When Brett Eldredge last visited CMT’s Nashville headquarters at the start of the holiday season, it was all about Christmas and his deluxe edition of Glow.
The extended-release adds Eldredge’s spin on five classics, “Do You Hear What I Hear,” “Silver Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Christmas Time Is Here.” All of the songs show Eldredge at his best and most authentic self with performances that evoke American treasures Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé and Dean Martin.
Eldredge answered all of CMT’s Christmas questions like a champ and had some fantastic tips on keeping track of all the cousins, how to treat nosy family members with love, and essentially living it up during the holiday season.
Enjoy the great Brettmas questionnaire below.
CMT.com: What’s your favorite Christmas dessert your mom Robin makes?
Eldredge: Chocolate cheesecake
Do you help?
No. She’s so good at it. She’d gladly have me help, but I need to learn. She’s pretty good at it. So, I just like to be the taste-tester.
Real tree or artificial?
Real tree all day, but I’m allergic to them. I got a huge tree a few years ago, and it was my first big real tree. Within five days, I was sneezing, coughing and had a sore throat. Low and behold, I was allergic to Christmas trees and my Christmas heart was broken. I ended up getting a fake tree from Balsam Hill. It doesn’t smell real, but I’ve got candles for that. So, we’re good.
The most exciting Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
I still think of the paintball gun I got when I was probably 15. I got a paintball jersey with my name on it and everything. I wore the pants I got in 2003 the other day playing paintball again. So, I’m still using them, and that’s a really old present.
Have a favorite Christmas cocktail?
Whiskey on the rocks.
How many cousins do you have and how do you remember all their names?
I don’t know the headcount at this point. At least 25 people stay at my aunt’s house at one time. They converted her attic into a bunk room, and so there’s a bunch of beds. And we’re sitting there listening to my aunt, uncle, mom, dad, and everybody’s snoring contest. All the kids are in there wanting to throw pillows at them. It’s a really fun experience.
Grownup table or kids’ table?
I like the kids’ table. Those were the days.
What’s your favorite cure for the winter blues?
I like to get outside, get bundled up in a coat and take the pup out for a stroll and get lost.
Which honky-tonks do you recommend for a Nashville Christmas?
Robert’s always. It’s one of my favorite bars in the world. I don’t have any tattoos, but I’ve always thought about getting the “R” stamp on my hand. Everybody should go there, get the sweet potato fries and listen to some throwback country music that you would have heard 40 years ago in Nashville.
If you could be a character in any Christmas film who would it be?
Clark Griswold. I’m clumsy in some ways, and he’s the most clumsy guy ever trying to put up Christmas lights and falling off ladders, going sledding and landing in parking lots.
What are some of your favorite games you play over the holidays?
My family and I played laser tag last year. We all put on onesies and played laser tag, and it was a lot of fun. I would do it again for sure.
My family is all about Cards Against Humanity.
The dirty version? No way! I love playing that game, but I would feel so uncomfortable playing that with my parents; especially my mom.
Your least favorite Christmas chore?
The dishes. There are so many of them at Christmas.
What do you get a guy like you who can seemingly have it all?
I’m not a material guy. So, it would have to be something I could use like a gift certificate to a yoga place because I love wellness. Socks are always my go-to.
Do your relatives give you a hard time for being single over the holidays?
Oh, yeah. That’s a tradition. “You got a lady in your life?” “Not this year, aunt Margaret. But it could happen next year.”
What advice do you have for the singles for surviving Christmas cuddle season?
Get a dog, play some Christmas music and cuddle up in your warm bed.