Among the glut of annual holiday releases, only a handful actually provide enough warmth and integrity to merit repeated listening. Most of these concept albums are slick, overproduced, commercial attempts to cash in on the crazed holiday spending bonanza that begins immediately following Thanksgiving. Fortunately, violinist Theresa Andersson, and guitarists David Doucet and John Fohl have avoided a majority of these trappings to create a warm, earthy Christmas album entitled Peace Stories. Its spare arrangements and gentle rustic mood stand out amongst novelty numbers of the “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” variety. An instrumental medley which includes “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” “We Three Kings” and “What Child Is This?” is the centerpiece of Peace Stories with interwoven acoustic guitar strumming and Andersson’s crisp violin providing the familiar melodies. The country gospel standard “Peace In the Valley” is given a sympathetic treatment with ringing three-part harmony and a laid back arrangement. Unfortunately, the title track is a bit too cornbally Nashville for my taste, and the John Fohl original “A Carol a Day” bleeds with overly gushy, sentimental schtick. All is forgiven with the lively Cajun tune “Il Est Ne, le Divin Enfant” and a gorgeous National steel guitar-flavored “Silent Night.”

While not exactly breaking any new ground, Peace Stories still manages to be a rarity among the standard holiday music fare with its no frills production and sparse acoustic elegance.