Joy for Christmas Day
2003 studio album by Kathy Mattea
Joy for Christmas Day is a studio album by American country artist, Kathy Mattea. It was released on September 30, 2003, via Narada Productions and contained 11 tracks. It was the thirteenth studio album in Mattea's career and her second album containing Christmas music. The album mixed both covers of Christmas tunes along with new material that featured writing credits from various songwriters. The disc made the American country albums chart and was received positively by critics following its release.
Background
Kathy Mattea was considered among country music's most commercially successful and respected artists during the eighties and nineties. She had a series of top ten singles, along with four that topped the country charts in North America. She had most of her commercial success while recording for the Nashville label, Mercury/PolyGram. In 2002, she left her contract so she should explore other genres outside of country. That year, she signed with Narada Productions and released the studio album, Roses.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Joy for Christmas Day” as 2003 studio album by Kathy Mattea. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 2003 studio album by Kathy Mattea. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6297303. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2003 and 2002.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Joy for Christmas Day”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Joy for Christmas Day primary sources, Joy for Christmas Day archive and Christmas research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joy for Christmas Day”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Joy for Christmas Day” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.