The album was recorded at a family gathering, including Kate's former husband Loudon Wainwright III, their son and daughter Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright, Anna's husband Dane Lanken, their son and daughter Sylvan Lanken and Lily Lanken, and Kate and Anna's sister Jane McGarrigle.

Several of the McGarrigle sisters' friends and collaborators, including Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Chaim Tannenbaum, Joel Zifkin and Philippe Tatartcheff, also appear on the album.

The combo perform a mix of traditional folk tunes, pop standards and original material by the participants.

The sisters had been invited down to Arizona in order to participate on Harris and Ronstadt's 1999 album 'Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions'.

A DVD of a live show featured most of The McGarrigle Hour was released a year after the album.