Two people find love and resurrected music dreams in CBS' 'When Christmas Was Young'

A Nashville setting and a song by Sheryl Crow serve as the backdrop for love between two people about to abandon their music dreams in a holiday telepic upcoming on CBS and Paramount+.

In "When Christmas Was Young," premiering Sunday, Dec. 18, we are introduced to Luke Dawson (actor/musician Tyler Hilton), a headstrong music manager desperately in need of a hit song for his last remaining client. He thinks he might have one courtesy of Melody Douglass (Karen David), a talented singer/songwriter now working as a waitress after giving up on her dreams of music stardom years ago.

He's ready to make her song "When Christmas Was Young" a hit, but they have a history - he blew her off years earlier when she approached him with her music. So as he tries to secure rights to the song, he has a selling job to do - especially since he's also falling for her.

And the song, written by Crow and performed by David, is truly the centerpiece of the story. The actress recorded it in her home studio during the pandemic, with her music producer husband Carl Ryden mixing and producing it.

"Well, hats off to Sheryl Crow. I mean, it's such a dream to have someone like her crafting a song for your character ...," the actress says. "It was really special for us (to record it) in our home, which was still in the middle of house remodeling. But it was a dream come true to sing such a beautiful song and a beautiful Christmas song, which I just think is - I mean, the lyrics and everything, it says it all and just makes this whole film just so magical."

As for Hilton, an indie rock and folk artist with seven albums under his belt, he immediately found common ground with his character of Luke, despite having no experience as a music manager.

"It just seemed like a guy who was struggling ...," he says. "I think part of his thing is he knows talent ... he gets a vibe. And I've met so many people like that, that are so successful in the industry, (they) can't sing or play a note but just can identify a vibe, a feeling. A lot of us are like that. I mean, I play, so I don't have that.

"But, anyway, I just really connected with him ...," he continues. "And the most surprising and wonderful thing too is finding that you relate so much to somebody that has nothing to do with your life experience. But I just got him."