There’s something special that happens when Natalie Grant and Danny Gokey get in a room together—joy, laughter, quick wit, and some serious vocal power. Larry had the chance to sit down with them ahead of their 10th Annual Celebrate Christmas Tour, coming to SKyPAC in Bowling Green on December 11, and the conversation was everything you’d expect from two artists who truly feel like brother and sister.
A Duo That Just…Works
Natalie and Danny laugh easily together, interrupt each other like siblings, and talk about performing as if they were born to harmonize. Natalie joked that the first time they ever sang together, she thought, “This must be my brother.” Danny agreed—singing with great vocalists pushes him to “level up.”
Unlike most multi-artist shows where musicians take turns doing their own sets, their Christmas tour is fully integrated. They’re on stage together almost the entire night, blending their voices and weaving their individual songs into a single experience. “It’s almost like we join forces for the night,” Danny shared.
Who Has More Christmas Spirit?
Without hesitation, Danny pointed at Natalie.
But Natalie wasn’t so sure—especially since Danny’s bus was decorated before hers last year.
With both artists living life on the road through most of December, they decorate early at home—sometimes very early—to make sure their families still get that cozy Christmas feeling. Natalie wants her daughters walking into a fully decorated house when they come home from college. Danny says his family goes “big on the inside”—they counted eight Christmas trees last year!
Favorite Songs of the Season
When it comes to music on repeat:
- Danny: Nat King Cole’s classic “The Christmas Song.”
- Natalie: The entire Harry Connick Jr. Christmas album, start to finish.
- Larry: Nat King Cole’s powerful rendition of “O Come All Ye Faithful.”
So What Is the true “Christmas Spirit,” Really?
Natalie brought the conversation back to the heart of the season: Jesus.
Not just the Nativity scene, but the truth that God is with us—Emmanuel.
She shared that peace isn’t a feeling or an idea.
“Peace is not a thing. Peace is a person.”
Danny added that Christmas can carry grief for many—loss, disappointment, strained family relationships—but grace carries us through those moments. From his own experience walking through deep loss, he said, “You don’t have to dread the holidays. There’s grace to empower you to have joy and peace in the midst of it.”
Why Miracles Feel “Less Believed” Today
Natalie and Danny also touched on the topic of miracles, noting that sometimes in America faith becomes “comfortable.” In parts of the world where following Jesus comes at great cost, believers cling to God differently—more desperately, more expectantly. Danny added that miracles often flow out of desperation, sacrifice, and surrender to God’s will, which is harder to cultivate in a culture built around convenience and comfort.
Behind the Scenes: How the Tour Stays Fresh
With a decade of performing together, it might surprise people that they still tweak the setlist every year. But fans love the tradition that the tour has become, so “too much spice” can throw things off.
One big fresh moment this year?
Natalie finally has new Christmas music for the first time in 20 years!
She’s excited—but also careful—not to change the flow their audiences have grown to love.
Don’t Miss the Christmas Tour’s 10-Year Celebration
If you love powerful vocals, heartfelt moments, laughter, and Christmas classics, this is a night you won’t want to miss.
📅 Thursday, December 11th
📍 SKyPAC, Bowling Green, KY
🎄 Natalie Grant & Danny Gokey – Celebrate Christmas Tour
It’s become a tradition for thousands—and this year’s celebration might be the most meaningful yet.
Interview Transcript
Larry (08:26.637)
Thank y’all so much for jumping in, going through that with us. All right, well perfect. So hey, I we got a few minutes to chat. I don’t know how much time y’all have, but thank y’all for doing this and good to meet you both. And Natalie, I don’t think we’ve ever met in person before. So Danny, we’ve bumped into each other a time or two, but yeah, good to see y’all. Thank you. So Christmas tour coming up.
Daniel Gokey (08:29.296)
Alright, yeah.
Nat (08:33.36)
Of course.
Nat (08:44.132)
Nice to meet you.
It’s nice to see you.
Hehehehe
Larry (08:55.479)
Danny Gokie, Natalie Grant, 10 years Christmas tour celebration gonna be in Bowling Green December 11th. And this is gonna be just an awesome time, I’m sure, but you’ve done it for 10 years together now. Why is it that you two like celebrating Christmas together so much?
Nat (09:06.565)
Hehehe.
Daniel Gokey (09:11.48)
She’s a great singer. I like singing with great singers.
