis (Hwy 1 Records)

Haven't encountered Haley before this, but my Facebook feed keeps pushing an ad for this album at me, so I checked it out. From 2022, it's a very nice pop-rock-folk album, marked by solid playing and Haley's sweet vocals. It's here mainly because, among a collection of familiar covers, she drops three original songs that are worth hearing. "I Can't Wait For Christmas" is a nice mid-tempo ode to pre-holiday anticipation, "Christmas Cheer" is a strong piano-led mid-tempo number that you might expect to hear soundtracking a holiday ad, and "Holidays are Hard" is a Rhodes piano-led ballad about lost family and friends during a celebration. No real surprises among the covers, which include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Deck the Halls," "Silent Night," "Jingle Bells," "Winter Wonderland," "White Christmas," "Auld Lang Syne" and Joni Mitchell's "River," all performed well in familiar arrangements. Download and streaming, although the Facebook ads are for an actual CD from her website.