IRELAND IS THE SOUL OF COUNTRY MUSIC
Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum has faith in Irish fandom
‘It was one of the moments when I knew that the hand of God was on us’
Lady Antebellum
Lady Antebellum, one of the most popular country acts in the world, make a welcome return to our shores on the weekend after next. For the second time in four years, they are among the headliners at the C2C Music Festival in the 3Arena. The festival, now considered the biggest country music festival in Europe, also runs in London and Glasgow that weekend. The Nashvillebased band join other headliners Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban as part of the multi-venue event.
‘We played the festival in 2015 and we came back at the end of 2017 and played our own headline show in the same venue,’ singer Hillary Scott recalls. ‘I remember it well, as I was pregnant with my twin girls at the time.’
It will be a real family affair for Hillary this time as both twins, Emory and Betsy as well as fouryear-old daughter Eisele will be making the trip. The band’s drummer Chris Tyrell will be on hand to help with domestic duties as he is Hillary’s husband and father to their children. ‘My little sister, Rylee is also over,’ the 32-year-old gushes. ‘It’s her first time to cross the pond and she is so pumped!’
Rylee, who at 18 is 14 years younger than Hillary, has followed her sister into the business. She has already sung on her sister’s 2016 Grammy-winning solo album, Love Remains. After the run of platinum-selling albums with Lady Antebellum, she brought it all back home with Love Remains in another regard as both her parents sang on the album. Their example inspired Hillary to pursue music.
‘Y’know, I don’t think I could really escape it,’ she laughs. ‘Music was played in our house my entire life. It was also a place which was full of the music business. My parents moved to Nashville to perform. Just observing how they went about things taught me so much about the music business. I learned that you had to work really hard but that you also needed to dream big and how to handle successes and failures and that both were equally important.’
She says that her parents are a constant source of support and advice. ‘I can call my mom and say: “You know mom, it’s been the best week, but I’m exhausted,” I’m fried and she knows what it feels like to feel how I’m feeling,’ Hillary says. ‘She knows how it is to be balancing motherhood, career and travel and staying healthy and all of the things that challenge you.’
A woman of strong Christian beliefs, Hillary says that a horrific incident in 2005, when the band’s tour bus went on fire. ‘It was definitely one of the moments when I knew that the hand of God was on us keeping us safe,’ she says.
‘The fire started on the tyre underneath the bunk that my daughter would have been sleeping in, had she come with us,’ she says. ‘It affected me as a mom and as a wife; my husband was on the bus too. Luckily, everyone got off safely. That experience brought me to a deeper faith and trust in God. It did prompt me to make Love Remains, to write and sing songs that show my gratitude to God and who he is and how he takes care of us.’
Frequent visitors to our shores since their formation in 2006, Hillary says it is no surprise to her that Ireland is among the first countries on the itinerary when they plot a world tour.
‘We know that the roots of what is country music originated hundreds and hundreds of years ago right there in Ireland,’ she says.
‘I think that is one of the reasons why I feel so deeply connected personally when we go there. The first time we played there several years ago, I felt the warmth and the soul of Ireland and specifically Dublin. You’ve been with us from the very beginning.’
Lady Antebellum play the C2C: Country To Country Festival which runs from March 8 to 10 in the 3Arena. See www.c2c-countrytocountry.com/dublin for the full line-up.