To celebrate what would have been John Lennon’s 85th birthday on October 9, 2025, Old Crow Medicine Show released their cover of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” With this single, OCMS have also announced their upcoming Christmas album OCMS XMAS, which will be released on November 21, 2025.
The 2-time-Grammy-winning Old Crow Medicine Show promises to impress with OCMS XMAS, which will feature only 2 covers and a resounding 11 original holiday tracks. The album marks the band’s first venture into holiday music, though they are making sure to keep their signature American roots sound alive with this new record.
This first single, a cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s beloved “Happy Xmas (War Is Over),” stays true to this roots influence, honoring the band’s Nashville hometown with choral harmonies from the children of the Episcopal School of Nashville, the East Nashville-based school founded by frontman Ketch Secor. The single brings a new, distinctly Americana-inspired flair to this 1970s Christmas classic, while not forgetting the sense of joy and unity that made the original so memorable.
While OCMS will pay homage to a couple longtime favorites on OCMS XMAS, (such as “Happy Xmas” and “Holly Jolly Christmas” ft. Tennessee State University’s Brassville), they’ll also add some of their own tunes to the Christmas canon. These include the rowdy “December 26,” the Zydeco-inspired “All About A Baby,” and the tribute to New England Winters, “North By Northeast.”
OCMS XMAS is just the latest release from the Old Crow Medicine Show, who recently celebrated 25 years as a band with 2023’s Grammy-nominated record Jubilee. In 2024, OCMS continued making their mark by performing as a part of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series and releasing the first ever vinyl records of their debut album, 2004’s O.C.M.S.
The Old Crow Medicine Show will continue to tour all throughout this fall and until the very end of 2025, hitting Troy’s Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on December 17 as part of their Holiday Hootenanny with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes. They’ll top off the year with two New Year’s Eve shows in Nashville on December 30 and 31 with support from The 502s, Shovels & Rope, and more. Frontman Ketch Secor will also be performing at Joe’s Pub in NYC on November 4 as part of his solo “Story the Crow Told Me” tour.
Check out the full list of tour dates below, stream “Happy Xmas” here, and find more tour info here.
Old Crow Medicine Show 2025 Tour Dates
October 9 – Kalispell, MT @ Wachholz College Center
October 10 – Bozeman, MT @ The ELM
October 11 – Billings, MT @ The Pub Station
October 12 – Rapid City, SD @ The Monument
October 23 – Charlottesville, VA @ Ting Pavilion
October 24 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
October 25 – Spruce Pine, NC @ Hilloween’s Hurricane Helene Benefit Concert – Three Peaks Enrichment Center
December 3 – Fayetteville, AR @ Walton Arts Center+
December 4 – Nashville, IN @ Brown County Music Center +
December 5 – Cincinnati, OH @ Taft Theatre +
December 6 – Joliet, IL @ Rialto Square Theatre +
December 7 – Huntington, WV @ Joan C Edwards Performing Arts Center +
December 16 – Tysons, VA @ Capitol One Center (Capital One Hall)+
December 17 – Troy, NY @ Troy Savings Bank Music Hall +
December 18 – New London, CT @ Garde Arts Center +
December 19 – Torrington, CT @ Warner Theatre +
December 20 – Englewood, NJ @ Bergen Performing Arts Center +
December 30 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium=
December 31 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium #
+ Old Crow Medicine Show’s Holiday Hootenanny with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
= with The 502s and AJ Lee & Blue Summit
# with Shovels & Rope and The Creekers
OCMS XMAS Tracklist
1. Breakin’ Up Xmas
2. Holly Jolly Christmas Feat. Brassville
3. Jolly Man
4. North By Northeast
5. Corn Whiskey Christmas
6. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
7. All About A Baby
8. Jinglin’ Jack Guy
9. Store-Bought Christmas
10. December 26
11. Krampus Night
12. Grandpa’s Gone
13. Bethlehem, PA
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