Nat (09:13.499)
Yeah, I was saying I love singing with Danny. It’s like the first time we ever sang together. I remember going, wait, this must be my brother because we were like made to sing together. It just works. I love his voice. And I think I also love the way that the night is set up. You oftentimes you’ll go to a multi artist event of any sort and it’ll be like
Daniel Gokey (09:25.616)
Mm-hmm
Nat (09:40.014)
that artist does their set, this artist does their set, maybe they do a song together. But our entire night is integrated with each other. And I think that that makes it really unique and super special that so many of the songs we share or there’s, you know, we seamlessly go into the next one. And there’s just something about even the camaraderie of that. think that sets up the night in a really special way.
Daniel Gokey (10:07.708)
Yeah, I think it sets up something that’s different in our genre of music where it is, like I said, there’s this every two ever been on you split up the sets, but this one is integrated together and it’s, know, me and Natalie are not in a band together, but this is almost like a night where we join forces.
for lack of better terms and I’ve always loved singing with great singers. It always helps me level up to another level and so that’s what this tour does. So vocally it’s, I mean this might sound arrogant and I’m sorry if it does but it feels like we run a nice vocal clinic for everybody.
Nat (10:27.418)
Yeah. Yeah.
Nat (10:42.768)
Yes. We use what the good Lord gave us.
Larry (10:45.589)
Nothing wrong with that. You go ahead. You say it. Own it.
Daniel Gokey (10:48.28)
It’s the humble brag. It’s the humble brag.
Larry (10:50.891)
That’s right.
Besides you’ve been doing it to get… There you go.
Daniel Gokey (10:56.311)
Yes.
Larry (10:58.733)
So as you two have been doing this together for 10 years now, you’ve got to know each other pretty well, as you’ve said. And who has more Christmas spirit?
Daniel Gokey (11:07.676)
Natalie. Natalie, I think it’s something that’s kind of… I’m coming around, I would say that now that I’ve been doing this tour for 10 years, what I’ve noticed is that it feels like I kind of miss out on Christmas because I’m living on a tour bus most of the month. thankfully, I love that my wife decorates our house early. And I think Natalie, you do the same thing, right? Are you guys November 1st?
Nat (11:15.853)
Yes.
Nat (11:31.232)
Yes, we decorate really early. We are and this year it might even get slightly earlier just because when you, Danny said it, when you’re gone all the time and this year the tour is taking us until December 21st. So, you know, it’s just like a few days before Christmas, my twin daughters, my oldest daughters just left for college and so
Daniel Gokey (11:35.002)
Yeah.
Larry (11:35.237)
wow.
Daniel Gokey (11:39.129)
Wow.
Nat (11:51.16)
for them coming home, it’s like, it’s different this year. And so I want the house to be like, by Thanksgiving, I want it completely hooked up so that they can experience as much of that too as possible. So I think we both have Christmas spirit. I mean, I would say I have more, but I would say I’ve definitely seen Danny. Like last year, his bus was decorated way before mine. Like I think his wife has really helped him out.
Daniel Gokey (12:14.776)
Yeah, she really has.
Nat (12:20.974)
You
Larry (12:21.325)
So thankful to have the wives to help us out because like for me, listen, this right here, this is my only Christmas anything. That’s it. That’s all I’ve got. I’ve got no other, I’ve got no ugly Christmas sweater. I’ve got no Christmas anything other than this shirt. So I wore it today. So.
Daniel Gokey (12:24.13)
Yes.
Daniel Gokey (12:28.663)
Wow.
Nat (12:29.87)
Love it!
Nat (12:37.539)
thank you for wearing it.
Daniel Gokey (12:37.966)
Well, it’s nice. We like it.
Larry (12:40.045)
So you go big, yeah thank you. You all go big for Christmas then, so it sounds like you’ll have no problem decorating early. You’re not like those people who say you gotta wait till after Thanksgiving to do it. So tell me how big you go for Christmas when it comes to decorations.
Nat (12:50.274)
No.
Nat (12:54.542)
I think Danny has been beat on this. think they have more trees in their house than us. We go pretty big. We’ve got lights all over the outside of the house. We heat the back patio and so we still spend a lot of time in the back. So we actually put Christmas lights at the back of the house so that we’re out there we can see them. We put up several trees, little trees. All the kids want a little tree in their room.
Daniel Gokey (12:59.277)
Yes.
Nat (13:18.178)
We go pretty big. We like it, but it’s not like Christmas threw up in the house. There’s some times where it’s like Christmas, like threw up in every room. So we’re not quite like that, but getting there.
Daniel Gokey (13:29.601)
Yeah, that might that That might be my house. That might be my house I think we counted I think last year I counted now we have different size of christmas trees, but there must be
Man, at least like…
I don’t know like eight Christmas trees throughout our house. We don’t decorate. Yeah, we don’t decorate the outside because we live on a plot of land and we’re like an eighth of a mile off the road so no one can see it. So we go big on the inside. And so but you know a lot of the Christmas trees we only decorate fully like two Christmas trees and the rest are just trees that are lights. Yeah. Yeah.
