By Andrew Greer

We no longer address our wish lists to the North Pole, and sugarplums are not the only fruity things running amok in our brains, but once Thanksgiving’s turkey settles, our affinity for Christmas still enchants us for the year’s final lap.

As Santa’s specially appointed helper here at CCM’s Nashville headquarters, I have compiled the Who’s Who list of Christmas tours in an effort to discriminately fill your holiday calendar with music. So whether it’s symphonies and choirs or a beating bass and screaming horns that appeal to your musical palette, Christmas 2008 is bound to satisfy every whim and whimper of your child-like heart.

In no particular order . . .

Behold the Lamb of God Christmas Tour – Andrew Peterson, Bebo Norman, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Andrew Osenga and Ben Shive

It has been almost a decade since Andrew Peterson first gathered some of his friends and Nashville’s finest musicians to present “Behold the Lamb of God: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ” at Nashville’s history Ryman Auditorium. Nine years later, the popular presentation has become an annual Nashville tradition and a full-fledged national tour.

“I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing during the Christmas season than to hop on a bus with brothers and sisters in the Kingdom and proclaim that Jesus came to take away the sins of the world,” Peterson explains. “[We] are deeply flawed and deeply thankful to be able to tell this story night after night. The story of the coming of Jesus into the world is also our story. It's our only hope.”

Look for it to visit a church near you this December.

Visit andrew-peterson.com for dates and info.

Christmas with Amy & Vince Tour  – Amy Grant & Vince Gill

Launching December 4 in Manchester, N.H., the Queen of Christmas will drive her sleigh up and down the East Coast before arriving safely home for a two-night, tender Tennessee Christmas home performance at downtown Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on December 22 and 23.

With her Country Music Hall of Famer hubby Vince Gill in tow, the tour will feature a 12-piece band in an intimate “living room feel,” a departure from the couple’s previous symphonic ventures. Highlighting songs from their best-selling holiday albums (three each!) and material from Grant’s new release, The Christmas Collection (Sparrow), the night is sure to satisfy.