Katharine McPhee and her husband, super-producer David Foster, have a new album called Christmas Songs, marking the first time in 17 years they’ve recorded together. David says the project unexpectedly grew out of an Instagram show they started doing during lockdown.

“People enjoyed it. It was the pandemic and everybody was looking for things to do,” he tells ABC Audio. “And so we just started noodling around with Christmas songs in July…and now here we are, traveling from coast to coast, promoting a Christmas album!”

The album’s spun off the hit “Jingle Bell Rock,” which David chose to give what he calls a ” big, slammin’ big band” arrangement, inspired by his production on Michael Bublé‘s 2011 album Christmas. And while David says recording with his wife was a breeze, being on tour with her is another story.

“When we were performing somewhere in the East Coast, we actually got into a real argument on stage — like, a real one!” he laughs. “I guess it happens when you’re together day and night, y’know…?”

Joining them on the tour has been their young son Rennie. “As he gets older, he’s gonna have to be in school and all that,” he says. “But right now, 21 months old, we can pretty much take him everywhere. And we do!”

In addition to Bublé’s Christmas album, Foster also produced Céline Dion‘s Christmas album, as well as most of her biggest records. Now that we know Céline is suffering from a rare neurological disorder, Foster says of his longtime friend, “What I understand about this disease [is] it can be stress-related…and so I’m sure she’s tired.”

“And also, still trying to navigate the world without her husband, it’s probably been very difficult for her. In fact, know it has been…[so] hopefully, she’ll find some way to get through it.”

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