#322 - Charles Kelley on the Untold Origin Story of Lady A + The Name Change and The Song He’s Proudest of On Their New Album

Charles Kelley of Lady A stops by and gives the true, untold story of how the trio really came to be. He talks about how they all found each other, where they got the name and what led to them getting their first record deal. Bobby and Charles talk about the days of releasing their first album to when “Need You Now” blew up and changed their lives forever. They get into songs from the new album “What A Song Can Do” and the song that Charles wrote for the album that’s his favorite that he’s ever been a part of.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mm HM. Welcome to Episode three two. Charles Kelly from
Lady A on the untold origin story of the band,
their name change, the song He's Proud of Stuff on
their new album were really good interview. But before we
get into it, let's check out my top five favorite
releases out this week. Number five, Maddie and Tay have

(00:22):
a new song called Madness, Come On in those Stars,
my Phone crash and Dad Things, every mad goes and

(00:42):
sing I'll reach say does baby loves Man Name? At
number four, Morgan Evans has a new EP called The
Country and the Coast Side a. Here's a new song

(01:03):
called American Dream Truck found Little went from Little Tense
Preez here first feet in the paint was been in
my ticking to any to the bat every time if
you had him is ten you do come to but
it keep going. When I broke down, didn't catch it

(01:32):
was American Dream True. At number three, Shy Carter has
a new EP called The Rest of Us, with a
really good episode with Shi Carter from a couple months ago. Huh,
And here was a new song called Wild and He's

(01:54):
trying to take My second Get got well. John Mayer
has put out a ballad version of a song last
Train Home, and here's that Maybe You'll last stream, Maybe

(02:15):
You're the Last Trip and at number one. Tierra has
a new song out called Gentleman. Come All They out
so father and you like come to say it out
of like if you don't want to be a town me.

(02:38):
You can see some quick albums that are out ed.
Shearon has a new album, Let's See LV Shane has
a new album. He has a song hit Ain't My Boy,
but that's my boy. I don't see it exactly right.
But so Mitchell Tinpenny has a new album It's a
Christmas album, and Hayes Carl has a new album out
as well. All right, onto a really great interview with

(02:59):
Charles Kelly from Lady A. With Charles Kelly of Lady A,
how's it going, ma, I'm good. You know what. I
was talking to the guys here before you came in,
and they were like, is it all three of them?
Is it just Charles? I was like, it's just Charles,
And I like it when it's only one person because
it's difficult to interview a group whenever there are multiple

(03:21):
voices in the group. If it's Zack Brown Band. It's
easy because zachs the only one that's going to talk,
and even then it's hard to get into talk. I'll
be honest. One of the harder interviews that I like,
Oh yeah, I like Zack off the air, but kill
your guy like him, but he's really a hard interview.
And there there are the people that I just don't
like interviewing because we're tough interview. You're not one of them.
I sometimes have a word vomit, which is which I've

(03:44):
had several times on your show. But I would much
rather have word vomit you and Luke Yeah, I don't
have to worry about No, definitely not Luke. Yeah. I
can go there it's seventy two degrees outside today and
then just sit back for thirty minutes. You know. I
still I still get literally like breakout in hives thinking
about that one interview where I meant Mariah Carey and

(04:05):
I kept saying carry Underwood, and I meant that Mariah
Carey just you know, because singing so hard for so long,
his like and and and you'all are all looking at me,
and like Hillary looked at me, and I was like, oh,
I'm sorry, I didn't know you are best friends with
Mariah Carey, and it was like, dude, carry Underwood. I'm like, dude,
Carry Underwood has like probably the strongest female voice in
our genre, which you all haven't been, like you were

(04:26):
just insane. So but yeah, you get a lot of
that with me. I figured, I was like, I know
why he wants me on this show and not with
David Hillary, because they can interject and rain in the crazy.
It's not even just raining in, it's hearing a story
as told by a single person. And singular stories are
so important to me. And and I've got a chance

(04:49):
to get to know Dave of a little bit even
away from the industry. Um, but when it comes to
you guys, story to talk to one of you, I
feel like hearing it from all three of you separately
is better than you're get all three of you together.
It would be really interesting too, because we've we've even learned,
especially over the last like four or five years, a
lot of how you know, help differently. Each of us

(05:11):
interpreted different like parts of our career, you know, and
kind of internalized it. And I didn't realize, you know,
the way like Hillary had viewed those first five years
or the way they have had viewed those first five years.
And you know what I mean, and we're because we're
all like, you know, we talked about that Indiangram a lot.
All three of us are days who got me in
the Instagram years, which I think you gotta take it

