Casting Crowns recently wrapped a fall tour of postponed dates originally meant to happen in 2020. The rescheduled run featured their longtime friend and frequent songwriting collaborator, Matthew West. Now, the two-time K-LOVE Fan Award-winning band is set to headline the 2021 K-LOVE Christmas Tour along with Mac Powell, CAIN, Dante Bowe, Jordan St. Cyr and The Skit Guys. The beloved group is sure to share a host of songs from their full-length Christmas collection, Peace On Earth (2008), and 2017’s holiday EP, It’s Finally Christmas. In addition, chances are good Casting Crowns will treat fans to a selection of regular hits, including their current single, “Scars In Heaven,” a moving tribute to loved ones lost.
WATCH NOW: “Scars In Heaven” (Official Music Video)
RELATED CONTENT: Casting Crowns Releases “Scars In Heaven,” Song First Debuted at 2021 K-LOVE Fan Awards
In between tour rehearsals, KLOVE.com caught up with Casting Crowns’ leading ladies, pianist Megan Garrett and violinist Melodee DeVevo, for a Christmas edition of “21 Questions.” The two talented women filled us in on a ’90s Christmas engagement, how much they’re looking forward to hanging out with CAIN’s Madison and Taylor on tour, and the one member of Casting Crowns who is guaranteed to have Hanson on repeat all December long.
KLOVE.com: Favorite Christmas memory of all time?
Megan Garrett: I have so, so many. I love how I have so many wonderful years and memories to look back on while also eagerly anticipating the new memories that will be made!
Melodee DeVevo: Questions 1 and 2 go together for me. Best Christmas memory and gift are when Juan [guitar player for Casting Crowns] asked me to marry him on Christmas Day in 1998.
KLOVE.com: Best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
Megan Garrett: I got a shiny, red Jeep Wrangler with big tires for Christmas when I was a senior in high school. I’m the youngest of four children, so my brother and sisters LOVE to call me the “favorite child” because of that gift. (I honestly think it was because my dad always wanted a Jeep, and he finally had a child who wanted one, too. So he made it happen!)
Melodee DeVevo: Engagement ring from Juan. I had opened many presents, and he handed me the last one in a little box, and I started crying.
KLOVE.com: One reason you’re excited to be a part of this year’s K-LOVE Christmas Tour?
Megan Garrett: I’m a big fan of Christmas AND every artist on this tour!
Melodee DeVevo: One reason I’m excited, besides Christmas being my fave, is that joy and hope are in low supply, I think, from the events of this past year. I’m excited to be a part of something purposefully bringing that to people.
KLOVE.com: Christmas song you wish you’d written?
Megan Garrett: “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.”
Melodee DeVevo: “Be Born In Me” from The Story. I love it so much and sing it nearly every year at our church in McDonough, Ga.
WATCH NOW: "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" Live
KLOVE.com: One Christmas movie you watch every single year?
Megan Garrett: It’s A Wonderful Life. My dad used to make us watch it every year, and I HATED it. Having lost my dad, I now love it, because it reminds me of him. My husband watched it all the way through for the first time last year, and I have a video of him sobbing like a baby!
Melodee DeVevo: Juan and I have a tradition of watching A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve while wrapping the kids’ presents.
KLOVE.com: Favorite Christmas food?
Megan Garrett: Cookies!
Melodee DeVevo: Cinnamon rolls!
KLOVE.com: Christmas tradition you wish you had carried into adulthood?
Megan Garrett: Going to a Christmas tree farm and cutting down our tree was my favorite childhood tradition. My husband isn’t a fan of real trees, so I don’t get to carry on that tradition.
Melodee DeVevo: I can’t think of one that we did that I haven’t done as an adult.
KLOVE.com: Most meaningful ornament on your tree?
Megan Garrett: I change my decorations constantly. I think my most meaningful is a silver and gold ornament that my husband and I received our first Christmas as a married couple.
Melodee DeVevo: That’s a hard one. There is our first ornament as a married couple, the kids’ first ornaments, but also some homemade ones by my brother and I when we were little—so I can’t decide.