Larry (13:50.518)
Wow.
Nat (13:59.414)
Yeah.
Nat (14:08.044)
The other ones just have like lights. totally.
Larry (14:11.521)
Yeah. man. So when it comes to a Christmas song that you think of that you would put on repeat, not necessarily one that you like to sing yourself, but one that you’re gonna put on in the background and you’re like, I don’t mind if that song is on repeat at all. What’s the one for you?
Nat (14:23.477)
Yeah.
Nat (14:29.292)
man. Danny, I think I know what you’ll say.
Daniel Gokey (14:31.822)
I think for me it’s Yeah, it’s it’s not and actually I do sing it. We sing it together. We do it do it. Yeah, Nat King Cole I just I don’t think it gets any more Holiday or Christmasy than when he sings the Christmas song, you know chestnuts roasting on open fire I used to always call it chestnuts roasting on open fire, but it’s called the Christmas song. Found that out on the tour
Nat (14:36.992)
Got it totally.
Nat (14:45.708)
Hehehehehe
Larry (14:52.237)
Right.
Nat (14:52.716)
It is called the Christmas song. I can’t pick just one song, but I kind of have like albums that I can go on repeat. know, playlisting is such a huge thing now where it’s like you have your little song from here and a song from there and a song from there. But I can turn on Harry Connick Jr.’s Christmas album from start to finish and love it. I don’t want to skip a single song. I love it from top to bottom.
And that’s kind of the one that whenever we start decorating our tree, that album goes on.
Larry (15:27.447)
I was gonna say Nat King Cole as well, but for me it’s his, come all ye faithful. Yeah, love that one. So when it comes to Christmas spirit, you know often hear that phrase, Christmas spirit, but what is Christmas spirit to you?
Nat (15:31.916)
yes, it’s a good one.
Daniel Gokey (15:32.288)
yeah, that’s a great one.
Nat (15:48.49)
Well, I think, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the tour is that we, I feel like we really embody that. Like, obviously we love to celebrate. We love to have the snow machine and the, all of the things that make us feel like it’s wintery and holiday time. But when it comes to Christmas spirit, it obviously is the gift of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit that we have access to.
Daniel Gokey (16:05.666)
Yeah.
Nat (16:14.025)
The fact that Christ came and made a way for us to have access to the Father, that we can have a relationship, that it wasn’t just some sweet story for kids that sing away in a manger with actions that go with it, but it’s real. It’s like a real live story that still is impacting our life every day. And I think that is the Christmas spirit, the hope, the peace, the Bible calls them the Prince of Peace, that we have access to that now.
Daniel Gokey (16:16.002)
Yeah.
Daniel Gokey (16:29.133)
you
Nat (16:43.504)
is to me the Christmas spirit.
Daniel Gokey (16:47.441)
Amen.
Nat (16:49.023)
Mm-hmm.
Larry (16:50.669)
I know that during Christmas sometimes depression can set in for some people. Have you ever come across a person who has just been down during this time? if so, what’s the encouragement that you give or how can you encourage me if I come across someone? Because oftentimes in Christmas we’re thinking about ourselves or our families or gifts or getting that or the other. But how can you encourage someone to just look out for that? And what do you say to a person who’s down at that time?
Nat (16:54.025)
Yeah.
Nat (17:07.177)
Hehehehe
Daniel Gokey (17:16.93)
I think a lot of people possibly are down because of losses that have happened in that year and a lot of people I know for me several years ago when I went through a loss of my first wife that there was that first Christmas that I had to You know come up and it’s like man. How am I gonna deal with this? But I want to tell people I remember the vivid memory I have from that one is that there was a grace that carried me that Christmas and I didn’t I thought I was gonna have to dread it
Nat (17:31.508)
Yeah.
Daniel Gokey (17:45.184)
But when you have to this the whole point of having Jesus is grace and peace that fills our life because of the access that he gave us. And so my encouragement to people is that you don’t have to dread the holidays. You don’t have to say, am going to get through this holiday? And some people might not be lost, but it might be just disappointment of how the year went. Or, you know, maybe it’s a breakup or break up a relationship or marriage and, and, maybe some people are going to, you know, it’s.
You know, if they’re in a divorce situation, they’re not going to have the kids that day. They’re going to have to, you know, celebrate without the kids. And, there’s grace, you know, regardless of what the situation is, there’s grace to carry you, to empower you, to have joy and to have a peace in the midst of, of that. And so I would just encourage people to release their faith and to probably let go of the inhibitions or the dread that might come along.
