David Phelps brings a touch of home to the opening date of his One Wintry Night tour on Dec. 4 at Youngstown’s Highway Tabernacle.

The Christian music vocalist’s concert will be similar to his annual Christmas Barn Bash at his family farm just outside of Nashville. This year’s event took place last weekend.

“There’s a lot of the same kind of songs,” he said during a recent phone interview. “First of all, we do all Christmas, all the time. Once Thanksgiving is passed, it is a Christmas tour. So, if people want to come out for a night of great Christmas music, we try to do all the standards that we can, and some of the newer ones that I’ve written over the years that people enjoy hearing as well. It’s a really good mix that gets people into the Christmas spirit.”

While Phelps sings originals on his two holiday releases — “One Wintry Night” and “It Must Be Christmas” — his takes on classic tunes and three octave vocal range make them distinctively his own.

“I try to keep the magic of the songs because we fell in love with them for a reason, but I definitely want to put my spin on them. We try to present them in a way that it feels fresh. That’s really my goal.”

“O Holy Night” remains in its familiar traditional setting, while numbers such as the Broadway pop of the Phelps-penned “If Everyone Believed” and “Christmas Rush,” acoustic jazz on “Blue Christmas” and “Tennessee Christmas,” harmonica-drenched “Silent Night” that evokes an evening in the desert with only the Star of Bethlehem to illuminate the sky and a vocal section reminiscent of Queen during “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” reinvigorate the well-worn holiday music catalog.

“I’ve always loved arranging vocals, and so that was one of the things I set out to do on the “One Wintry Night” project, to make it very vocal-centric.”

He added, “I love the message of Christmas. I love the family gathering around, having our traditions all together, and I love the celebration of the birth of Jesus. So, I love to try to help people listen to all these great Christmas songs with new ears.”

While he aims to create joyful moments for others with the One Wintry Night concert, Phelps recalled happy times with his family, particularly his four children, during past Christmastimes.

“When they were all young, those were such magic years, when you’re helping create this wonderful memory that they’ll have for the rest of their lives. Those years were definitely special, when the kids were waking us up too early on Christmas morning, running downstairs, all that kind of stuff. Those were awesome.”

With a degree in vocal performance from Baylor University, he spent two stints with the Gaither Vocal Band, winning 12 Dove Awards with the group and receiving three Grammy Award nominations, before giving all his focus on a solo career, and getting another Grammy nomination.

Despite releasing 18 studio and live albums since 1994, Phelps finds that he’s most comfortable onstage.

“I’m a tour guy. Everything for me in my career is focused towards live performance. So, when I go into the studio, it’s to feed what we do live.”

Bringing it back to his current tourdates, he said, “My best memories are when on stage, when we’re able to guide an audience through this wonderful story of families gathering together and celebrate all the wonderful iconic things we do at Christmas, walking through the snow or decorating a Christmas tree, and then bringing it around to the message that a savior was born for us on that day, and that gives us hope to live the new year.

“Christmas to me is really about new beginnings, and I hope that we are

able to share that with people.”

If you go …

WHO: David Phelps

WHEN: 7 p.m. Dec. 4

WHERE: Highway Tabernacle, 3000 S. Raccoon Road, Austintown

HOW MUCH: $35 general admission and $55 artist’s circle. General admision tickets are available in advance by calling 330-792-3000. Artist’s circle are available online only at highwaytab.church/events-and-calendar.