Lady Antebellum's 2011 CD, Own The Night. Photo courtesy of The Greenroom PR.

In the roughly year-and-a-half since Lady Antebellum released their breakout album Need You Now, the young Nashville trio has quickly turned into one of the most recognizable and promising acts in any genre. Need You Now, with worldwide sales in excess of five million copies and five Grammy awards to its credit, introduced fans to the group’s dynamic harmonies and powerful delivery. Now, on their third album, Own The Night, Lady A shows their continued growth with a set of 12 songs wrapped in emotion and displaying a vibrant presence.

Working again with Producer Paul Worley, Own The Night focuses much of its attention on individual moments in time. “Dancin’ Away With My Heart,” with wistful open chords and a dreamy guitar melody, captures the interaction between older versions of two young first loves. I brush the curls back so I can see your eyes, Charles Kelley sings with a comfortable familiarity before Hillary Scott adds, And the way you move me was like you’re reading my mind. On the ballad “As You Turn Away,” Hillary takes the lead to explore the exact moment a heart breaks at the end of a relationship. Over deep, dramatic piano tones and stirring strings, Hillary sings with touching sadness through the bridge, One step my heart is breaking, one more my hands are shaking/ The door is closing and I just can’t change it. Charles adds backing harmonies in a poignant display of what makes Lady A so special. Continue Reading

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GAC hosts Suzanne Alexander (r) and Nan Kelley (l) on the red carpet at the 46th Annual ACM Awards. Photo courtesy of GAC Staff.

Around this time two weeks ago, GAC’s Suzanne Alexander was packing her bags to fly to Las Vegas for the 46th Annual ACM Awards. We asked her to share with you what it’s like to be in the thick of things out in Vegas — so here’s Part 1 of her ACM Awards Diary! Don’t forget to watch Suzanne, Nan Kelley, Storme Warren and all your favorite stars in our exclusive GACTV.com ACM backstage video interviews and browse our ACM Awards gallery, packed with hundreds of photos! Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of Suzanne’s diary — and this Friday for Part 3.

Saturday April 2, 2011: The day before the ACMs
I had a feeling that many industry folks would be on the Nashville Southwest Airlines flight to Las Vegas. I was right – every seat was taken! There were heads of labels, stylists, publicists and some band dudes on the flight out. During the landing, I mapped out what I needed to do once we got to the Vegas airport.

You see, staying at the MGM for the ACMs is great because it’s where the actual award show is held – so you can walk everywhere, no cab rides necessary. BUT the problem is, everyone stays at the MGM and checking in can be an ordeal. Continue Reading

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Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott, producer Paul Worley and Lady A's Dave Haywood at the No. 1 party for their song, "Our Kind of Love" on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville.

Good music makes the listener feel something. Good parties can make visitors feel something, too, and Lady Antebellum’s Hillary Scott went through a whole range of emotions when the trio was honored at Nashville’s Hard Rock Café Wednesday during a No. 1 party for “Our Kind Of Love.”

“Wow! Look at that!” she exclaimed when the band got an unexpected dividend. Hillary, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood received a triple-platinum album for selling three million copies of Need You Now.

She went from that exclamation of happiness to tears of joy just a few minutes later when her publishing company, EMI Music, announced it was making a donation to Brent Gambrell Ministries, an agency dedicated to rebuilding Haiti.

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Little Big Town photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

To purposely misquote a Paul McCartney classic, bands are on the run in country music — straight to the top of the charts.

Little Big Town’s new album The Reason Why, bolts out of the chute to No. 1 on this week’s Billboard Country Albums chart, and it’s followed by the Randy Rogers Band’s Burning The Day, checking in at No. 2. In fact, groups occupy four of the Top 5 slots on the chart. Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now checks in at No. 4, and the the Zac Brown Band hanging in at No. 5 with the double-platinum project The Foundation. The only thing blocking bands from a Top 5 sweep is the Trace Adkins album Cowboy’s Back In Town.

Most fans probably don’t think much about it, but being in a band is completely different from working as a solo artist. There are more expenses, more opinions and more egos involved, so decisions require more communication and more time. As a reward for all that extra work, there’s less potential income — the band members have to split up the proceeds in the end.

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James Otto's 2010 CD, Shake What God Gave Ya. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

James Otto is sounding very happy-go-lucky of late, what with “Groovy Little Summer Song” putting a sunny disposition and a bit of blue-eyed soul into the beach-weather playlist.

The song is just one of a dozen tracks set for James’ next album, which is slated for release at the tail end of summer, Sept. 14. The project is titled Shake What God Gave Ya!, and it’s apparently loaded up with the same sort of R&B influences that shade “Groovy Little Summer Song” and his signature hit, “Just Got Started Lovin’ You.”

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Nan Kelley welcomes Lady Antebellum to the set of Top 20 Country Countdown. Photo by Cheryl Ecton.

Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” spent a whopping five weeks at No. 1 on the country singles charts, and no one’s more surprised about that than the band itself. Group members Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood will talk with host Nan Kelley about that song and their upcoming album on this weekend’s edition of GAC’s Top 20 Country Countdown.

The band thought “Need You Now” had some potential down the road, but for a lot of music-insider reasons, they were shocked when Capitol Records said it wanted the song to be the lead single for their new album, set for release Tuesday. Currently at No. 5 on the Top 20 Country Countdown, the song is awash in great harmonies, and the instrumental track — from Chad Cromwell’s judicious drum fills to Rob McNelley’s economic guitar solo — is a perfect complement. Even if it contradicted some of the unwritten rules of music marketing, it was too good to pass up.

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