Group drops ‘hurtful’ part of its name
EMILY YAHR
LADY Antebellum, the Grammy-winning country music trio behind one of the highest-selling songs of all time, is dropping “antebellum” from its name.
Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood released a statement on social media on Thursday and said, while the band’s name originated from the Southern Antebellum-style homes where they took some of their first photos as a band, they are “regretful and embarrassed to say that we did not take into account the associations to the period of history before the Civil War, which includes slavery”.
But now, with the national reckoning over the Black Lives Matter movement, the group reconsidered the implications behind the phrase.
“We’ve watched and listened more than ever these last few weeks, and our hearts have been stirred with conviction, our eyes opened wide to the injustices, inequality and biases black women and men have always faced and continued to face every day. Now, blindspots we didn’t even know existed have been revealed,” they wrote. “After much reflection, band discussion, prayer and conversations with some of our closest black friends and colleagues, we have decided to drop ‘Antebellum’ from our name and move forward as Lady A, the nickname our fans gave us almost from the start.
“We understand many may ask, ‘Why have you not made this change until now?’ The answer is we can make no excuse for our lateness to this realisation. What we can do is acknowledge it, turn from it and take action.”
The group have been called out many times for a name associated with the Antebellum South, the period before the Civil War when black people were enslaved. They said that when they came up with the name, “As musicians, it reminded us of the music born in the south that influenced us… Southern rock, blues, R&B, gospel and of course country… We are deeply sorry for the hurt this has caused and for anyone who has felt unsafe, unseen or unvalued”.
In the past two weeks, the country genre – known for its fixation on the past, and frequently the Southern past – has started publicly addressing its own painful truths about the racial inequality of the format, which has its roots in black history but is now overwhelmingly white. On an industry Zoom call last week with more than 800 participants, multiple black music executives shared their trepidation about going to venues in the South where Confederate flags are on display. A black country music fan shared on Instagram she doesn’t feel safe going to concerts, and the post went viral among Nashville artists who flooded her comment section to show support.
This decision comes a day after Nascar, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, announced it would ban Confederate flags at events, a change that prompted many on social media to ask if country music concerts would be next.
Lady A formed in 2006, and went on to write and record the 2009 smash
Need You Now, which went nine times platinum and won song and record of the year at the Grammy Awards. After a two-year break to work on solo projects, they reunited in 2017 and last November released their seventh studio album. The trio have been posting, separately and together, in the past week, about ending racial inequality.
“Causing pain has never been our hearts’ intention, but that doesn’t change the fact that indeed, it did just that. So today, we speak up and make a change. We hope you will dig in and join us,” the band said, adding that they were making a donation to the Equal Justice Initiative. “We feel like we have been awakened, but this is just one step. There are countless more that need to be taken. We want to do better.” | The Washington Post
A WEST Virginia, US, woman and her husband faked her disappearance by pretending she plummeted from an overlook as part of a scheme to keep her out of having to go to prison, authorities said.
Julie and Rodney Wheeler were arrested on Tuesday on multiple charges including conspiracy and giving false information to police.
State police said she was reported missing on Sunday by her husband and
60g butter (4 tbs)
1 onion chopped
1 large leek (use white bottom part only)
500g cooked butternut pieces 4 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup celery
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of pepper
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 cups cream
Fry onion, leek and celery in butter.
Add everything else but the cream.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Cool then puree in blender. Return to pot add cream and heat through. 17-year-old son. The family claimed she had fallen at the New River Gorge National River, said National Park Service Ranger Leah Perkowski-sisk.
A criminal complaint said Rodney and his son planted items at the overlook to fake her disappearance.
Julie pleaded guilty to federal health care fraud in February after an investigation into “pill mill” clinic operations. She’ll be sentenced for that charge on June 17. | AP