A collaborative effort with friend and producer Brent Milligan, this is Chapman's third career Christmas record following The Music of Christmas (1995, RIAA certified Gold), Christmas is All in the Heart (2003, a Hallmark limited, sold-out run of 400,000) and All I Really Want for Christmas (2005, RIAA certified Gold).

This Christmas CD, however, is particularly meaningful to Chapman: "Many know that the last few years have been a difficult journey for my family and me following the loss of our daughter Maria," says Chapman. "So many have prayed for us and encouraged us, and having the opportunity to write, record and share this new music really feels like the beginning of a new season...a season of Joy."

"Even as hard as things have been, it's like the sweet is starting to outweigh the bitter for us more and more," Chapman explains. "Christmas is becoming a less hard thing for us each year. It's not that it's easier to get through because we are forgetting. It's like we can remember now without it just being so painful and the memories can be sweet."

Among the album's 13 tracks are six new songs including first single "Christmas Time Again," "Christmas in Kentucky," inspired by Chapman's home state, and "Christmas Kiss," written for his wife Mary Beth. Recording Joy also gave Chapman a chance to record some of his longtime favorites like "Joy to the World," "We Three Kings," "What Child Is This?" and "Christmas Time Is Here," from the animated classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas." A complete track listing is as follows:

1. Joy To The World
2. Christmas Time Again
3. Christmas In Kentucky
4. Do You Hear What I Hear?
5. Christmas Kiss
6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
7. Christmas Time Is Here
8. What Child Is This?
9. In The Bleak Midwinter
10. Christmas Card
11. We Three Kings
12. I Am Joseph (God Is With Us)
13. Happy New Year
*sequence subject to change

In recording Joy, Chapman, Milligan and some of Nashville's finest musicians traveled to a studio in Lexington, Ky. to allow for total focus on creating the right Christmas vibe. "We found this great studio in Lexington, Ky. (my birth state!) and gathered together some of my favorite players, slept over in the rooms there, set up a Christmas tree (I wore my favorite Charlie Brown Christmas t-shirts everyday) and went at it."

Audiences will have the opportunity to hear Chapman perform selections from Joy live on the "12 Gifts of Christmas" tour this November and December. He joins Laura Story, and speakers including New York Times bestselling author Mary Beth Chapman (his wife), Patsy Clairmont, Luci Swindoll, Marilyn Meberg, comedienne Anita Renfroe and illusionist Harris III. For full tour information, visit www.12gifts.com.

For more information on Steven, please visit: www.stevencurtischapman.com

About Steven Curtis Chapman:
Steven Curtis Chapman has sold more than ten million records including two RIAA certified Platinum albums and eight RIAA certified Gold albums. Along with his five GRAMMY Awards, Chapman has won an American Music Award, recorded 46 No. 1 US radio hits including one in each decade since the 1980's and been awarded 57 Dove Awards, more than any other artist to date. Since his recording career began in 1987, Chapman has recorded 17 projects with Sparrow Records.

He has performed at the White House and has appeared on multiple national programs via CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, CMT, FOX News, the Hallmark Channel and E!, including "Good Morning America," "Larry King Live," "Fox & Friends," "Huckabee," "CBS Sunday Morning," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and more. Chapman and his wife Mary Beth created Show HOPE in 2001 after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry's goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to more than 3,200 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world.

For more info on Steven Curtis Chapman visit the JFH Artists Database.

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