Robby Johnson’s New Christmas Song

“Oh, Santa Please”

Gains Nearly 2 Million Streams

NASHVILLE — They say true inspiration comes from someplace else — It’s a gift from above. The song found me. It wrote itself. These are not silly notions, at least not for Nashville-based singer/songwriter Robby Johnson.

His new Christmas song, “Oh! Santa, Please” is out now via The Nashville Record Company, and with nearly 2 million streams it is a perfect addition to Christmas playlists. The song came to him in a dream… well, two dreams, in fact.

“I woke up one morning with this melody in my head, and it felt like a Christmas song. And then, during the day, the lyrics just started coming by themselves. Unlike other songs I wrote, everything was falling into place effortlessly. I don’t feel like I wrote it at all; it really just came to me,” says Johnson.

The artist got with his pal (Clarence Jey) to evaluate the song and tweak the arrangement. He then got with another pal (Danny Rader) to lay down some instruments. “The track was great, and the verses were there, but something felt out of place with the chorus and bridge. I actually got pretty upset with myself; I was on the brink of writing my first Christmas song, but I couldn’t get all the way,” he continues.

So, what does he do? He goes to bed, hoping his “guardian angel of songs” will visit and strike again. And it did. “I went to bed upset and questioning myself, but in my heart, I still profoundly believed that something extraordinary would prevail. I sent a request to the universe to help me finish my song. And when I woke up the following morning, my answer, or should I say my gift, was right there, resonating in my head. My eyes lit up. I giggled, took a liberating deep breath, and started singing:

  Santa, Santa, Santa
You know what I need
Santa, Santa, Santa
I’m begging you, please
Santa, Santa, Santa
You know I believe
Oh! I love it, I want it, you know that I need it
Santa, please  

“It was a real ‘Eureka!’ moment,” continues Johnson. “I booked the studio immediately, got a drum player (Wes Little), texted Danny, who got the sax player (Sam Levine) in and great female vocalists (April Rucker, Kristen Rogers, Maureen Murphy). Everyone in the room was like, ‘this is a classic.’ It is, by far, my favorite song I’ve ever written and recorded.”

It’s not surprising that “Oh! Santa, Please” came to him in such a magical way. It’s the perfect addition to Christmas playlists as it’s all about the magic of the season, which is Johnson’s favorite time of year. From the time his kids understood Christmas to when they grew up and appreciated the spirit of giving, this consummate storyteller would do everything in his power to make them believe that Santa Claus and his reindeer had arrived.

“Oh, boy, you name it, I did it,” he laughs, recalling those special times. “I made dirty boot steps and left a white hair and said they were Santa’s. I left carrots for the reindeer and then ate half before they woke up. I even left a Santa glove behind, and of course, Santa’s presents for them had to be wrapped in wrapping paper not used for any other gift. It’s really a magical time. They’re teenagers now, so now I get to celebrate them with a song instead.”

His love for Christmas and his family is what inspired his first Christmas offerings — covers of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the classic “Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer,” in 2015. But as the artist grew as a songwriter, his bucket list included writing a Christmas classic by himself.

“Along my songwriting journey, I came to a place where I stopped trying to make it happen and just let it come to me. Sit with the idea a little longer, and let the song be what it wants to be. I think this happened in my dreams because there are no walls up when you’re asleep and dreaming. You are more open to letting things in,” he adds.

Johnson burst into country music with his hit, “South of Me.” It was the first single from his debut album Don’t Look Back, which hit the Top 20 at country radio, landed him a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, and won the CMT Pure 12 Pack Countdown several weeks in a row. He has come a long way as a songwriter since that 2016 debut. In addition to his previous Christmas recordings and debut album, he released a second album, Alive Right Now, opened for Keith Urban, and embarked on a headlining tour. Over the years, he has written with some of Nashville’s best songwriters and worked with such renowned producers as Jimmy Nichols (Faith Hill, Elton John), James Stroud (Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire), and currently musician, producer, songwriter, and CMA Award & CMA Country Christmas Musical Director, Danny Rader.

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“Oh! Santa, Please”

Available at

Apple Music – music.apple.com/us/album/oh-santa-please-single/1650642492

Facebook – fb.watch/gB0vwdIMOs/

Spotify – open.spotify.com/album/3X46wAt1RvxiMSwVNL0uuq?si=G-40IZYjQYqOsIREXHrPgQ