The Grammy-winning trio boasts prodigious talent, but chance drew them together, and earned them their name
They’re a Nashville trio that has pulled off a remarkable double-play, reports Ben Tracy:
Lady Antebellum is one of the hottest country and pop acts around.Last year’s « Need You Now » was the second-bestselling album of the year.
Now they’re out with a new record, « Own the Night, » which debuted at number one on the Billboard charts.
The tracks on their new album are a mix of lost-love longing and Southern comfort – fitting for a band that Charles Kelley says is finally easing into its whirlwind success.
« We’re hitting that stride of, ‘OK, man, let’s take a little pressure off. Let’s really try to enjoy this, let’s try to live in these moments that we’re having and appreciate ’em,' » said Kelley.
After all, it’s an odd twist of fate that these three ever even met.
As a Nashville native, country music has been in 25-year-old Hillary Scott’s blood her whole life. Her dad is a musician; her mother, a singer who had a number one hit with Reba McIntire in 1993.
Hillary spent part of her childhood on the road touring with them.
« For kindergarten I was home-schooled, and I literally lived on the bus and would watch school on videotape, » said Scott. « I would, like, cry when the school bus would go by. I’m like, ‘I want friends that aren’t 35!' »
By the time she was in high school, she was performing with her parents in an annual Christmas show.
« And I knew, after doing that for three years, if I can sing Christmas songs night after night for, like, two months straight, that I can definitely do this, you know? » Scott laughed.
Dave Haywood,29, and Charles Kelley,30, met in middle school.
« We’ve been buddies, you know, for 15 or more years now, » Haywood said. « We grew up together in Augusta, Georgia. So there’s just a comfort level of somebody you’ve known forever. »
They played in cover bands together, attended the University of Georgia, and then began to write songs.
Their first attempt: « Carpe Diem is on Vacation. » « It’s pretty deep, if you think about it, » said Haywood.
« We were really bad! » laughed Kelley. « I mean, it took a long time to really catch our stride. I was walking in the wrong direction.
