While classic Christmas carols are the soundtrack for the season for many, Dec. 12 the Russellville Middle School Chorus Concert is going to feature a different take on Christmas – with a Southern twang.

Russellville City Schools music director Emily Rush said the theme this year is a country Christmas, featuring a deep redneck undertone.

“I think this concert is a little more lighthearted than what we normally do, and the kids have really gotten into it,” Rush said. “It’s just felt like it came easy for them – even the ones who aren’t as into country music.”

This concert will spotlight the sixth-grade chorus and the seventh-and-eighth-grade chorus, with additional performances by the Russellville High School choral students and the RHS Acapella Ensemble. The show will also feature a sneak peek at the show Frozen Jr.

Country Christmas begins at 7 p.m. in the RCS Auditorium, with $5 admission. The show will feature more than 150 students from RCS total.

Rush said the show will include more popular songs, such as “Christmas in Dixie,” but it will also feature less well-known songs that are more lighthearted.

Rush said until she began searching country Christmas songs, she was unaware how many options there were. Some of the favorites from the show are “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” “Grandma’s Killer Fruitcake” and the chorus’ own version of “The 12 Redneck Days of Christmas.”

Rush said the show has a certain goofy characteristic to it the students are not necessarily used to having in shows.

“These kids have just had so much fun with this show,” Rush said. “I will look up in class and see these kids singing and dancing, and they can’t not smile. I think about certain kids – I look up, and every day in class, they’ve got this big grin on.”