Randy Houser looks forward to taking his 2-year-old son home to Mississippi this Christmas. It's a chance to show West how Daddy celebrated when he was growing up. Things were simpler then, mostly out of necessity.

“I really didn’t grow up in one of those big traditional, holiday memory kind of homes," Houser tells Taste of Country. "It was making the best of everything we could. We always had something for Christmas but it never was blown out of the water. Mainly family time.”

For the most part, Houser grew up in a single-parent household, and Mom struggled to provide. They lived in low-income housing and learned to appreciate what they had. Life is different for West, but the 38-year-old says he's planning on teaching his son the importance of hard work early.

When I was a kid, we didn’t go buy a Christmas tree," Houser says. "We couldn’t. We went in somebody’s woods on somebody’s land and found like a cedar tree or something and went and cut that sucker down and threw it in the back of a truck.

“I remember stringing popcorn on trees and cranberries,” Houser adds of holiday traditions in Lake, Miss.

The 'Like a Cowboy' singer will spend plenty of time with his parents, but soak up as much time with West as he can during a break in his touring schedule. It's been an up and down year for Houser -- his career has taken off, but his marriage ended in divorce. One senses he's looking forward to mentally letting go. When he can, he'll tinker around on home projects and fix his stage. He's partnered with Rockwell Tools for their Tools for People That Rock campaign. It's a natural fit for this DIY-er.

“I just built a new stage this year … and it’s not that industrial aluminum look that everybody has," Houser shares. "It’s kind of an old wood kinda thing, like a pirate ship."

Adds the singer, “We kind of ran it ragged on the Dierks Bentley tour, so it requires some constant attention."

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