Scotty McCreery will release a new album, "Christmas with Scotty McCreery," on Oct. 16 that features many of the holiday songs that have played an important role in his life, as well as two exciting new originals that he hopes will have a place in many Christmases to come.

McCreery's goal for his Christmas album was to create a body of work that makes people feel good and celebrate the birth of Jesus. The album embraces the traditional country sound for which McCreery has become known, but he also stretches his boundaries a bit to showcase songs with a more rocking feel, like "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Santa Claus Is Back in Town," and even create a musical atmosphere reminiscent of the Rat Pack on some songs.

Deciding which songs to record was the most difficult part of the process because there are so many great Christmas standards. "I knew of a few that I just had to do, like 'Mary, Did You Know?' and 'The First 'Noel.' Then we heard some originals that blew me away and it was a no-brainer to put them on the album. When I heard 'Christmas in Heaven,' I listened to the first verse and automatically said, 'You can stop it. That is on the 'album,' he explained.

The other new song is called "Christmas Comin' Round Again." He says, "That's just a great story about Christmas time and really just lifting 'people's spirits. Times may be tough, but during Christmas, it needs to be a happy 'time."

Standards on the album include "Winter Wonderland, "Jingle Bells," "Let It Snow," "The Christmas Song" and "O Holy 'Night."  "With me being such a huge Elvis fan, I had to have one Elvis song, so I chose "Santa Claus Is Back in Town,'" he added.

McCreery recently made his first entry into the Guinness World Records Book for being the youngest male to enter the U.S. album charts at No. 1. In 2011, his debut album, "Clear As Day," premiered atop the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart and was certified platinum for sales of 1 million copies in just three months.  The album's first two singles, "I Love You This Big" and "The Trouble With Girls," were certified gold.

The album garnered the highest sales of any country solo album released last year and held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart for six weeks. He was named New Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards and the American Country Awards.