How close is the show to life in the actual Wainwright-McGarrigle household?

It's actually not that far off. Our grandmother was a real dowager, and she required entertainment, weekly. So the holidays were like Rockefeller Center in our living room, all the singing and dancing and acting up. And that's what took us from Northern Quebec to Carnegie Hall.

There was more singing and dancing than, say, crying and throwing things?

Well, it depends on the time. We're also Irish Catholic, so it was about in equal measure.

How did growing up in Canada add to this mix?

The side that isn't Irish Catholic is French-Canadian, we speak and work in French, so that does add something else. But there's also just the bona fide Northern exposure to all things Christmas-y. When this season comes up around there, it really is second to none, except maybe Scandinavia, in terms of cuteness.

This is the third Christmas show you've done with the family. What have you learned from the earlier efforts? What's changed from one show to the next?

We definitely learned that we can't do them yearly; this is a biennial show. If we tried to do this every year, we'd be prematurely aged and we would all look like Santa Claus. But it really is a wonderful way for old friends and family to reconnect and see each other. It really reminds you that the essence of this profession is interaction and musical communion.

And also, just let it go, relax, enjoy yourself. It's supposed to be a party. Too many things are taken way too seriously.

What do you think makes a good Christmas song?

Essentially, it has to be of very solid construction, solid stuff. The chorus and the bridge have to be really good. The tune has to really jam into your brain, so you can't get it out, even with surgery. It's definitely music by attrition, whatever it takes to keep you in there buying stuff or whatever. Really, I think it just means giving up all pretense of artistic preciousness, it's all about being for the people. And that's true for classical music, too. I mean, Handel's Messiah -- "Hallelujah!" -- that's such a hit, you know?

If you're going to get religious about it, and I'm not religious, it's about celebrating humanity. It's about the birth of Jesus as the birth of the human aspect, of the fallible, the imperfect, and a way to soothe that tormented human nature with love.

Is there a connection for you between holiday music and all of your other musical interests: opera, pop, cabaret, whatever?

This is really about my mother. She's been struggling [with cancer] for three years, and she's doing very well, but it is a huge battle. She's had to put her career on hold. This is a chance for her to get out and do music again, and there's such a marked difference in her behavior. She's just inflated with joy and lightness.

Singing is very healing to her, and that's really the center of the piece, that's really why we do it. And when music is done though love and compassion, it makes it all the more beautiful.

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Alan Light is the former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe and Tracks magazines and a former senior writer at Rolling Stone. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. His book "The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys" was published in 2006. Alan is a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music writing.