The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lady Antebellum talks about tour
‘We feel like it’s the start of chapter two,’ singer from country act says.
A few hours before kickoff, Lady Antebellum charmed a Houston room full of VIPs awaiting the Super Bowl tilt between the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots.
Two members of the country behemoth — Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood — hail from Augusta, so the experience of performing at a pregame event for what they consider their hometown team was obviously a thrill.
Fast-forward a few hours later, and the pair was experiencing the same misery of millions of nonPats fans around the country.
“We had to leave early,” recalls Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott, “but the boys just wanted to be alone.”
The months since that disappointing February night have been much more joyous for the trio (Scott, by the way, considers herself a lifelong Atlanta Braves
fan, so maybe not so much joy there).
The band’s seventh studio album, “Heart Break,” featuring the slinky, soulful single “You Look Good,” earned Lady A its fifth No. 1 title (as well as an album of the year nod at this fall’s CMA Awards).
An ensuing tour launched in
May and will play its penultimate North American date on Friday at Verizon Amphitheatre in Alpharetta.
In early August, a cheerful, chatty Scott took some time to talk about the band’s continued success, life on the road with
kids — she paused the conversation briefly to greet her 4-year-old daughter Eisele with husband Chris Tyrrell, but hadn’t yet announced their impending twins — and why playing Atlanta is so special to the band.
You’ve been on the road since May. Are you at the point where it all becomes a blur?
I will say this has been the busiest year we’ve had in a really long time. When we hit the ground in January, we haven’t stopped. The tour itself has been one of the most fun, ever. We say that every time, but it’s a combination of things — having a new album to perform, we have horn players who are bringing this freshness, all of our kids are at really fun ages, so it’s like bouncy houses and kiddie pools in the backstage area. It’s been a really great summer. We love everybody we’re touring with. It’s truly like an adult summer camp.
The tour almost wraps in Atlanta, and even though it isn’t your hometown, can you feel something special when you play here, given Charles and Dave’s connection to Augusta?
I’ve had a lot of friends here over the years, and it’s also a city that isn’t far from Nashville, so you’ll get a lot of people coming from Nashville. Because Dave and Charles and I have grown up together the past 10 years, their family and friends are my family and friends, so it’s nice to see familiar faces. It adds a layer of nostalgia for them and for me. The last time we played Atlanta, we had a really sweet memorable moment with this little girl and her sister and they had done a video for our song “Compass.” The baby sister had to have a heart transplant; we got them onstage to sing it with us. Atlanta has always been special, but especially since that happened. Atlanta is also a place where I’ll venture out to do some shopping; it calls me, even when it’s miles and miles away. I think I was in high school when I went to Lenox (Square) the first time and I was like, “Where ARE we?”
“Heart Break” was your fifth No. 1 album. I guess that feeling never gets old.
We honestly were so blown away by that. Those are the things that you sit in your room when you’re younger and dream about. It’s just a thing that you think will never really happen. It’s such a testament to our fans and they are so unbelievably loyal and we’re forever grateful. Without them, obviously, that statistic wouldn’t exist. And this record, being three years since the last one, and being so unbelievably personal, it’s so authentic and real for us. We feel like it’s the start of chapter two.
I think “You Look Good” surprised people when it first came out because it was very different than what people expect from Lady A. Was there a deliberate decision to try new sounds?
We always want to do a little bit of a left turn, and working with a new producer (Busbee), we’ve known him for 10 years, but never really worked with him as a producer. We intentionally wanted our sound to evolve a little, but most importantly to be authentic in our songwriting and who we are. “You Look Good” was one of two songs on the record we didn’t write and (Busbee) played it to us toward the end of the recording process and he said, listen with an open mind, I feel like we’re missing something. And then he hit play and we were like, yeah, sold. When we listened to the whole record, that song encapsulated what making the record felt like. Some- times you have to step outside of yourself to realize that someone else has done it better. That song transformed our entire show because we have horns now on stage; it added this whole new layer of sound. It’s been a huge game-changer for us.
For more of the interview with Hillary Scott, visit The Music Scene blog at AJC.com.