The CMA Ontario-nominated duo put a fresh country-rock spin on a beloved Christmas classic.
Canadian country duo Amanda & James are getting into the holiday spirit with a fresh take on “Jingle Bell Rock,” arriving December 4, 2026. Blending their signature harmonies with lively guitars, sparkling piano, and a touch of pedal steel, the duo are bringing their country-rock sound to one of the season’s most recognizable songs.
Rather than reinventing the holiday favourite entirely, Amanda & James embrace its familiar festive energy while adding the musical chemistry that has helped them establish themselves on the Canadian country scene.
Amanda & James Jingle Bell Rock Brings a Country-Rock Twist to Christmas
With its upbeat arrangement and warm harmonies, the upcoming release offers listeners a new way to enjoy a timeless Christmas classic.
The holiday single also marks another chapter for Amanda & James, who have earned two consecutive CMA Ontario Award nominations for Group or Duo of the Year and accumulated more than one million career streams.
Their growing catalogue showcases a duo equally comfortable exploring heartfelt emotions and celebrating life’s lighter moments.
Amanda & James Jingle Bell Rock Follows Their Emotional Single “I Don’t Love You”
Before turning their attention to Christmas music, Amanda & James released “I Don’t Love You,” a heartfelt country single exploring the complicated emotions of moving on from a relationship.
Drawing on personal experience and ’90s country-pop influences, the song captures the struggle of convincing yourself that you’ve moved forward, even when your heart hasn’t quite caught up.
The contrast between the emotional honesty of “I Don’t Love You” and the festive energy of “Jingle Bell Rock” highlights the duo’s musical versatility.
With their Christmas release approaching, Canadian Beats caught up with Amanda & James to discuss their holiday recording, musical partnership, songwriting, and what’s next for the rising Canadian country duo.
Amanda & James Jingle Bell Rock – An Exclusive Canadian Beats Interview
Hi Amanda & James! It’s great to catch up with you! For readers who may be discovering your music for the first time, can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little about how Amanda & James came together?
Thanks for having us! We’re Amanda Kind and James Downham, a country music duo from Southern Ontario with a love of big melodies, close harmonies, and songs that make you feel something. We were both pursuing solo careers when we started collaborating. From our first recording together, “We’re Okay,” there was something about the way our voices fit that kept us coming back for more. Since officially joining forces in 2024, we’ve received two consecutive CMAOntario Award nominations for Group or Duo of the Year. It’s been an exciting start, and we’re putting a lot of work into what comes next.
You’re putting your own country-rock spin on the holiday classic “Jingle Bell Rock,” arriving December 4. What made this particular Christmas song the one you wanted to record?
It’s almost impossible to hear “Jingle Bell Rock” without getting into the Christmas spirit. It’s playful, it swings, and it gives us plenty of room to bring our personalities into the recording. Amanda picked “Last Christmas” for our holiday release last year, so James got to choose this time. Apparently, taking turns is useful in both kindergarten and the music business.
We knew how we were going to approach the song right away: old-school rock ’n’ roll guitars, bright piano, pedal steel, sleigh bells, and big soaring harmonies. Our producer, Matt Koebel, brought that vision to life beautifully. There’s even some spoken banter in the track that we always intended to take out but we love the authenticity it brings to the song. This is our third Christmas release together, following our original, “In The Mood For Christmas,” and “Last Christmas.” We’re enjoying building a little holiday catalogue of our own.
Christmas music has a special way of bringing back memories. Does “Jingle Bell Rock” hold any personal significance for either of you, or is there another holiday song that instantly takes you back to your childhood?
For James, this song brings back memories of Christmas at home with his family: decorating the tree, being outside on a snowy day, and all that anticipation you have as a kid. Christmas music becomes attached to those memories in such a powerful way. A few notes can take you straight back to a particular feeling. That was something we wanted to carry into our version. We kept the melody and the familiar charm people love, then brought our own energy to the arrangement. Hopefully, it becomes a soundtrack to a few new memories too. If someone ends up dancing around the kitchen with a wooden spoon for a microphone, we fully support that level of commitment.
Your recent single, “I Don’t Love You,” explores the struggle of convincing yourself you’ve moved on from heartbreak when your heart isn’t quite there yet. What inspired the song, and how did that personal experience shape the writing process?
We drew on past experiences with wanting something you know you shouldn’t want, or wishing your feelings would disappear simply because you’ve decided they’re inconvenient. Most people have had that conversation with themselves: “I’m fine. I’m over it. This is absolutely not bothering me.” Very convincing, right up until you say it for the seventeenth time. We wrote the song with Lisa McEwen, who has a wonderful feel for the relationship between a lyric and a melody. We wanted the chorus to reveal the emotion the words are trying to deny. You hear “I don’t love you,” but you feel how much the person still does. Having two voices adds another dimension to that tension. We love songs that give us something emotionally meaningful to sing together, and this one lets the vulnerability come through in both the melody and the harmonies.
Your music draws on ’90s country-pop influences while maintaining your own modern sound. Which artists or songs from that era have had the biggest influence on your musical direction?
For Amanda, Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes, and Faith Hill are huge influences. For James, it’s Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, and Brooks & Dunn. Those artists could deliver a massive chorus while making you believe every word, and that combination has stayed with us. We love strong storytelling, expressive vocals, and melodies you want to sing again as soon as the song ends. Coming together after having solo careers has given us a lot to draw from. We sometimes hear different possibilities in a song, so there’s plenty of creative discussion. But we’re always aligned on strong melodies, tight harmonies, and giving the lyric an honest delivery. That foundation lets us explore so many different sounds and styles of country.
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