(05:32):
with a little bit of a grain of salt. Same.
I mean, it's not like it's just like proven religion,
but it's uh. Do think it helps you at least
just communicate a little bit better and understand people's personalities,
you know, with you guys in a couple of places
I want to go to start this. It's interesting that
some artists are seen as newer, younger artists, even though

(05:54):
you're younger than they are. I think at times you
guys have been penalized, are breaking so early. And I'll
explain to you what I mean that we'll have these
meetings and I don't do a lot of radio meetings anymore.
I don't program music. I really don't do. I just
kind of do the show and do my other projects.
But at times they'll bring in and they'll go, hey,

(06:16):
we're thinking about these artists for this or even a
television project. And they'll say, you know, lady A, they're
very established, they've been around for a long time. But
then we can go with a newer, younger artist. And
before it's been like Brett young and I'm like, hold
on a minute. You know, Brett's older than these guys.
I think that at times because of your success so early,

(06:37):
people go, you know what, they're kind of an older group. Yeah, well,
well I kind of feel that way. I mean, it's
funny you said that too, because before we we actually
switched over to uh, it's a big machine. I mean,
we had obviously an incredible success in incredible relationship with
with Capital and Dennovential became universal, and we just felt
like we were kind of sensing that from them. It

(06:57):
was like, Okay, we're ready for some new blow it
or whatever. There there are established one of our established acts.
But I remember Hillary being in this meeting with with
Scott Bors said and she was like I'm thirty, like
I'm forty now, and she's like, I'm thirty three years old,
thirty two years old. I've got so much more I'm
ready to say and do, and and she was like,
you know, we're you know, we planned on doing this
for a long time. And still have so much, so

(07:19):
much more music in US, and so it is kind
of funny, but but you know what, it's it's a
blessing too. I mean being out on the road this
past like summer. I mean, dude, it was fifteen years
of songs and I was like, I mean after not
doing it for two years too, I was like, dude,
that was an hour and a half or two hours
straight of radio singles thanks thanks to you guys, you know,
thanks to fans, thanks to you guys at radio playing

(07:41):
this stuff. And it was like, I remember when we
opened up for Tim mcgrawl and being like, he didn't
play half of my favorite songs because he just couldn't
fit it in the show. And that's just insane, you know.
And we're not quite there, but it's like we could
be with all three of you and you've been together
and you've been through extreme highs. Is there a paramore
type where you guys have because they would go to

(08:02):
therapy as a group because they got so big and
as you get bigger, everyone's parts of people's lives amplify. Yeah, Um,
did you guys have to deal with that? That success?
We're with you were growing success was happening, and you
guys had to manage your relationships with each other for sure.
I mean we've been pretty open about that. I mean,
you know, the paramore situation. From an outsider looking in,

(08:25):
she got so much attention. I'm sure that it was.
I feel like Hillary has been, you know, to her credit,
has been so great about it always being the group.
You know, because being the one female in the group,
she could have probably especially during the needs you now
there are like really taken on so much more things.
And but that's just not her personality. We are such
a group and the sound is so defined by the

(08:47):
three of us together that I don't think it ever
got there. But but oh yeah, I mean again to
get back to the personalities, I mean the way I communicate.
I grew up with a bunch of siblings and we
would yell and fight, and that's how you and you know,
with Dave and Hillary, they grew up in very calm
you know, Dave, they would kind of I don't know,
you know, just very calmly talk about things. And same

(09:09):
thing with Hillary. She she didn't like like when I
would get upset about stuff, that's just me getting intense.
That means I'm excited or I'm I'm I'm very passionate
about this thing, and it would come off like angry sometimes,
and so we had to kind of work through that,
you know. And I'm definitely a pretty strong type a personality,
you know. And and and I wouldn't say that two
of them really are um but you know, I'm not

(09:32):
saying it's a good thing. There's a lot about me.
I mean, I tell my wife all the time, like,
I don't know if I would if I like guys
like me that much. I say the same thing about me, like,
I don't know that i'd be friends with me. I
think at my core, I would like the qualities that
I have as far as empathy and but but I
don't know that. I don't want to hang out with
an extreme type a like I am. I just think
i'd wear myself out. Yeah, I feel the same way

(09:55):
whenever people talk about you guys origin story, how much
of that story And I can relate a little bit
to us. And I've been with Amy and lunch Box
and those guys for fifteen years, you know, we've been
together since the beginning. But it's kind of become a
character of itself. And how we got together where it's
all true. I did meet Amy at a restaurant, but
there's a little more that went into it, and that

