This is the first “A Very Special Christmas” that they’ve done in a few years. Was this something where they came to you, or did you hear about it and volunteer?



It was both. I’ve known about those albums my whole life. Growing up, my parents would buy them and we’d listen to them every Christmas. And we heard about it again happening this year, and I think they wanted me involved, and I wanted to be involved because I knew what a great cause it was, and because I had known so much about the record already before. So they gave me a list of options of what songs I could do, and I chose the one I love to sing, which is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and it just worked out perfectly.



There’s such a history to that song, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra have put their stamp on it. When you go to record a song like that, is there a different mindset when a song’s already got that much history?


You know, you just want to do it the way that you do music. I wanted it to be like another song on my album. And I had my dad produce it, I had my two best friends sing background vocals, who are great singers, and all the musicians that are either in my band or played on my record played on that song. When I was in Paris and I chose that song, my guitar player and I were messing around with it and he started playing these really cool acoustic simple beachy chords, and I started singing on top of it, and it just became our own song. And I think that’s how, if you’re gonna cover a song, especially a legendary song like that one that people have covered throughout the years, you just have to do it in your own way where you can show it at its best.



Something you told me last time we talked was how you’re enjoying getting a little older. I look at some of the other artists on this album, a lot of teenagers, Miley, Vanessa, Kristinia. I know these weren’t collaborations, but you have collaborated with other teenagers like Taylor Swift. Do you get to a point where you feel like you’ve got a big-sisterly kind of thing there?



Yeah, especially when I was writing with Taylor. That was two years ago, she was only seventeen, and I thought it was funny cause she was writing these love songs, and I remember when people would ask me about that, like “You’re so young, how can you write these love songs?” But I know that in life you take in whatever you’re experiencing in whatever ways it comes into your life. So it’s easy to grab ahold of a situation of getting your heart broken or falling in love, no matter how old you are, because you get those emotions and those feelings whether you’re with someone in a relationship, have a crush, you can tap into that as a songwriter.

But yeah, when I was writing with her I definitely felt like a bigger sister, and very proud of her, like “You’re so young and you’re writing these amazing songs about love.” I remember when people would ask me how I could do that, but watching her, I understood.



Come to think of it, your collaboration with her is one of four Grammy nominations you just picked up. How does that make you feel?


It’s so amazing. I wasn’t even expecting any, and I would have been so happy with one. Now that I got four, for my first time ever being nominated, it’s pretty amazing. It’s funny that I’m in one [collaboration] category twice. It’s gonna be hard, I don’t know what song I’m gonna want to win, but I love both artists. But yeah, I love the Grammys, my dad has a Grammy, and my hope is to someday win one as well.



I’ve heard that “Fearless” might be your next single from Breakthrough. Is that true?



I want it to be Fearless or I Never Told You, it might be Begin Again or You Got Me. We’re not sure between those four songs. We can’t make up our minds. We’ve asked fans, and they all love each of the songs.



Fearless almost has an R&B feel, it feels like a musical departure for you in a way. I’m curious if you think that’s something the world is ready to hear from you.


Well that’s the thing, I love all different styles of music and I want to incorporate all the different sounds into my songs. So I hope that everyone would be ready to hear that kind of style from me.