Lady Antebellum performs at the Nightly Concerts at LP Field on Thursday, June 10 in Downtown Nashville during the 2010 CMA Music Festival. Photographer: John Russell / CMA.

Lady Antebellum got into music in Nashville specifically because the three band members — Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — saw themselves as country artists.

But if people who listen to other genres take an interest, well, they’re not going to turn down a few extra fans. As a result, Lady A is an extremely interesting place. “Our Kind Of Love” is the third single from the Need You Now album, and it’s in the Top 20 on the Billboard country singles chart. But over in the pop world, the group’s record company is mining a track from the band’s first album.

“Need You Now” recently spent more than 10 weeks at No. 1 on the adult-pop chart — in fact, the song went back to No. 1 in Billboard this week. Understandably, Capitol looked for way to milk that pop success a little longer, but instead of grabbing something from the current CD, the label is working “I Run To You,” a song from the last album, to pop stations. It’s already won the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year award, so the move should not damage their country cred in the least bit. Especially since Lady A didn’t intentionally set out to go pop.

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Lady Antebellum on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at the Ryman Autitorium in Nashville. Photo courtesy of The Greenroom.

Just two years ago, Lady Antebellum was on the road for the first time on a major tour, opening shows for Martina McBride. Last year, the group played a bundle of stadiums on the Kenny Chesney summer tour, and Lady A is currently opening arena dates for Tim McGraw.

Last week, the group upped the ante a little more, taking top billing on a pair of sold-out shows at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium. Playing in the band’s hometown was part of the attraction for Lady A, but it was also an attempt to test the water and see if the group could deliver a strong enough set to warrant a full headlining tour. The trio — Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — has gone from playing about 25 minutes per show on Kenny’s tour to doing a full hour opening for Tim.

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Mike Dungan, Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley and Luke Bryan celebrate their No. 1 hit "Do I" at a BMI party held in Nashville, TN on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Photo credit: Jason Mease, GACTV.com

Nashville’s music industry frequently throws a party for the artist and songwriters when a single hits the top of the country charts, and fortunately, Luke Bryan’s “Do I” — co-written with Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood — made it to No. 1. Because if the song hadn’t reached that spot, there still would have been a party, but it probably would have been a stinker.

“I had to become creative,” Luke said before the soiree at Nashville’s trendy condominium tower Icon. “I knew we were throwing a party, because I was just gonna throw a party. I was gonna call it a No. 2 party and I was gonna require everybody to bring bathroom attire — bathrobes, bring some newspaper, candles, matches and some toilet paper — it was gonna be a ‘No. 2’ party.”

“Luckily,” Dave chimed in, “we have the No. 1 party.”

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Luke Bryan photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Credit Luke Bryan for thinking long-term. His 2007 debut, I’ll Stay Me, brought him a pair of hit singles, which would make just about any new artist happy.

But while Luke was understandably pleased with that result, he also had a bit of a concern. Neither of the songs was particularly serious — “All My Friends Say” is a rowdy ode to a hangover; “Country Man” was accompanied by a video with a pig — and Luke didn’t want to be pigeonholed as a comic.

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"I Run to You," performed by Lady Antebellum and produced by Victoria Shaw and Paul Worley, wins Single of the Year and the group wins Vocal Group of the Year at "The 43rd Annual CMA Awards," on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: Jim Hagans / CMA.

Three people at No. 1, two of them also poised at No. 3. These are very good days for Lady Antebellum, not even a week after the trio claimed a pair of Country Music Association awards.

The band slid into the top spot this week on the USA Today Mediabase country singles chart with “Need You Now.” If that’s not enough, their performance of the song on the CMA telecast helped the single reach No. 1 on the all-genre iTunes sales list.

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Luke Bryan photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

Luke Bryan recently stopped by the GAC studio to chat with Suzanne Alexander about the new record. On it, fans will hear a cover of the One Republic song, “Apologize.”

“I had been listening to the One Republic version of ‘Apologize,’” Luke told Suzanne. “Somebody in the band had to run offstage and so I just did an acoustic version of it. At the end of it, people just kept singing the chorus. Continue Reading

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Luke Bryan photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

“That kid,” LeClaire Bryan, his mother, told The Albany Herald in Georgia, “was a piece of work.”

Luke’s newest piece of work — his sophomore album, Doin’ My Thing — will be released on Tuesday, and Luke will celebrate with a big homecoming event, signing autographs in the afternoon and performing a concert at the Lee County High School that night.

He returns to Georgia a star, but he would not have achieved that distinction if he hadn’t had a do-or-die attitude about pursuing his dream. He spent a good deal of time waiting tables when he first arrived in Nashville, and he still won’t show his mom the apartment where he lived when he first moved to Music City. Continue Reading

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