Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison,
Happy Holidays

Label: Boar's Nest Records (Rykodisc)
Year: 2003 (reissued 2006)

(4 out of 5)

Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison are the reigning king and queen of Central Texas music. As befits musical royalty, they've graced fans with their annual holiday concerts for six years now. And as a further gift to keep us warm in the chilly air of winter, they've collaborated on a seven-song CD perfect for a romantic evening by a cozy fire.

Ask Willis or Robison and they'll tell you they made Happy Holidays just so they could record "Baby It's Cold Outside." The song, penned by famed Broadway composer Frank Loesser for the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter, has experienced something of a resurgence of late. Yet no one I've heard has been able to match the sparks evident in Willis and Robison's charged exchanges.

The attention lavished on "Baby It's Cold Outside" doesn't mean the duo coasted when recording the rest of the album. Willis sizzles on the equally schmaltzy cocktail Christmas classic "Santa Baby." Robison has a little fun with John Denver's holiday signature "Please Daddy, Don't Get Drunk."

Look elsewhere if you want somber religious carols for the holidays. But if you want a fun EP to remind you of the lighter side of Christmas, then Happy Holidays is for you.

Buy: Lone Star Music, Amazon

December 20, 2004