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Ever wonder what some of your favorite musicians’ holiday traditions are?

Us, too!

That’s why we reached out to a number of those amazing, heartfelt songwriters we adore to get a little window into how they celebrate the holidays. Whether it be caroling around the fireplace or baking cookies for the family, we wanted to see what folks like Allison Russell, Charo, Big Freedia, and Chris Ballew might do around the 25th of December.

So, without further ado, let’s look get some musical holiday stories!

The first time musicians Jason Boland and Shooter Jennings met was a night to remember.

The two were each set to play with their bands at a show in Wichita Falls, Texas. But Jennings and his crew were delayed. In fact, they’d been picked up for possession of pot when they crossed the Baylor County line on the way to the gig, Jennings explains. They were “thrown in jail” and later released by a judge in time to still make the performance. As Boland remembers, the tardy entrance gave Jennings a whole lot of “cool points” and gave the night a little extra energy. (Jennings chuckles about the experience today.)

Ever since then, the two have been friends. Together, they plan video game sessions as well as musical ones. It’s a relationship born from collaboration—Boland was the first person to ever ask Jennings if he’d produce his record. Today, Jennings has earned Grammys for his production work. And now the two are set to release their latest collab, Jason Boland & The Stragglers’ new conceptual LP, The Light Saw Me, which is out Friday (December 3).

For those who grew up in the 1980s, the names Sharon, Lois & Bram have a special meaning. The trio, which first rose to fame in their home country of Canada and then later in the United States, created the acclaimed television program The Elephant Show, which featured the three, and an unnamed person inside an elephant costume, playing music and learning life lessons. Think Mr. Rogers with more settings and songs. Thanks to the show, which became a hit in reruns in the U.S. on Nickelodeon after its five seasons aired up north, the three were later made members of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor. (Sadly, Lois Lilienstein died in 2015.) Fans of the trio, both young and old, can now climb into a time machine and enjoy live versions of their biggest hits on the new LP, Sharon, Lois & Bram Best of the Best Live, which is out today (November 19).

Golden-voiced soul singer Allen Stone remembers the day he wrote the lyrics for his song, “Unaware.” It was ten years ago in Los Angeles in a recording studio with just one other collaborator. At the time, while he was happy about the work, it was also just one of about 25 songs Stone had put together for his debut self-titled 2011 LP. Funny how something that seems relatively unremarkable can turn into a life-changing moment.

For Stone, who has been thinking about “Unaware” and other early compositions due to the forthcoming release of his latest LP, the acoustic APART, on November 12, the heartfelt, emotive track has since changed his life.

The founding members of the indie rock band, The Moldy Peaches, met at an open mic for middle schoolers in Westchester County, New York. Later, they formed a friendship and creative partnership in a record store in that same small town when Kimya Dawson was around 20 years old and Adam Green was about 13.

Despite their age difference, the two became pals. Dawson was used to being around kids as a summer camp counselor. Her mother was an elementary school teacher and her parents ran a daycare center in their home. Consequently, there were seemingly always children running around the house, even when Dawson was writing and recording her bedroom songs. In fact, some of her early solo work included kids humming along. Not to mention, she’s got a childlike spirit as prominent as any other feature.

For Green, he was in awe. Dawson, who had grown up locally, went to college on the other side of the country in Olympia, Washington, before moving back to New York State. She knew people he’d only read about in books, like Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna. But when they began plucking and plunking out little songs together in the record store, that’s when the real creative magic between the two friends commenced.

Now, fans of the acclaimed indie band can hear those early songs with the release of their new collection The Moldy Peaches – Origin Story: 1994-1999, which is out on February 25.

When hip-hop was still in its infancy, the popular rock band Blondie was there in support. Many can pose that they were there, but Blondie, which was founded by and comprised primarily of singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein, was taking trips from Manhattan to the Bronx, meeting with early rappers, DJs, graffiti artists, breakers and absorbing the culture.

Both Harry and Stein followed their curiosities and, as such, Blondie was one of the first mainstream groups to introduce rapping to the populous. The band was excellent at playing, melding, and jumping genres, from rock to disco and rap. The band’s smash hit, “Rapture,” featured Harry rapping, influenced by the famed emcee Fab 5 Freddy.

In Seattle, an important, perhaps genre-defining conversation has been going for the past six months about one local artist more than any other. That person is not Macklemore or Ryan Lewis, Ann or Nancy Wilson, Kurt Cobain or Jimi Hendrix. It’s Bam Bam frontwoman, Tina Bell.

Haven’t heard of her? You’re not alone.

For as long as they’ve known each other, brothers Sean and Robin Pecknold have been influencing each other, for the better. The two, who are five years apart in age (Sean is older), have, in their own ways, been pushing one another towards success—From Robin’s infancy when Sean wanted to play with his new baby brother and Robin copying Sean’s baseball uniforms hand-drawing his own numbers on white t-shirts to look like his older bro, to the two collaborating on music videos for the now-famous Grammy-nominated band Fleet Foxes, which Robin started in Seattle. Sean is driven by Robin’s songwriting, whether he’s working on a new video for Fleet Foxes, or not, and Robin remains forever impacted by his brother’s guidance and decision making. It’s a heartening bond in a world that can forget how crucial substance is over swath, family over fame.

And it’s something the brothers continue to celebrate today, even after the release of Fleet Foxes’ most recent LP, Shore, in September.

Through the swirls of life, perhaps some things don’t much change. Perhaps, if we’re lucky, bonds like friendship subsist through the years and all that’s within them. If so, it must be because of some magic, or something intangible; a truly special quality. For artists Hollis (aka Hollis Wong-Wear) and Ryan Lewis, that connection is solidified through hard work and collaboration. It’s funny; sometimes the best aspects of friendships aren’t about the friendship, itself. It’s about what you do together, what you make with your hands and minds.

For Hollis and Lewis, that includes Grammy Award-winning work on the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis album, The Heist, on which Hollis is featured (see: “White Walls”) and in elaborate music videos (see: “Wings”). Hollis’ latest solo single, “Let Me Not,” was co-written with Lewis. That creative occasion, for Hollis, was the sole effort of late that she conducted masked-face-to-masked-face. Hey, anything for a friend, right?