Beth came to "Ornaments" by way of Janis Ian. On Janis' song Emmanuel, Beth sings with Janis and Kye. When we found that out, we thought, well, why not see if she wants to bring her own present to the table. She was very interested, and sent us this beautiful version of Ave Maria, which she told us she "recorded in the hallway of my house on my 4-track recorder. It's as close as I can get to St. Patrick's Cathedral in my house, with all the natural reverb."

She went on to tell us about why she loves this song. "I've actually thought of Ave Maria as a great Christmas Song even though it's not considered to be that. It's a song about the mother. I think that's why it resonates with everyone of every religion, because everyone has a mother. It's a beautiful hymn to the mother. It's a very important experience that we know our mothers and so many people don't--it's a huge issue in the world."

Then, of course, Herdman, Hills and Mangsen had a beautiful version of Beth's song Years for us, and that means we had a Beth Nielsen Chapman triple play! For her thoughts on that tune and Janis Ian's Emmanuel, check out those pages.

Learn more about Beth Nielsen Chapman at bethnielsenchapman.com.