Lady A's Hillary Scott and her daughter Eisele Kaye talk about writing their Christmas song "Hard to Wait For Christmas," their favorite family Christmas traditions, most memorable Christmas gifts Hillary got as a kid, favorite Christmas cookies and more!
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00:00Can we sing a little bit of Hard to Wait for Christmas together for Billboard?
00:04Do you want to do it? Sure. Do we want dad to help? Yeah.
00:22What's your favorite part of writing Hard to Wait for Christmas together?
00:26I think my favorite part of writing the song with you was just getting to talk about
00:32all of the things that are hard to wait for Christmas for and then also getting to talk
00:37about the real meaning of Christmas. It's Jesus, the birth of Jesus.
00:45How is recording with me different from recording with your bandmates?
00:50Well, it was really fun because I got to experience it with you for the first time.
00:56So it felt new again, which is really exciting. And I got to just stand by and be a proud mom
01:04watching you be so comfortable and sing so beautifully in that environment. So
01:11it was definitely different because I mean, I'm proud of Charles and Dave,
01:15but like really proud of you because you're my girl.
01:17What was your favorite moment of making this song with me?
01:20My favorite moment of making this song with you? I think it was the studio.
01:27Do you remember what happened? Oh, yes. At the very beginning? Yes. The lights went out.
01:34The power went out. The power went out. To the entire studio. And then what happened again when
01:40we went to do the photo shoot? The lights went out. The power went out. Those were two things
01:44that happened that we just thought, you know what? I think we're going to take this as a good
01:48luck charm. That if the power goes out, we're on to something good. You've also made Christmas
01:56music with Wally. What was that experience like? So the first time I sang on an album
02:04in a studio like you did, I was 15. So you're four years earlier than me doing that. And it
02:13was Christmas songs. So I sang with Wally and G-Paw and Ry-Ry, also known as Linda,
02:20Lang, and Riley for a Christmas album. So I feel like circling back to doing Christmas music now
02:26with you just feels right. Yeah. What are some of your favorite Christmas family traditions with
02:33our family? My favorite? Oh, I have one. You want to answer? You go. Going to a movie every Christmas.
02:39Christmas Eve movie and our jammy jams and our Christmas jammies. I love Christmas morning before
02:44we open a stocking or a present and dad reads Luke 2. That's probably one of my favorites.
02:52And opening up a present on Christmas Eve. That's always the jammies. Yeah, those are good ones.
03:02What is your favorite Christmas memory with me so far? Oh my goodness.
03:09I don't know. I would say your very first Christmas. You had just been born because
03:15you're July 22nd. And so December, August, September, October, November, December,
03:20you were five months old. And I remember you were so mesmerized by all the Christmas lights that we
03:26would just take you up to the tree and you would just look at them and you were taking it all in
03:31for the first time. I really remember that one. What's your favorite Christmas present you've received?
03:40Man, my favorite Christmas present when I was younger, younger than you, a Dutch oven from
03:48Le Creuset. No, kidding. I would have to say a pink Barbie car when I was younger. That was my
03:55favorite gift. I was so surprised. I was not expecting Santa to bring that because how in the
04:00world could it fit in a sleigh? Somehow it did. That was my favorite. What are some of your favorite
04:12cookies to bake during the holiday season? So we make cookies that dad's side of the family brought
04:20to the family. And they are just your standard delicious sugar cookie. And we decorate them
04:27with just your milk, powdered sugar, a little bit of food coloring, and you decorate them.
04:33And then I would have to say my grandmother, Mana, used to make these cookies that are super simple
04:44and they're just called pecan sands. And it's just a shortbread dough with pecans. And then you,
04:52once they're out of the oven, you roll them into powdered sugar. And they're really, really good
04:58by themselves or with coffee. The older I get, those are, those are also favorite. What is the
05:03best part of Christmas for you? The best part of Christmas for me is that we get so many nights
05:12snuggled up on the couch in front of the fire watching our list, ever like evolving, rotating
05:18list of Christmas movies. And all of the family time. That's my favorite. Can we sing a little
05:25bit of Hard to Wait for Christmas together for Billboard? Do you want to do it? Sure.
05:30Do we want dad to help? Yeah. All right, let's do it.
05:44Does anybody else feel like it takes forever to get to December? Throw out the turkey. I just
05:53want some cocoa and jingle bells. Well, here's the thing. I can't make the days or the weeks
06:01go by any faster. But I believe the Santa's been busy making some magic for you and me.
06:11But if we could all be patient, we would see. Oh yes, we'll see.
06:18It's hard to wait for Christmas. All the joy there is to share. Like cookies baking in the oven.
06:30The sweetest smell that fills the air. Let's hold our hope and shine our light before it's Christmas
06:38Eve. We know this season's so much more than presents and a tree. But honestly,
06:47it's hard to wait for Christmas.