Seventeen years after meeting, Katharine McPhee and David Foster teamed up for their first joint holiday album.
The husband and wife met in 2006 on the set of “American Idol,” the stage that catapulted McPhee’s career, but had yet to collaborate. Their seven-song EP, “Christmas Songs,” is out now, featuring holiday classics like “Jingle Bell Rock,” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
“Over the summer, we were having discussions about how amazing David is as a producer, but also specifically how successful he’s been with holiday Christmas albums,” McPhee said in a recent interview with CNN. “I think I made a joke, maybe my manager took my joke seriously. I was like, ‘How come we haven’t done a Christmas song for me?’ … That was never on my mind. But there’s kind of nobody like David when it comes to producing in general, but also Christmas albums.”
McPhee is right. He’s produced albums for some of music’s biggest names, from Whitney Houston to Barbra Streisand.
“We just thought we would put out maybe two or three songs on social media through Spotify and iTunes. … When David gets something in his mind and he puts his focus into it, there’s basically no stopping him. So before we knew it, we had seven songs. … It’s almost like a collection this year and next year – it will complete the full album. We’ll do a whole new round two next holiday season. It’s like the holiday gift that just keeps on giving and keeps us very busy.”
The saying goes don’t mix business and pleasure, but McPhee says Foster makes it easy.
“He produced my first single. … He lets you be who you are, but he gives you guidance, definite direction and then he goes off and takes what he’s helped create and just does his whole spin on it. It’s the same exact experience 17 years later. There’s no difference at all,” she said.
“I’m very opinionated as a wife, but in the studio I’m not quite as opinionated with David because I just have an immense amount of respect for him and his genius and what he is able to.”
The couple last year welcomed their first child, a son named Rennie, and she says she already can tell he has knack for rhythm.
“He’s already just drumming all over the place,” McPhee said, smiling. “David just said to me the other day that he just remembered that he used to get sent to his room all the time when he was a little kid, because he would not stop tapping on the table and it would drive his dad crazy. … Rennie makes drumsticks out of anything – it could be a pen or straws or whatever. … He’s constantly drumming. But he’s 20 months, so we’ll see if that actually turns into anything.”
But McPhee isn’t solely focused on making music. She’s been busy creating her own jewelry line, KMF, which debuted last month. The pieces range from $50 to more than $1,000.
“I’m just pinching myself because I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about it for years. I love to … pick out pieces for special occasions for my mom and my sister and my best friends to just have people remember their special day and who gave it to them, so I decided to create my own line so that I could be part of other people’s special moments.”