no longer depressed about the weather

fire up the wood stove and turn on the cider dudes

FAITH EVANS' A FAITHFUL CHRISTMAS
SET FOR OCTOBER 25th RELEASE

Album Features Two Original Songs And Nine Classics, Including
"White Christmas," "Santa Baby," "O Come All Ye Faithful" And Songs
Penned By James Brown, Donny Hathaway And Frank Sinatra


Leave it to the first lady of R&B to put some soul back into the holiday season. On A Faithful Christmas, due in stores October 25th, Grammy-winner Faith Evans wraps her legendary voice around such standards as "Merry Christmas Baby," "White Christmas," "Santa Baby," "Christmas Song" Sinatra's "Mistletoe And Holly" and the beloved Christmas carol "O Come All Ye Faithful." But she also includes several gems that haven't been as widely recorded: "Soulful Christmas," which James Brown co-wrote and recorded in the 1960s, "The Day That Love Began," which appeared on late '60s/early '70s holiday records by Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and "This Christmas," written by Donny Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor. A Faithful Christmas features production from Todd Russaw, Kowan "Q" Paul, Gil Smith II and PJ Morton.

Evans further salutes the godfather of soul, sampling Brown's "Soulful Christmas" on her cover of the song and his version of "Merry Christmas Baby" on "Christmas Wish," a new song that Evans co-wrote for the album. The collection leads off with another original - "Happy Holiday," written by Evans and Chyna Griffin. "Happy Holiday" is rooted firmly in the present, celebrating the season yet acknowledging the ephemeral nature of happiness and the plight of those who are literally left out in the cold at this time of year.

2005 has been a remarkable year for Evans. The First Lady, her Capitol debut and the follow-up to her 2001 Platinum release, Faithfully, has turned out to be the highest-charting album of her career (it debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 in April), leading to appearances on 'The Late Show With David Letterman," "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," "Today" and "The View" and yielding three hit singles - "Again," "Mesmerized" and "Tru Love."