(10:16):
I did meet Lunchbox at a bar, but there were
a few things that happened before we're a show with
you guys. That's you met on my Space. You got
discovered a third in Lensley and then there they are
their lady A. Yeah, I mean the truth, here's the truth. Uh,
it starts, it starts, I guess around two thousand five,
I moved to Nashville. Uh, I'm working in Winston Sale

(10:37):
of North Carolina. I graduated University of Georgia. So I
moved to North Carolina to work from my oldest brother
and he's like flipping houses and stuff. After about six months,
I'm just like, I'm miserable. I'm like, this is I knew,
like this is not. This can't be it, you know.
And and um my, my other brother, Josh was having
a little success singer songwriter Josh Kelly. Anybody out there

(10:57):
that hasn't hurt his music, He had a really big
hit called a may Z on like Hot Day ce
and um So, anyways, he starts writing a lot in Nashville,
and he's like, you know, he was out in l
A at the time. He starts kind of fall in
love with Nashville. He's like, man, I think I'm gonna
move to Nashville. So he moved to Nashville in two
thousand and five, and right around this time, I'm just
like I just hit this little point where I'm like,

(11:18):
I've got to get out of here. Uh. And so
he said, dude, just come on down to Nashville and
move and and and I did. I just kind of said,
screw it, move to Nashville. And I was there for
you know, with him for a couple of months, and
he met his wife and she's an actress, Katherine Heigel. Well,
so they're just falling in love with each other. So
now he's spending all his time in l A. So

(11:41):
I'm there in Nashville all by myself, and I don't
know anybody. I don't really know how to play an instrument.
I always grew up playing drums. I was like, what
do I do? Like, how do I get out there?
And so I randomly called up Dave. I don't know
what made me do this. We had like written a
couple of really crappy songs, just piddling around. Uh in
college at George and I always knew he was super talented.

(12:01):
We would always go to the youth the like the
what did you call it? I can't remember what it
was called, but it was kind of a youth group thing,
and he would always play in the band. I was like, Dad, God,
that guys really talented. But we weren't really super close,
but we were friends. And anyways, I said, man, I
know you're in Atlanta, and I was like, I just
need to like write. Can I come up there and
just write some with you? So this is a long story.

(12:23):
I'm giving a long story. We have time for it,
you want it, okay. So I would go up there
on the weekends when he was off work, and he
had this little apartment and we would write and like
he would let me crash on the couch, and then
I like come back to Nashville and then I come
back up there and write again. I was it was
just a very bizarre is Atlanta up there? Time? I

(12:45):
picked Atlanta being down there? Is that what you're talking about?
Down there? I sat up there, down there, I set
up there. Anything I'll go, I'm going I'm going up
to I'm going up to the beach and I'm talking
out Florida. Yeah, that's another it's a it's yeah, that's
one of my wife's pet piece of me, um going
down there. Um. And so anyways, I would go down there.
We we wrote a few a few times like this,

(13:06):
and then all of a sudden, I was like we
started getting a collection of good songs and days kind
of going through the same thing he was doing, like
this like accounting job where he was, you know, going
to different businesses and like doing computer stuff and they're accounting.
I don't I don't even ask me. I don't know
what it was. And he's like, man, this is this
is this? What it is? Is this what life is
all about? Two? And I was like, man, we've got something.

(13:28):
I don't know what it is, but I said we've
got something. And I said, let's we can live at
my brother's house for free. He's not there anyways. And
when we had full rain of my brother's house because
he was always up in l A. If he wasn't
on the road, he was with his girlfriend. I mean
they were smitten. And so we had the studio and
Dave kind of knew how to work in the studio.
So we started doing some demos, and we started going

(13:48):
out and doing some solo shows just under my name,
and it was like Dave, Dave and I were writing
new songs. Sometime around there, you know, we created this
MySpace page and Hillary lo and me whole was a
fan of my brother Josh. Well, anybody that remembers my space,
they have like your top friends. Well, all of a sudden,
here's Charles Kelly sitting there. So she said she just
randomly checked it out. I was like, he's got a

(14:10):
pretty good voice. Low and me hold David and I
go or. I went to this bar called Twelfth and Porter,
and she was like up singing with the band s
And when she came off, she like saw me and goes, hey,
I'm a fan of your music. I was like, really,
no kidding. I was like, well, we should write together.
And honestly, I say it all the time. I mean

(14:31):
I really was like, I'm just gonna get a date
out of this. This girl's hot. We'll see how this goes.
And she comes over like, well, let me take it back.
So here's Hillary Scott. You're all gonna have to edit,
so much of this this is awful um and so
it's rambly because I haven't told the story like this
long anytime I tell, I tell it released the sinct.
So she comes over um or first I come home

(14:52):
and I'm like, hey, Dave, I'm at this really beautiful
girl she wants to write. And so we immediately go
to her my Space page and she her songs are legit.
She had been working with Vic Tailor Shaw. I mean
she had songs like long Gone anybody that remembers our
first record, Long Gone was on there, which made that record,
and a couple of other songs which were just super
like tight you know, Nashville demos, just ready to go.

