News & Updates
7/28/2010 KATHARINE McPHEE RECORDING HOLIDAY ALBUM
Katharine McPhee laughs and exclaims “This feels so wrong,” as she begins recording a Christmas album on a scorching hot July day in Los Angeles. Yet nothing could be more right than for the sensational singer to record some of her favorite Christmas songs for her third album, titled Christmas Is The Time…To Say I Love You, to be released by Verve Forecast in the fall. “Christmas really is my favorite time of year,” says McPhee. “It takes a little imagination to be recording right now but I don’t need a ton of Christmas lights in the studio to inspire me. I know these songs so well. These are the songs I listened to growing up. Hopefully my versions will be unique but at the same time timeless; full and rich yet simple and intimate.” Though the title track to Christmas Is The Time…To Say I Love You is a rarely-covered song originally recorded by rocker Billy Squier in 1981, the album will be filled with familiar classics, whether traditional or contemporary, from “O Holy Night” and “This Christmas” to a medley of “Away In A Manger”/“O Little Town Of Bethlehem.” McPhee also wrote an original song for the album. Producing the album is Allen Sides, one of the most respected engineer/producers in music. A two-time Grammy winner for albums with Burt Bacharach and Joni Mitchell, Sides has also worked with Eric Clapton, Alanis Morrisette, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald. And Co-producing the album is Grammy nominated producer/engineer/arranger Steven Miller who has worked with Dave Matthews Band, Pink, Suzanne Vega, George Winston to name a few. McPhee’s career launched with her renowned run on “American Idol” in 2006, McPhee has already enjoyed success with Christmas releases, from her 2007 single “O Come All Ye Faithful” to 2009’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” She has also become a fixture on television around holiday time, from a “Christmas In Washington” special performing for the First Family to a “My Christmas” concert starring Andrea Bocelli. McPhee’s most cherished Christmas memory also involves singing but strikes closer to home. “Actually it’s the day after Thanksgiving,” she says. “That was the day my sister and I would pull out all the decorations, put on Christmas music and go through the house singing with my mom and dad as we put up the Christmas tree.” McPhee will recall that joyous feeling as she records Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You in the Los Angeles area throughout the summer. She continues to tour and perform concerts as well as makes appearances at food banks across the country in support of Feeding America, whose Hunger-Free Summer initiative reaches out to children without lunch programs during their school vacation.
