Katharine Mcphee doesn't listen to music.

The 38-year-old actress is married to record producer David Foster,72, and made her name as runner-up on 'American Idol' in 2006 before going on to star alongside Megan Hilty in musical drama series 'Smash' but explained that she and her husband only really like to play music when they are hosting dinner parties.

She said: "People will always ask us at a dinner, 'What music are you listening to right now?' And he and I both just smile and look at each other and say, 'We don't really listen to music.' We don't listen to music in the car, though I do love putting on some jazzy stuff for dinner parties and stuff.".

Meanwhile, the former 'Waitress' star - who has 20-month-old son Rennie with David - is gearing up to release a Christmas album titled 'Christmas Songs' but joked that she had to "guilt" her husband into letting her create the record by reminding him that he is the "world's greatest producer" and yet they had worked together so little.

She told PEOPLE: "I think I guilted David. I said something like, 'It's really crazy I'm married to the greatest producer, basically of our lifetime, and I've only had you record me on a few songs.' Then he said, 'OK, well, why don't we just do a Christmas album?' We thought we would just put a couple of songs out on Spotify, and then we did this seven-song EP situation and our co-manager started sending it around to a couple of labels. Before we knew it, we had a whole Christmas plan of shows and promotion!"

'Christmas Songs' is set for release on November 25, while the lead single 'Jingle Bell Rock' will come out on Friday 28 October.