(15:16):
And we were like, whoa, we gotta get something ready.
And so she comes over like a week or two later,
and we had this song called All We'd Never Need,
and I had a little bit of the verse and
a little bit of the chorus, and I was like,
I don't know how to finish it, and she mean,
it couldn't have been two minutes when she was in
our house and Dave's on the piano and she just
starts singing the next line and we start finishing this thing.

(15:37):
The second song Can't Take My Eyes off You, fourth
or fifth song Lovedn't Live Here, and it was just
like whoa this is? This is a badass and um
for us, really, we were just writing, honestly, David and I,
we're gonna just try to write for her record. We
were like, I think this girl's gonna be a star,
and randomly, um, you know, after a while, I was like,

(15:58):
what if, just for fun, we we do this and
just see how it goes. And we started doing a
show at Third and Lensley. We opened up for my
brother Josh one of his shows at third Lensley, and
it was the reaction was just way bigger than anything
we had ever done separately. And so that's kind of
how it started. I just want to go back a
little bit when you were enjoyed doing construct. No edity

(16:18):
needed when you were doing construction. I mean, it kind
of blows my mind to think someone that's as talented
as you are is roof and houses. Well it was
so I graduated with a fine Instagram at Georgia, So
I mean I worked my butt off at Georgia, Like
I mean, I had this like three eight. I thought
I was just gonna have all these job job offers,
no job offers. I think I got a job offer

(16:40):
an enterprise car. So it really told me. It was
like it's who you know. So anyway, as my older
brothers ten years older than me, and he was like, dude,
instead of going and getting some entry level job where
you're getting coffee or something goes, come up here work
with me and I'm building something, you know. And eventually
I was just like, we're gonna you know, we're gonna
build something like a like a real real business and

(17:00):
a real company. And um, I just didn't have the patience.
What I what were you singing? And what I mean?
I mean I root houses for a long time. I
don't have the physical gift. But were you singing? Were
you flexing that muscles? So I did a ton. So
we played in cover bands all growing up, middle school,
in in high school, I um, we played in a

(17:22):
band like inside Blue was our One of our first
band was called Sport in middle school and we wore
the little spoon and fork necklaces around school. And then
our second one was called Inside Blue. We did a
lot of blues and and all my brothers and just
all kinds of different stuff. And so I played in
cover bands all my life and something. When I went
to college, Josh went to Old Miss because we were

(17:42):
in the band together. And then when I went to
Georgia and I didn't have my brother with me, I
don't know, I just didn't. I was like, I can't
do this anymore. Forget it. That's a pipe dream, you know.
Or I don't even think I ever thought it was
going to be a real job. It was just something
I could do. And so in college it was kind
of my my little party gag. If there was a band,
I'd be like, hey man, you gotta get them sing
a song. And would people be just stunned? They would

(18:03):
be kind of It would be pretty cool, especially if
I got like a really cool like R and B
band and I go there and like, no, you won't
me and they're like damn because they got how many
drunk you know, college kids just let me sing the song.
So you weren't known as the singer just generally, you
weren't Charles, the guy who everybody knows can sing, because
you weren't. I just didn't do it that much. And

(18:26):
I don't know, it was one of those things I
knew I could. I knew I could sing, but I
don't know. I don't think I knew I was like
good enough to do it for a living. I just
thought it would be kind of a cool party trick,
you know what about songwriting. Though, at what point either
one of them did you realize I can actually play
in the big leagues. Not until honestly, this is this

(18:48):
is the honest guy truth. Probably not until Hillary and
we got together, and it just I mean, we wrote
Dave and I wrote probably fifty of the worst songs
in the world, but they had a lot of great
bones to them, like great melodies. I just didn't really
know how to like wrap my head around the lyrics
and really telling a story. But we were always David
are really good at coming up with melodies. Um. But
when Hillary got in the room and then she introduced

(19:10):
just a lot of really heavy hitter songwriters, and you
just start figuring it out, man. You start figuring out
that this these little puzzle pieces to songwriting, and and
you know, and and because there is there's there's a
there's an archetype to it. You know, you got verse
chorus Bridge brings back the concept of what the course
is all about. And the overall theme and you start

