Elizabeth McGovern, an American actress based in London, first met Steve Nelson when she saw an ad in her local newspaper for guitar lessons with him.

The trio began to develop music from McGovern's lyrics and Rowan Oliver of Goldfrapp, among others, were soon on board with the project which resulted in the band's debut album, I Can Wait in 2007.

[9] Sadie and the Hotheads kept up their momentum of live performances going into Autumn playing a handful of dates in Sweden during September before returning to the UK to take up a three-week residency at the Hippodrome in London in November.

[10][11] Not long before the start of this residency, the band announced that they were working on their third album, set for release in February 2014, in partnership with PledgeMusic, a direct-to-fan music platform.

It was located at Highclere Castle, the setting for TV period drama Downton Abbey and where McGovern filmed many scenes as Cora, Countess of Grantham.

Before the band began their set however, a message was shown on the big screen beside the stage in which McGovern's on-screen husband Lord Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) introduced Sadie and the Hotheads to the crowd.

[19] Coinciding with the release of "The Little Drummer Boy", that evening, the band featured on the first episode of Sky Arts channel's festive series, "The Christmas Window Live" which aired in real time in the UK.

[20] In the lead up to the release of "The Little Drummer Boy" and their appearance on Sky Arts, Sadie and the Hotheads also announced their debut tour of the United States, with a string of dates scheduled for early December along the East Coast.

[24] The band then reunited to do a mini-tour at the end of October with performances in London's Bush Hall and Revelation St Mary's church in Ashford, Kent.

[29] While McGovern starred in a new play by Alexi Kaye Campbell called "Sunset at the Villa Thalia" over the Summer, she and the band continued to fit in recording time at the studio.