El Drifte Turns Holiday Cheer and Grief Into Two Rootsy Songs That Welcome Everyone to the Table

El Drifte lives in the messy middle of American roots music. Is it honky-tonk? Western swing? Roots rock? Punkabilly? Americana? The honest answer is yes. He folds those sounds together with the ease of someone who has spent years playing rooms of every size, and when he turns that approach toward the holidays, the music feels lived-in, welcoming, and sincere.

Minnesota born and bred, Texas refined, and road schooled the hard way, El Drifte brings decades of storytelling and stripped-down roots power to two seasonal releases that hold the season in both hands. One leans into joy and togetherness, the other into remembrance and longing. “Here the Holidays Is” and “This Year (Wishing You Were Still Here)” play as companion pieces, different moods, same beating heart.

“Here the Holidays Is” bursts in with arms wide open. It is a catchy, feel-good holiday anthem built on honky-tonk swing, a touch of Western jam energy, and folksy warmth. You can picture people bouncing around with arms interlocked, laughing, singing too loud, the whole room turning into a chorus. The message stays simple and universal: whatever holiday you celebrate, and even if you celebrate nothing at all, you are invited. Inclusivity is the point, and the only rule is to be excellent to each other.

The lyric video makes the same argument with pictures instead of slogans. It features people of many cultures and backgrounds meeting in a shared moment of peace, joy, love, and togetherness, the kind of atmosphere that can define Christmas and New Year for believers and nonbelievers alike. Lyrics drift across vibrant visuals, and the warmth matches the track’s bounce. The video has already pulled well over 69,000 views, which fits a song that refuses to treat the holidays as a closed club.

The band sells that sense of welcome. Dave Jacques plays bass, Billy Livsey handles piano and accordion, Brad Pemberton adds drums and sleigh bells, Justin Weaver covers all six-string guitars, and Katie Marshall sings background vocals. El Drifte leads on vocals with a performance that feels communal and celebratory, like he is singing to a room, not at an audience.

Where “Here the Holidays Is” throws open the doors, “This Year (Wishing You Were Still Here)” quietly pulls up a chair. It is a tender ballad for anyone moving through the holidays after losing someone they love. The song lets grief be grief, yet it keeps a thread of hope in the frame. You hear gratitude, fond memories, and the steady courage it takes to keep setting the table when someone’s chair is empty.

Even though the writing is painted with Christmas imagery, the feeling is non-religious and widely relatable. It reaches for the same timeless pull that gives classics like Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” their staying power. El Drifte captures the ache of wishing someone were still here while honoring what remains: love, memory, and the quiet ways people carry each other forward. Its lyric video, again with floating words over pointed visuals, has already surpassed 75,000 views, showing how widely it lands.

“This Year (Wishing You Were Still Here)” features Dave Jacques on bass, Billy Livsey on piano, organ, and keyboards, Brad Pemberton on drums, Justin Weaver on all six-string guitars, Kim Collins on background vocals, and El Drifte on lead vocals. His understated delivery carries every line with sincerity and grace, and the arrangement stays attentive, never crowding the lyric.

Together, these two releases show El Drifte at his most human, able to hold the joy and the ache that define the season. One track can blow the roof off a honky-tonk. The other can slow a dance floor down to a hush. Both end up doing what holiday music can do at its best, helping people feel less alone and a little more connected.

Check out these two beautiful, easy-to-live-with releases below.

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