John Cowan On Mountain Stage

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John Cowan performs holiday favorites on Mountain Stage.

Brian Blauser

John Cowan performs holiday favorites on Mountain Stage.

Brian Blauser

Nashville's John Cowan wraps his versatile, powerful voice around Christmas songs on his latest holiday record, Comfort & Joy.

Joined by John Frazier on mandolin, Jeff Autry on guitar and Shad Cobb on fiddle, he performs some of his favorites in this, his second appearance on Mountain Stage. Cowan co-wrote the hopeful and joyous "We've Got to Carry On," with Bob Lucas, following his stepson's passing. He invites some Mountain Stage band members, including Julie Adams, to join in on "Go Tell It on the Mountain."

Widely recognized as the voice of seminal neo-bluegrass group New Grass Revival (with Sam Bush, Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn), Cowan also spent two years as a bassist and singer with the Doobie Brothers Band. His latest studio record is titled New Tattoo.

Mountain Stage engineer Ritch Collins has been with the show for more than 11 years, and he is also a third-generation musician. He fronts the Ritch Collins Three-O, with Jeff Carter on clarinet and bassist Bob Shortridge, in his hometown of Ashland, Ky. Joined by Mountain Stage drummer Ammed Solomon, The Ritch Collins Three-O gives a dose of its "hillbilly jazz" from the Christmas EP Three for the Tree.

This Mountain Stage performance originally aired Dec. 24, 2009.