When The Alluvian opened in 2003, one of the goals was to have a special holiday event there that could become a Delta tradition.
The Buford Family’s annual Christmas concerts have already become such a tradition for many, drawing listeners from all over the Delta and beyond.
Now, as the family’s fifth Alluvian concert draws near on Monday, they also have recorded a CD of Christmas songs that is now available at the hotel and Turnrow Book Co.
The Buford Family includes Gwin Buford of Glendora; her daughters, Donna Spell of Glendora, Pryor Graeber and Lee Threadgill, both of Jackson, and Sarah Walker of Birmingham, Ala.; and two granddaughters, 16-year-old Gwin Walker and 11-year-old Lillian Spell.
All grew up around music, and even though they live in different cities now, they still enjoy getting together to sing and enjoy the holidays.
“I can’t tell you how much it means to us,” Spell said. “It’s so wonderful to sing with my sisters and my mother and now my daughter and niece. And we teared up a few times at the recording session, just to know we would have that to listen to. It’s very special.”
Carol Puckett, president of the Viking Hospitality Group, first had the idea of inviting the family to perform at The Alluvian. She already had known Gwin Buford and her daughters for years.
Once the advance word about the first concert spread, people from Greenville, Clarksdale, Indianola, Ruleville and elsewhere in the Delta made plans to come, Puckett said.
“The first year, we were just overwhelmed with the response,” she said. “The lobby couldn’t even hold them.”
The audience has continued to grow since then, including groups from Jackson and Memphis — hence the need to add another Alluvian show each year. The family will perform at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Monday.
“It’s like an old-fashioned Christmas event,” Puckett said. “The fact that it pulls people from all over the area is the best thing about it.”
The CD was recorded Dec. 1 at the Delta Music Institute at Delta State University.
Puckett said she and Graeber had previously talked for some time about making a recording. This year, they finally approached Tricia Walker of the Delta Music Institute about putting it together.
“We really got it together in a week,” Graeber said. “And Delta State was lovely enough to schedule us during one of the busiest times they have.”
The recording session began at 3 p.m. and lasted late into the night. “It was so much fun,” Graeber said. “Several songs we just got on the first take.”
Puckett said the recording captures the essence of the group. The CD artwork was done by Tracy McGarrh, a graphic designer at Viking. “She put a lot of spirit into it,” Puckett said.
Gwin Buford is a fourth-generation church musician and a longtime leader in the music ministry at the Episcopal Church of the Advent in Sumner.
Having been trained in opera and other genres, she also has experience performing at a variety of venues. So it was only natural that her daughters would get involved at an early age when she performed at schools, club meetings, nursing homes and other places.
“When they were little, I started pulling them in to do a little part in the program with me,” she said.
Graeber now sings in Pryor and the Tombstones, a band that does country, blues and some pop. In fact, that group will be performing at The Alluvian on New Year’s Eve.
The daughters also have passed their love of music on to their own children. Gwin Walker debuted at last year’s Alluvian concert, playing her guitar, and she also writes songs. Lillian Spell does a different solo at the Alluvian show each year.
“The first year, her teeth were out, and we thought it’d be cute if she sang ‘All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth,’” Donna Spell recalled. “And she liked being on stage, so it seemed natural.”
The Alluvian concerts feature many of the same songs every year, with some slight variations. Everyone gets a chance to solo.
And after all these years, it doesn’t take long to rehearse.
“We just get together for a couple of hours and it just falls into place, because we’ve been singing together our whole lives,” Graeber said.
