Watch Reggie Run Spread Holiday Cheer With Their Latest Single, “Bruce The Christmas Goose”

SARATOGA SPRINGS – Father-son duo Watch Reggie Run (Dave Graham and Luke Graham) are gearing up once again to spread holiday cheer! Releasing their latest Christmas song, “Bruce the Christmas Goose,” today, they are continuing to bring spirit and joy to the world at a time where every bit counts. On top of that, the differences they overcome, together with Luke’s diagnosis of autism, shine through like a bright star in the night sky. Music heals and transforms, and the positivity behind this latest release from Watch Reggie Run is a fantastic demonstration of just that.

I had a chance to sit down with Dave to discuss the release as well as the relationship he has with his son. What follows is our conversation.  

Lucas Garrett: Hey, Dave. How’re you doing today?

Dave Graham: Doing alright! Staying busy, trying to stay out of trouble!

LG: How are you doing with managing to stay out of trouble?

DG: It depends on who you ask! Hahaha.

LG: I really enjoyed this new song you put out today, “Bruce the Christmas Goose.” Tell us about it.

DG: Yep! This’ll be our fourth or fifth Christmas song.

LG: How do you write them? What runs through your mind that gives you that idea?

DG: That’s a good question. I’ll usually come up with a phrase… for me, most of my songwriting in general starts from the chorus. I’ll keep notes in my phone. With ideas, I’ll be out wherever, and something will go through my mind. I’ll put that in my phone.

For this song, I thought, “What animals are associated with Christmas?” Goose. I can go with that.

LG: Now, for a very important question! Will you be eating Bruce, the Christmas goose, at your family Christmas?

DG: It won’t be a Christmas goose! Hahaha. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten goose before in my life! Now that I’ve written a song about Bruce, the Christmas goose, I probably shouldn’t!

LG: Are you doing any holiday shows this year?

DG: We are. I have three or four lined up right now. They’re all private events at day programs, like the Center for Disability Services, Schenectady ARC and Wildwood Programs in the weeks leading up to Christmas. They’re all volunteer gigs I do for folks with special needs; spread holiday cheer and have some fun.

I started writing Christmas songs a couple years ago because I’ve found that some of the traditional Christmas songs are not the easiest for me to sing. Ha.

LG: When you are out to perform as Watch Reggie Run, do you regularly bring Luke along?

DG: If it fits in his schedule I will. He’s very cut and dry; he likes predictability. Last year, he only did one or two.

LG: When you do have these events together with Luke, how is that moment, for you, between father and son? What do you think the crowd gets out of it, and what do you get out of it?

DG: I enjoy it because it brings him a lot of joy. He loves Christmas songs. He’ll listen to Christmas songs all summer long. I think that led me, at one point, years ago to write my very first Christmas song that I used to play with my band, Legendary Losers. That song was called, “Christmas on the Radio,” and it was about how I felt Christmas songs were on the area too early.

It’s great though, [Luke] gets a lot of joy out of it. He doesn’t sing every song but he dances around. You can tell he’s happy. If he’s happy, I’m happy.

LG: Have you noticed any impact in Luke’s day-to-day life by doing this with him?

DG: He likes the whole idea of Watch Reggie Run. He comes in my music room a lot of times. I have a notebook where I keep all the song lyrics. He likes to go and flip through the book, and always wants me to play this one song, “Blowing Bubbles.” We’ve recorded it but haven’t put it out yet. He has a number of Watch Reggie Run t-shirts that we’ve had printed out over the years… there’s something there. Sometimes he’s more into [the recording part] than others. He’s always into the live performance.

LG: How about with this new song?

DG: It’s been a bit trickier lately. I used to be able to go play music in his room all the time. After dinner, some nights, I’d grab my guitar and go in his room, and play them. It’d make things a little easier when we go to record them. Lately, he doesn’t like me doing that.

For “Bruce the Christmas Goose,” I said, “Hey, we’re going to go in the studio and record a new Christmas song!” I set it up and started recording him. I can tell when he’s getting tired of it, but he’s learning the songs as we go along; he’s most likely never heard it before. It’s all new to him. What he’ll usually do is repeat phrases. With the magic of digital recording, we grab it and make it line up. He’s not keyed right in to the whole song, tempo, and melody. I have [about] a half hour to capitalize on. He remembers lyrics better than I do, but it’s a process!

LG: Are there any frustrations that come out during these processes between you and Luke? How do you mitigate that?

DG: Everything goes fairly smoothly, in general, but I think a lot of his frustrations with what happens [with the music] are because of communication. The great thing now with Watch Reggie Run concerts is that we’ve done enough of them, now, where he’s pretty clued in. it’s comforting to him because he knows exactly what’s going to happen. He helps me carry speakers, boxes, and cables. He’s great at that.

LG: How do your live shows typically go?

DG: I gotta have a setlist because he likes a structure of a set. Anyone that’s ever played in a band with me will know that I’m not good at keeping a setlist. I’ll jump off the set list in a heartbeat. I haven’t had too much of a luxury with that when I perform with Luke. There’ve been times when I tried to veer off, and he’ll rip up the whole setlist, but he’s managed to roll with it a lot better now. He’s been great with it [lately]; it’s a positive thing with him and his life in general.

We’re trying to get to a point where we can change things in his daily schedule and do something a little different to see if he can adapt to it. It’s a work in progress.

LG: It sounds like he’s benefiting from it!

DG: He’s done very well. Sometimes, we’ll play gigs where folks come right up to us, and I can tell he’ll get nervous.

LG: We’ve talked about his frustrations for a bit. As a parent, do you and your wife have frustrations with your relationship with Luke that the music has helped you mitigate? I know firsthand that there can be frustrations in any household that deals with a disability.

DG: Other than the correlation to him having to adapt to different changes and settings and things that might happen when we play a gig… that may be spilling over into home, but it’s hard to say. Our main frustration at home is mealtime. This is at home; his program… He’ll wait all day long to eat. There’s a lot of throwing out of food.

LG: So, at your home, Watch Reggie Run is you, Luke, Rory, and your wife, right?

My wife (Michele) and Rory are both on “Bruce the Christmas Goose,” however they aren’t officially in the band. I’ve been able to coerce them into recording some backing vocals or handclaps on a few songs but they’re not involved in any of the live performances.

LG: Do you feel the whole project and experience of Watch Reggie Run has brought the family any closer together?

DG: Maybe a little bit. The relationship… Rory’s younger than Luke is. The relationship has not always been easy between the two of them. She’s a lot more receptive to being involved in it when we ask her. We just played a Halloween concert at his day program, and Wildwood brought a lot of people over from their other facilities. Rory is student-teaching right now, but she took time to come over and watch. She wanted to support him. She’s trying to be more supportive.

LG: I think it’s really good what you’re doing with your son. Thank you for your time today!

DG: Thank you, man. I appreciate it.