The McCrary Sisters
The McCrary Sisters’ annual Christmas show, A McCrary Kind of Christmas, is one of Nashville’s best-loved holiday traditions. Each year, the widely acclaimed gospel group taps friends and fellow artists to join them for an evening of seasonal music, raising money for charity and local families in the process.
Now in its 14th year, the multi-artist celebration sets up shop at a new location on Friday: the relatively new Inglewood venue Riverside Revival. A beautiful space in a repurposed church, it’s a fitting locale for the McCrarys, who will be joined by a stacked guest roster that includes Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Buddy Miller and more.
As always, A McCrary Kind of Christmas will raise money for causes close to the sisters’ hearts. This year’s ticket proceeds will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and to a small group of local families. The McCrarys will also collect additional donations via GoFundMe; at press time, the campaign set a goal of raising $14,000. If you can’t make it out to the show, you can watch a livestream of the performance through streaming platform Veeps, with proceeds from passes benefiting those in need too.
The Scene caught up with Alfreda “Freda” McCrary and Ann McCrary in advance of the show to chat about holiday traditions, growing up singing as a family and coming together to help others. Regina McCrary, who rounds out the group, was unavailable to join the call due to a prior commitment. Deborah McCrary, called “the singing nurse” by her sisters, passed away in June 2022.
“We decided to give back,” Freda says. “We had been blessed to be able to work and to do a lot of things. We’ve heard a lot of stories from a lot of people that will come up to us and tell us stories about having hard times. So we just decided to give back if we could. We had our first [Christmas] show in December 14 years ago, and we had four families [in need]. We decided to give whatever we raised to the four families. And we decided to continue it to keep it going. As the years went on, we were able to add some of our friends and different artists to come and help us and be a part of this.”
As the years went on, the McCrarys added raising money for St. Jude to their charitable efforts. They’ve also donated to MusiCares and Music Health Alliance through past shows. Though they haven’t kept a running tally of the money they’ve donated since that first Christmas show, the number is surely in the tens of thousands, if not more. Guest artists lend their time and talents for free.
That financial impact is crucial to the McCrarys’ mission, but so too is spreading joy and love during a season that can be difficult for many people. Freda and Ann share that they first began singing Christmas music together as children, with their late brother, Donald Ray McCrary, providing accompaniment on the piano. It’s a treasured tradition for the family that they’re grateful to be able to share with the Nashville community.
And it’s one that’s drawn many regulars, as both sisters note seeing familiar faces in the audience each year. Having a livestreaming option also enables some regulars who might otherwise miss the show to enjoy a night of music too.
“I was talking to a lady earlier today, and she’s been faithful, and she used to come out all the time,” Ann says. “But she’s kind of sick in her body right now, and so now she’s trying to figure out how she can see the show. So I told her about the Veeps stream, and she’s going to do it that way.”
At press time, in-person tickets are still available. The full roster of guests is extensive: In addition to Harris, Price and Miller, Kyla Jade, Etta and Bob Britt, Tammy and Steve Crawford, the Travis Logan Unity Choir, Bizz, Danny and Mabel Flowers, Gayle Mays, Dwight Ross, Will Barrow and Dave Pomeroy are all set to join in. Both Freda and Ann hint that some surprise guests — folks who you’re likely to know — are a possibility as well.
Once they wrap up the holiday season, the McCrarys will kick off 2024 at full steam, hopping aboard the Delbert McClinton and Friends Sandy Beaches Cruise in early January. They’re also working on new music and hope to release a full-length album at some point during the year, though no firm plans are in place yet. Until then, though, Freda, Ann and Regina are firmly in Christmas mode, ready to share their talents and tidings with the Nashville community and beyond.
“It gets better and better every year,” Ann says. “We just appreciate everybody who comes out and helps.”
