Gabby Barrett reminisced on the festive wake-up call she heard every morning during the holiday season when she was growing up.

Barrett, 24, said her father was always “a very early bird.” From November 1 through December 31, he started playing the same song every morning at 7 a.m. “A Christmas to Remember” by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers filled the family’s home “from the floor to the ceiling,” Barrett remembered. “It was hilarious because, you know, as grumpy teenagers we were so irritated, but you couldn’t resist that the song was so good. …That’s a memory that I have specifically tied to that song that is near and dear to me for sure.”

Barrett quickly knew that she wanted to record her own version of the 1980s duet on her first-ever Christmas album, Carols and Candlelight. The 11-track collection made its debut this year. Barrett filled the record with her renditions of holiday classics, including “Mary, Did You Know?,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside” featuring Cade Foehner, “Go Tell It On The Mountain” with for KING & COUNTRY, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” featuring The Piano Guys, “Silent Night” and more. Carols and Candlelight is Barrett’s first Christmas album and her second album to release in 2024, following her sophomore project, Chapter & Verse, which offered an intimate glimpse of the singer-songwriter’s life.

Barrett said during a recent interview with iHeartCountry that she selected many of the songs on Carols and Candlelight by taking requests from her social media followers.

Randy Carroll