Nat (18:25.96)
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Gokey (18:41.482)
with the pain that they face this year and see the redemption of what God has. Because I’ve experienced it firsthand. And so, you know, the Bible says that we’ll be witnesses when the power of Holy Spirit comes upon us. And I’m a witness. I’m just witnessing to you what it was like walking through my first Christmas. And God’s carried me ever since.
Nat (18:59.434)
That’s good. That’s good. think too, just what I would say is, in addition to what Danny said, that was so good, is giving yourself permission to grieve, knowing that grief is actually a part of this life. He didn’t say we would have this life without grief, but he said that he would be a friend that sticks closer than a brother and a God that never leaves us and never forsakes us. I think at Christmas,
Larry (19:01.281)
Yeah, all good.
Nat (19:28.638)
being reminded that he is Emmanuel, God, with us. Peace is not a thing. A lot of times people talk about peace of mind. They just wish they had peace of mind and it makes peace seem like a thing. But peace is not a thing. Peace is a person.
Daniel Gokey (19:39.626)
Yeah.
Nat (19:44.53)
And I think that when you can lean into that, like for people that are, they’re like, they dread Christmas because they have really tense family relationships. Like it’s like stressful. Like the thought of having to go be with their extended family or whatever causes them so much stress. And I think just that reminder of you can’t maybe fix all of that, but you have a person, Jesus Christ, who can fix the thing that’s going on inside of you.
And when you become a carrier of his peace, it might not change and fix everything, but it will shift the atmosphere in your own life. And I think so just that reminder that peace is a person.
Larry (20:22.093)
Yeah, that’s great. Thank y’all. Alright, so pop quiz then. What was Jesus’ first miracle?
Daniel Gokey (20:22.432)
Yeah.
Daniel Gokey (20:30.986)
Watered wine. What? Bean.
Nat (20:31.919)
water, yeah, totally watered wine.
Larry (20:34.379)
I completely disagree.
Nat (20:36.714)
Oh, being born. Being born. Being born. Yes. Yes. That’s a good one. That’s a good one. You’re right. You’re right. You got us and that was good.
Larry (20:37.911)
Born of a virgin!
Daniel Gokey (20:40.426)
Ugh.
Larry (20:42.509)
That’s what I like to say. know people. Yeah, just water to wine. That’s what I always mess with people with that. So since we’re talking Christmas, that’s where I go. I was thinking miracles because so Natalie, you got the song Miracles and the Angel Studios series coming out. So was thinking about miracles and everything. And why do you all think it is that people in the United States are less inclined to believe in miracles?
Daniel Gokey (20:45.482)
That’s good.
Nat (21:00.241)
Yeah.
Nat (21:10.407)
Hmm. Because, yeah, we’ve become so comfortable. Like, I say to everybody, if you can’t be a Christian here, then I don’t know what to tell you. Like, we have made it very easy to be a Christian in America. Like, very, very easy. There are people all over the globe that are dying. Like, we talk about the tragedies that have happened here and they are tragic.
Daniel Gokey (21:11.978)
think there’s less of a desperation.
Nat (21:37.597)
But we’re not even aware as comfortable Christians about the thousands of people around the globe who are dying for their Christian faith. And they’re willing to. And I think that that level of, I’m desperate for God, I’m desperate for a miracle, but also I take Him at His word. I might have to go to an underground church. I might have to flee from my life if I believe in Jesus. And all of a sudden, that makes it so different.
Daniel Gokey (22:04.832)
you
Nat (22:07.693)
your encounter with Christ because all of a sudden you begin to grab ahold of His Word and you take Him at His Word. And I think that that part, we kind of just, we have so much easy religion here. It’s not as much desperation for God and believing that God is actually who He says He is.
Daniel Gokey (22:32.723)
Yeah, and it seems like it’s an exercise of you know, what was Jesus constant? Why did Jesus constantly do miracles because he kept saying not my will but your will be done and It looks like we’ve kind of created a society as well. This is my will my will I want my will my will and so when you think about from that aspect love comes out of sacrifice miracles always come out of desperation and When we are constantly exercising our will
Nat (22:42.396)
Mmm.
Nat (22:46.738)
Yes. It’s good.
Nat (22:54.748)
Mm-hmm.
Daniel Gokey (22:59.122)
and creating a God of possibly of our own imagination at times. Yeah, you get like Natalie was saying, you get a very easy religion. And every time you see miracles, there was a lot of love, prayer, desperation and faith involved. And that doesn’t come out of comfortable, comfortableness, right? So.
Nat (23:11.217)
Mm-hmm.