KLOVE.com: Family recipe or treat that’s only made during the holidays?
Megan Garrett: My buckeye bark. It’s basically two slabs of chocolate with a peanut butter mixture in the middle!
Melodee DeVevo: Ambrosia—oranges, pineapple, bananas, coconut, pecans and maraschino cherries all mixed together in the orange juice.
KLOVE.com: Strangest place you’ve ever spent Christmas?
Megan Garrett: When I was young, my dad lost his corporate job, and being the amazing father and provider he was, he found the first job he could to provide for his wife and four children—Waffle House. I remember sitting in a Waffle House booth, opening our presents, while my dad had to work on Christmas morning. My family now has the tradition to eat a late night meal at Waffle House on Christmas to remember my dad.
Melodee DeVevo: I’ve never spent Christmas in a weird place. I’m always home or at family’s houses.
KLOVE.com: Finish this sentence. It’s not Christmas until…
Megan Garrett: We put the nativity scene out!
Melodee DeVevo: I make cinnamon rolls!
KLOVE.com: All-time favorite Christmas song?
Megan Garrett: “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”
Melodee DeVevo: Probably “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The melody is so haunting. I love playing it on the violin.
KLOVE.com: Artist you’re most excited to get to know on the K-LOVE Christmas Tour (and why)?
Megan Garrett: CAIN—they seem to be a walking party!
Melodee DeVevo: CAIN! I just think the girls are so sweet, and I think we would be friends.
RELATED CONTENT: 21 Questions Christmas Edition with CAIN on Family Traditions, Epic Treats and Unique Ornaments
KLOVE.com: If you can’t be home for the holidays, the only place you’d rather be?
Megan Garrett: Anywhere with my husband and children.
Melodee DeVevo: My mom’s house, ‘cause she makes the best food!
KLOVE.com: Favorite passage of Scripture from the Christmas story?
Megan Garrett: Luke 2
Melodee DeVevo: Isaiah 9:1-7
KLOVE.com: Christmas music before or after Thanksgiving?
Megan Garrett: After!
Melodee DeVevo: After!
KLOVE.com: Funniest family Christmas story/memory?
Megan Garrett: When I was little, my dad dressed up like Santa and came in the front door with a bag of presents for me, my siblings and all my cousins. When he sat down to talk to me, I said, “My dad has a watch just like that!” And he immediately jumped up and yelled, “Welp, it’s time to head back to the North Pole! Merry Christmas!” And he ran out the front door! It obviously wasn’t until I was older that I realized it actually WAS my dad and not the real Santa!
Melodee DeVevo: My brother and I were sleeping on the floor in his room, and our aunt was in his bed. We had made a plan to sneak out of the room on Christmas Eve night and go see what we had gotten. Veeeerrry slowly, we snuck out of the room—careful not to make a sound—and went and looked at everything and silently played with anything that wasn’t wrapped. We decided to go back to bed, and veeeerrry slowly and silently again (so we thought), went back to our sleeping bags in his room. When we were both finally still and completely quiet, my aunt said, “Get anything good?” We were so startled, we both gasped, and then all of us started laughing.
KLOVE.com: Artist you’d most love to record a Christmas duet with?
Megan Garrett: Babbie Mason. She’s my favorite! Maybe “Go Tell It On The Mountain”?
Melodee DeVevo: Alison Krauss, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
KLOVE.com: Christmas record you have on repeat all December?
Megan Garrett: Laugh and MMMBop all you want, but I actually love Hanson’s newest Christmas album, Finally It’s Christmas (2017)!
Melodee DeVevo: Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack!
KLOVE.com: White lights or colored lights?
Megan Garrett: Both!
Melodee DeVevo: Grew up with colored, then had only white for a long time. Just got a tree that can switch between both!
KLOVE.com: What Christmas means to you?
Megan Garrett: The fullness of God’s promise and provision in the form of the most selfless act of love. The most loving Father gifted His only Son as an innocent baby just for me and you.
Melodee DeVevo: Christmas means hope to me.
Grab your tickets to see Casting Crowns live on the 2021 K-LOVE Christmas Tour here.
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