As we move into December and begin preparing for the holidays here at the farm, I can’t help but think of another Christmas nearly a dozen years ago that will always be special to me for a number of reasons…
First off, this particular Christmas memory actually happened in October. December was still a good way off, but our farmhouse and the concert hall (it was just a barn back then) were all decorated for the holidays, and we were singing Christmas songs just the same.
At the time, my wife Joey and I had recently recorded a Christmas album and were hoping to find a way to film a holiday TV special that could be released with it. But after being turned down by some folks who make TV specials, we decided to try making one ourselves here at home. And so, in late October 2011, as everyone else in our community was carving pumpkins and picking out Halloween costumes, we were wrapping gifts, hanging wreaths on the doors, and stringing lights on a fake Christmas tree in our living room.
We knew that we wanted to film all the musical performances in our big barn, so we began by moving the car stuff, the boat, and all the tools and junk out of the way while our handyman, Thomas, built a little “holiday barn” backdrop to film in front of. We borrowed a half-dozen Christmas trees from friends and neighbors and hung lights all around the set to make it look nice. Then we hired some good friends we knew who had worked with us on previous music videos, and they brought in more lights and video cameras. All these things made the house and the barn look like Christmas, at least on a TV screen.
The first part of the filming was in the farmhouse living room around the Christmas tree we’d set up and also in the kitchen. We just let the cameras roll as Joey and I talked and set up the thirteen or fourteen songs we had recorded and were about to perform while filming in the barn.
We started getting everything ready at six that morning and began filming at nine. We hoped to be done with everything by four in the afternoon if all went smoothly. But things took longer than we anticipated, and we didn’t even make it out to the barn to start filming the performances until around three in the afternoon. So, when the director, Gabe, finally yelled “Cut!” after the last song and “It’s a wrap” after the last take, we looked at our watches. It was 5am—the next morning. We had all been at it for almost twenty-four hours. We were beyond tired but also elated. When Joey and I finally laid down in bed, the sun was coming up, and we were both almost giddy. Partly because we were exhausted but also because we knew we had captured something very special.
I spent the next few weeks editing the TV special on a computer in our upstairs bedroom, which, again, was something I’d never done before. But I had learned a little about film editing over the years prior, and I saw other people do it. So I thought, “How hard can it be?”
It turns out editing is much, much harder than I could’ve imagined. But I was passionate about bringing what we had made to life and stayed with it till the last frame was complete. I think I turned it in on the deadline with about five minutes to spare. It first aired on RFD-TV during Thanksgiving weekend that year and went on to air a few more times throughout the Christmas holidays. It was a big success for Joey, me, and the folks at the TV network.
Of course, at the time, neither of us knew how special it would become. Joey was alive and so full of joy and excitement for life, the farm, and our music; and her dog Rufus was still with us. Our older girls Heidi and Hopie were in their early 20s, and Joey and I were both a bit younger. It was a particular moment in our lives, captured forever and frozen in time, when we had no idea where life was leading us. All we knew was that we were on the ride of our lives and that God was behind the wheel.
All these years later, when I go back and watch the TV special, it always brings a big smile to my face and tears to my eyes. That was the only Christmas album we ever made, and that TV taping, although only meant to be a one-time thing, ended up setting us on a path showing us where we were headed. Within a few months, we’d be making our weekly TV show in that same barn and, in time, a half-dozen TV specials with Bill & Gloria Gaither.
Since 2016, there has always been a spot on the couch at our house on Christmas morning when we gather around the tree to open gifts and an empty chair when we sit down for a big family dinner. We miss Joey and wish she could be with us. I so wish our little Indiana, in particular, could have had the opportunity to see how much her Mama loved Christmas and the joy the season brings.
The holidays each year continue to bring new joys and memories that we will treasure forever. But that one Christmas, the one that wasn’t actually Christmas at all, holds a very special place in my heart. //
rory
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Rory Feek is a world-class storyteller, songwriter, filmmaker, and New York Times best-selling author. As a musical artist, Rory is one-half of the Grammy-award-winning duo, Joey+Rory. He and his wife, Joey, toured the world and sold nearly a million records, before her untimely passing in March 2016.
A Farmhouse Christmas