I got to Nashville in 1988 and signed my record contract (as part of Selah) in 1998—ten years later and almost exactly to the day. The Lord allowed Selah to have success, which allowed us to keep making records, thankfully. A few years into our career (around early 2002), our label approached us about making a Christmas album. As we were assembling songs, I thought of a song of Dolly’s called “Once Upon A Christmas” (buy) that she and Kenny Rogers had recorded in 1984 for their duet Christmas album of the same name. I had always loved the song for its minor key, sweeping melody, and beautiful imagery. One of Dolly’s many musical gifts is her supreme ability as a songwriter—she paints pictures and sets specific scenes in a listener’s mind with a beautiful economy of words.

We decided to record her song for our album and then I thought, “Why not see if she’ll come and sing on it with us? It doesn’t hurt to ask and the worst that will happen is she’ll say, ‘No, thanks.’” So I did an arrangement of the song with me playing piano and singing all of the parts, recorded it onto a cassette (younger readers, ask your parents what that is), and gave it to our co-producer Jason to send off to Dolly’s “people.” About a month later we got word back that Dolly loved my arrangement of her song and would be happy to come and record with us. You can imagine that my little East Tennessee heart was just about to burst!

When Dolly walked into the studio she went around and introduced herself to everyone, including the technicians and secondary session personnel. That doesn’t always happen when you work with a big name artist, and Dolly is without question one of the most famous people in the world. She has attained the highest level imaginable in the entertainment industry. That simple gesture spoke volumes about the type of lady she is. It’s cliché to say that someone “brightens up a room” when they enter, but it was absolutely true in Dolly’s case. Her smile and laugh were evident from the start, and the session could not have gone smoother. With both of us being from East Tennessee, we clicked right away and had a great time together. She’d hug on me and say, “I’m so glad you’re from home! I’m just SO glad you’re from home!”

What I will always remember and cherish from that day is when she looked me in the eye and said, “You took a chance on a dream that God put in your heart, just like I did. You left everyone and everything you knew behind, just like I did. You knew it would be a long, hard road and that there would be a lot of struggle and heartbreak, but you worked hard and stuck to it. And here we stand today in a recording studio together!” I’ll never forget that day as long as I live. It was an early Christmas present for me that year (we recorded in July), and I’ll always be thankful to God for it. And thank you for a day that I will always cherish, Dolly!

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