Composer and pianist Paul Sullivan, of Brooklin, has had a long and successful career in the music industry, winning a Grammy Award in 2005 for his work on the best New Age album Silver Solstice by Paul Winter Consort & Friends. Yuletide, one of Sullivan’s numerous individual albums, was released this year and features Christmas classics retold from Sullivan’s creative and unique perspective with piano, flute, cello, and percussion. From “We Three Kings” to the original “4:30 a.m.,” this CD is an upbeat addition to any Mainer’s Christmas collection.

One of Maine’s most famous singer-songwriters, Don Campbell, came out with a CD of fourteen Christmas classics plus four original songs in 2002. With country twang and rock beats, A Don Campbell Christmas delivers all the feel-good holiday songs with a dose of energy and pizzazz. Plus you can listen live at one of Campbell’s many Maine concerts during the holiday season. If you still can’t get enough, look for a new Christmas CD in 2010.

The Sea Captains call themselves a seacoast band, performing up and down the coasts of Maine and New Hampshire. They released their first full-length album just this October but last year created a three song EP entitled Crust and Slush, available at Bull Moose Music stores across the state. The pop/rock/funk style of this up-and-coming band gives the three original holiday songs a distinctly fun-loving, light-hearted feel that will have you singing and bopping as you slosh through the snow.

“That’s the spirit of Maine at Christmastime, from her mountains to her great Atlantic shore.” If these lyrics make your holiday heart soar, Christmas in Maine, the twentieth anniversary edition, is the album for you. Featuring Maine artists as varied as Noel Paul Stookey and the Windham Chamber Singers, this holiday collection represents an array of styles and includes the classics as well as surprises like “The Maine Christmas Song” in French! Plus a portion of the proceeds go to the Maine Credit Union Campaign for Ending Hunger.