There are a few holiday traditions in Middle Tennessee that locals never miss: Dickens Of A Christmas in Franklin, Tennessee; the opulent vacation makeover at the Gaylord Opryland Resort; and Vince Gill and Amy Grant’s annual Christmas residency at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

The Tennessee-based power couple married nearly 25 years ago but have largely kept their musical careers separate — aside from a series of live holiday concerts that sell out almost immediately every holiday season.

In 2024, the musicians’ 14th annual “Christmas at the Ryman” residency marks their total of over 100 holiday concerts. Grant told PEOPLE that the shows are “a beautiful and simple way to celebrate community, family, faith and hometown, and we can all do it together.”

Gill added that it feels good to see how the community responds to the annual concerts to kick off the holiday season. “It’s part of their tradition. It means something to them. It feels really good in your heart to go, hey, people like that. People want to come and see it, and people get a lot out of it,” he said.

But there’s something extra special about this year’s celebrations: Gill and Grant have released their first-ever joint Christmas album. When I think about Christmas. It was a love letter to the season that had brought them together back in December 1993, the outlet reported, when Gill asked Grant to appear on his televised Christmas show. (Grant later asked Gill to perform at one of her benefit shows, and the two became fast friends. They married in 2000.)

Grant, who had gained popularity much earlier with her Christmas music, first recorded Christmas music because of the Christmas season’s connection to faith. “Christmas is the one time of year when everyone likes to say ‘Jesus.’ Faith made it so natural for me to say, ‘Oh, let’s write songs about it.’ So yeah, it’s the gift of love,” she told PEOPLE. The new album features two of her beloved Christmas hits, both of which she co-wrote: “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” and “Tennessee Christmas.”

When I think about Christmas contains eleven songs, including nine previous recordings and two brand new tracks. The final song is a duet of “‘Til the Season Comes Round Again,” a ballad the couple usually sings at the end of their Christmas show. It was originally recorded by Gill for his first Christmas album in 1993.

“Christmas music is a portal to wonder and wonder, to nostalgia and ‘remembering when,’ to hope and how we wish it could be,” Grant shared in a press release. “And because we return to the same playlists year after year, these songs have become the backdrop for our collective memories of togetherness, family, giving, celebration and solitude… I hope these new songs find a place on the playlists, whether… or not it is during the holiday season or all year round.”

The new album is available digitally, on CD and on festive green vinyl. A limited edition red vinyl will be sold exclusively at Gill and Grant’s vacation home at the Ryman and the Official Artist Store.

“There is nothing in the world I love more than watching my girl shine, and perhaps she shines brightest when she plays Christmas music,” Gill said in the press release. “We have been on stage together for over 30 years and I have enjoyed every note of it. I hope everyone enjoys this collection of songs and hears Amy shine.”

We won’t turn down this early Christmas gift from two of our favorite Southerners!