Becca Guilderson and Kyle Gillis singing Kenny & Dolly
October 29, 1984 was a monumental day in history, not just because it was the day I was born, but because it was the day that Once Upon a Christmas, the iconic collaboration between Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton was released.
You can celebrate this album’s 40th Anniversary here in Nova Scotia with Kyle Gillis and Becca Guilderson, who are bringing the cozy nostalgic songs from all the versions of this album to stages around the province this holiday season.
Several years ago Gillis and Guilderson teamed up to sing a Rogers and Parton duet for one of Laura Caswell and Lindsay Kyte’s cabaret shows, and the idea to create a full show around this album came to fruition. “We do every song from both of those [albums],” says Guilderson, referencing the original album and the 1997 reissue, which includes the beloved classic “Hard Candy Christmas,” which Parton sang in the film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982). “We intersperse a couple of [Parton and Rogers’] solo numbers that are not holiday related.”
Gillis and Guilderson do not attempt to do a physical impersonation of Rogers and Parton. “We are doing our own thing, but singing the music as true to them as possible,” says Guilderson. “We didn’t want it to come off as a parody of Kenny and Dolly,” says Gillis, “There’s definitely lots of laughs, but we’re not dressing up as them.”
Rogers and Parton first worked together on Parton’s variety series Dolly when Rogers came on as a guest in 1976. They then teamed up for Rogers’ 1983 single “Islands in the Stream,” which hit number one on the charts. They enjoyed singing together so much that when Rogers suggested they combine forces and create this album and subsequent television special together, Parton jumped at the chance. She said, “I think the blend of our voices creates a real electricity… [Kenny] also has a real Santa Claus spirit. He makes working fun.”
For Guilderson Once Upon a Christmas was one of just a handful of albums she grew up listening to with her family at Christmastime, in addition to Bing Crosby’s Merry Christmas, and “usually Boney M gets in the mix as well. So it’s very eclectic.” Once Upon a Christmas was the ‘decorate the house music,’ she says, “If it came on you were like, ‘Oh, it’s December 1st. We got to get up and do things today.” When Guilderson was young there were four generations of her maternal family- her mother, grandmother, and great grandmother- and so they needed to find music that they all liked: bridging across the generations, and those were the three they agreed on. Gillis, who also grew up with Boney M’s Christmas album being a staple, didn’t have Once Upon a Christmas ‘in the roster’ when he was younger, but it’s become one of his favourites.
“It’s interesting because we’ve had a lot of people come up to us after the show saying, ‘this song, this album is a staple in our family. Christmas doesn’t start until this album is played,” says Gillis, citing how, now in its third year, this show with Guilderson has become a tradition for audiences who enjoy coming back and seeing the show every year. “We’re the new Nutcracker,” he jokes. “We dance less,” says Guilderson.
Last year there was a beautiful vivid example of just how special this music can be for folks. During “The Greatest Gift of All” Guilderson describes how a mother and son in the front row got up and started to slow dance together for the entire number. “After the show they came and talked to me and expressed that because of reasons in their lives they had ended up kind of being each other’s support system and that that was a song that really mattered to them. It was so beautiful to see them have that moment. The whole room was on their feet clapping for them at the end of the number. It was a beautiful thing to get to witness.”
A Tribute to Kenny & Dolly’s Christmas Album plays at the following times at these venues throughout the province:
December 3 & 4: The Carleton (1685 Argyle Street, Halifax) (SOLD OUT).
December 6: Shelburne Regional High School (415 Woodlawn Drive, Shelburne, Nova Scotia). Presented by Harmony Bazaar. 7:00pm. $25.00. Click here for Tickets.
December 11: Sanctuary Arts Centre (100 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth). 7:00pm. $40.25. Click here for Tickets. *Wheelchair Accessible
December 15: Antigonish Legion (75 St. Ninian Street, Antigonish). 7:00pm. $40.25. Click here for Tickets. *Wheelchair Accessible
December 20: The Ross Creek Annex (2182 Sheffield Road, Canning). TWO SHOWS: 6:00pm AND 8:30pm. $40.25. *Wheelchair Accessible.
