Xmas in July for Sheryl Crow

While the rest of us are sweltering in the summer heat (or hiding from it with the help of air conditioning!), rocker Sheryl Crow is busy getting herself in the Yuletide mood, working on her first-ever holiday-themed CD.

"I had been wanting to do this for a while, so when the opportunity came up I just kind of jumped at it," Sheryl explains in an interview with Billboard. "I love Christmas music; every year we have this ritual after the Christmas Eve service, 40 or 50 people come over to the house and we play Christmas music. We pretty much rely on the same Christmas music every year, and every year I've said, 'I'm gonna make some Christmas music of my own.'"

Sheryl describes the album, which will go on sale at Hallmark Gold Crown stores in September, as a "humble record," which will feature some new takes on old classics like "Oh, Holy Night" and "White Christmas."

Additionally, she explains, some of the songs selected are more timely. "We've got a lot of young kids who are overseas and away from their families," Sheryl explains. "So we're doing 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' and 'The Bells of St. Mary,' because they're about somebody being away."

And as for recording Christmas music in July? Well, Sheryl says that working in Los Angeles makes it much easier. "It's never been chilly when I've been here, or rainy. It's mostly been sunny, the Christmas seasons that I've been here. That's just Christmas in L.A."