Amy Grant and Vince Gill have a Christmas gift for their fans

There are a few holiday traditions in Middle Tennessee that locals never miss: Dickens Of A Christmas in Franklin, Tennessee; the lavish holiday makeover at the Gaylord Opryland Resort; and Vince Gill and Amy Grant’s annual Christmas residency at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium.

The Tennessee-based power couple married nearly twenty-five years ago, but have largely kept their musical careers separate—except for a series of live concerts that sell out almost instantly every Christmas season.

2024 marks the musicians’ 14th annual “Christmas at the Ryman” residency, bringing their total to over 100 holiday concerts. Grant told PEOPLE that the performances are “a beautiful, easy way to celebrate community, family, faith and hometown, and we all get to do it together.”

Gill added that it feels good to see how the community responds to the annual concerts as a kick-off to the holiday season. “It is part of their tradition. It means something to them. It feels really good in your heart to go, hey, people like this. People want to come and see it, and people get a lot out of it,” he said.

However, there is something extra special about this year’s celebrations – Gill and Grant have released their first ever joint Christmas album, When I think of Christmas. It’s a love letter to the season that brought them together way back in December 1993, the outlet reported, when Gill asked Grant to be a performer on his TV holiday show. (Grant later asked Gill to perform at one of her benefit shows, and the two became fast friends. They married in 2000.)

Grant, who gained popularity for his Christmas music much earlier, first recorded because of the season’s connection to faith. “Christmas is the one time of year when everyone feels comfortable saying ‘Jesus.’ Faith in me made it so natural to say, ‘Oh, let’s write songs about this.’ So yeah, it’s the gift of love,” she told PEOPLE. The new album features two of her beloved Christmas hits, both of which she co-wrote: “Breath of Heaven (Mary’s Song)” and “Tennessee Christmas.”

When I think of Christmas features eleven songs, including nine previous recordings plus two brand new tracks. The final song is a duet of “‘Til the Season Comes Round Again,” a ballad the pair usually sings to end their holiday show. It was originally recorded by Gill for his first Christmas album in 1993.

“Christmas music is a portal to wonder and awe, to nostalgia and ‘remember when,’ to hope and how-we-wish-it-could-be,” Grant said in a press release. “And because we return to the same playlists year after year, these songs have become the backdrop to our collective memories of gathering, of family, of gift-giving, of celebration and loneliness… I hope these new songs find a place in playlists, whether it’s during the holiday season or all year round.”

The new album is available digitallyon CD and on festive green vinyl. A limited edition red vinyl will be sold exclusively at Gill and Grant’s holiday residency at the Ryman and the Official Artist Store.

“There’s nothing in the world that I love more than to see my girl shine, and she shines perhaps the brightest when she’s making Christmas music,” Gill said in the release. “We’ve shared stages together for over 30 years and I’ve loved every note of it. I hope everyone enjoys this collection of songs and hearing Amy shine.”

We won’t turn down this early Christmas gift from two of our favorite southerners!