Hillary Scott and her daughter Eisele Kaye, who released the holiday single “Hard to Wait for Christmas” on Nov. 15 and debuted it live at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry in December, commemorated the special occasion with a sweet mother-daughter interview led by 11-year-old Eisele on behalf of Billboard Family, for our new Kids Interviewing Their Famous Parents video series. On the eve of Christmas Eve, enjoy their Q&A, filmed backstage at the Opry and premiering in the video above.
Dad Chris Tyrrell, who co-wrote the charming Christmas tune with his wife and daughter, even joins in for an exclusive mini family performance.
It’s “Hard to Wait for Christmas,” even when it’s just two days away. Just ask the mother-daughter duo, who have a whole song about practicing patience and keeping in mind what Christmas means to their family — underneath the dazzle of holiday season gifts and treats.
Eisele leads the convo with Hillary, delving into her mother’s personal Christmas memories from childhood and those that the two have made together with their family of five. (Hillary Scott and Chris Tyrrell have three children, Eisele, Betsy and Emory.)
One fun highlight from their chat is Hillary recalling the best Christmas present she received as a kid, and how magical it felt to be so surprised.
“I was not expecting Santa to bring that,” she says of a big, bewildering Barbie gift that arrived from the North Pole. “Because how in the world could it fit in the sleigh? Somehow it did.”
Hillary, who used to go Christmas caroling around the neighborhood with her family when she was younger, remembers that the first time she got to sing in a studio was for a Christmas record when she was 15. Eisele upheld her mom’s tradition with her first studio experience being vocals on a Christmas song, “Hard to Wait for Christmas” (now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Amazon Music and YouTube Music).
“I feel like circling back to doing Christmas music now, with you, just feels right,” Hillary tells her daughter in the interview.
“I got to experience it with you for the first time, so it felt new again, which is really exciting — and I got to just stand by and be a proud mom watching you be so comfortable and sing so beautifully in that environment … I mean, I’m proud of [Lady bandmates] Charles [Kelley] and Dave [Haywood], but like, I’m really proud of you, ’cause you’re my girl,” Hillary shares with Eisele.