Larry (23:21.845)
Alright. Yeah, absolutely. Well, tell me about, okay, I want hear about the concert a little bit. Since you’ve been doing it 10 years, you know, gotten to a comfortable rhythm probably with each other. But what kind of, what’s, what’s the different things or spice that you throw into the show each year that might be different from the last?
Nat (23:21.861)
Yes. Yes.
Nat (23:34.023)
You
Nat (23:39.559)
Well, they’ll be spiced for me this year because I finally have new songs. I have not recorded a Christmas record in 20 years. And so I have a brand new Christmas record out. And it’s funny because even trying to find the place to put them into the show is challenging because we love our show. Like we really love the flow of it. Like every year we’ll switch out singles or switch out a couple of the worship songs maybe.
Daniel Gokey (23:42.438)
hahahaha.
Nat (24:09.384)
There’s just such a great flow. And I think there’s something too about the nostalgia of Christmas that people actually like to come back and see the same show. They like grow accustomed to it. And they’re like, this is our tradition and we want to come back and see this show. And so it’s like, you have to be careful what spice you throw in. People don’t always like nutmeg. Exactly. So you got to be careful what you’re throwing in there.
Larry (24:32.363)
always like change.
Daniel Gokey (24:39.175)
Yeah, even I’m even I’m curious about what the show is going to be like now with the new changes.
Nat (24:39.324)
hehe
Nat (24:43.207)
I know. I’m like, we can’t change it too much. Like I think just a couple of songs here and there, but I think all in all people want the same show.
Daniel Gokey (24:54.259)
Yeah, our dialogue in the middle of the set can get sometimes funny and it’s always it always changes up a little bit and Natalie’s pretty quick-witted and so if like it’s truthfully like a brother-sister relationship like we will throw jabs at each other but sometimes I’m impressed with their quick-witness. I’ve heard quick-wit. It really is impressive.
Nat (25:09.474)
Yes.
Nat (25:18.326)
Thank you. I take that as a compliment.
Larry (25:19.809)
good. That’s good. all right. So when it comes to getting ready for Christmas, Christmas shopping for the family, that kind of thing, do you take an active role in that? Do you leave it to the spouse? Because that’s what I do. So.
Nat (25:38.502)
do you see the roll thing that’s out? Like, no, well, I do shopping because my husband does the same. That’s not true. He takes my kids out shopping for me. So he’ll do like shopping with them.
Daniel Gokey (25:38.931)
Yes, answer is yes, for me.
Daniel Gokey (25:49.254)
Yes.
Nat (25:57.516)
for me. But honestly, I think what did we do before online shopping? Like what did we do before Amazon? Like how did we exist? Because being on the road, you know, but it’s yes, it’s a lot of work.
Daniel Gokey (26:05.554)
That is true.
Larry (26:18.162)
That’s fun. Does your family join y’all on part of the tour, the Christmas tour and any of it?
Daniel Gokey (26:24.187)
Yeah, sometimes. I think last year was the first year I don’t think I brought my family out. Just because our buses got a little fuller. And so I’m thinking, I’m not sure how it’s looking this year, but it might be full buses again.
Nat (26:28.825)
Yeah. Yes.
Yeah, I’m not sure either. And it’s so different for me because I’m even right now I’m out on this tour with Mercy Me and always I’ll have some kid with me, like one of them, all of them, one of them, two of them. But it’s so weird because this is like the first time in 18 years that my daughters are away at college and my youngest daughter’s in high school. And it’s just like this shifting season and I don’t like it at all. Not one little bit. I don’t like it.
Daniel Gokey (26:46.801)
Yeah.
Larry (26:59.853)
You
Nat (27:03.93)
But I think that they’re gonna try to come out on the Christmas tour, because I think the last weekend, all of them are out of school. So maybe somebody had to sleep on a couch, I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. Yeah, totally.
Daniel Gokey (27:15.271)
Yeah, I haven’t seen the bus list yet. That’s when I know I can bring kids. Like for instance, I’m on my tour bus right now and I have two of my kids out with me for this fall tour I’m on. Yeah, and I’ll bring my next kids. So I’m stacking it now and wondering what Christmas will be like. But yeah, I used to take my whole family all the time, but yeah, it’s gotten just a little more difficult to do.
Nat (27:24.106)
I love that.
Nat (27:29.87)
Yes. Yeah. Same. It’s hard. Yeah. But we’re playing in Nashville, so all of our families get to come to that show.
Daniel Gokey (27:42.746)
Yeah. Yeah.
Larry (27:43.181)
There you go. Awesome. Well, thank you all so much for taking the time to chat with us. We appreciate it and look forward to seeing you when you are here.