(19:31):
figuring this out. But um, but yeah, I don't think
until we became a group that I actually wrote something
that you know, I would send like my dad the
songs and he didn't really react, really really react until
I sent him All We'd Ever Need and then love
Don't Live Here and he was like, he goes, don't
let that girl go. What's interesting about you and Hillary

(19:51):
is that vocally you're both alpha and in a lot
of groups, most groups that that is not a factor.
I mean I could probably just start to list groups
where you have multiple lead singers. Yeah, I mean you
can put them on. Put them on one hand, right,
I mean, you go eagle. I mean they're just you know.
So was there ever a conversation of who's the real
lead singer? Um? Not really. I mean I remember some

(20:15):
of the first UM got it so weird by the way,
I feel like when I have both ears in, It's
kind of like when I'm on like when I'm on
stage two and I'm talking to the audience and I've
got both of my headphones, then I have to take
one out. I feel so disconnected. I don't know why
you can still hear me microphone. It's just a weird thing.
It's like, I still feel like I'm talking. I get it.
I still feel like I'm talking in my head. But um,

(20:36):
we'll take them off and then I'll tell you before
we play some clips there. Yea, So what we're talking about.
I was talking about the fact that you guys have
two vocal outfits. So when we went on our first
radio tour, it was really funny. He's become a dear,

(20:58):
dear friend now. But Nate Deaton uh A, is up
in San Jose and he was like, I just I
just don't know if people are gonna get two different
lead singers. He was like, y'all have to identify like
people want to identify with a singer. And I remember
being like, Nate, you know, I hear you, but I
don't agree. I was like, what about what Matt, what
about the Eagles? I said that, I mean those are

(21:18):
they all had two, three very distinct singers and it worked.
And I was like, you know, in fact that there
hadn't been much of that in uh you know, I
don't even I was like, what about a little bit town?
You know, they have to really well really four I
mean think about even the songs that that like Philip
sings on and and Kimberly and so, you know, I

(21:39):
was like, don't let this be like some excuse not
to play our music. But I will say early on,
probably just because I was such an alpha, it kind
of looked like maybe I was going to be more
of the lead singer. But the songs, it was just
I don't know. As as the songs that really started
coming to a head, I think as Lurie got her

(22:00):
confidence too, because who had never really performed live that much,
and so she was always kind of a little shy,
and you could just slowly start to see her confidence
in her book start to become, you know, more of
a giant factor in the face of the group, especially
in the second record and you got Needs You Now
and American Honey. But I don't know, I just think

(22:22):
it just it was always the way we looked at it.
I mean, we always from our very first record wanted
it to be a very balanced thing, and um, and
then finally, I don't know, if you know, in the
new record, Dave's got his first lead vocal and so
but I don't know, I mean, it's always been a
pretty equal thing, you know, is it deliberately equal? It is?

(22:45):
I mean, we write so much music. I mean, it's
not like we're sitting there going you got four songs,
I got four the three script where people are arguing
about but we want to make We want to make it.
It's what makes us us, you know. And um, I
think it naturally has always been something we've always wanted
to do. And we're we're giant fans of each other's voice.
I've said it, This is not blowing smoke. I really

(23:07):
truly think Hillary doesn't have as big of a range
as some other singers, like she can't sing up in
the stratosphere in really though, But in her range, I
think she's unbeatle. I think she's got one of the
best tone in our genre in her spot of anybody.
I really truly believe that. And um, we're just really
big fans of each other's voices and we have a

(23:29):
lot of respect for for that. And I don't know,
as we reflect back for a second on the origin
of the band. Whenever you guys name yourself and you
call yourself Lady Annabelle, um, I would assume most people
think that she's Lady Annabella oh yeah, oh yeah, And
I mean, which is so funny. I mean, obviously with
all that has gone on with their name. I mean

(23:51):
it was the most silly, innocent way of naming a band. Literally,
we're taking these pictures from the antebellem Holmes coming with
a name. We were about to call ourselves Spring Springdale
or something. We didn't know. We were just like all
these names. Did you guys name yourself though, or did
someone say that we did? We did? When we're looking
through these pictures, like, that's a beautiful Annabelle, I'm home

(24:12):
right there. I was like an about it sounds southern.
It just sounds graceful. It sounds like muscle shoals or something,
you know. I pictured like I pictured like Savannah and
this thing. I don't know why I said lady, but
I guess I was thinking like Scarlett or hair. I mean,
it's so funny if I could go back to what
made because I'll I came up with that name, and

(24:33):
I remember like saying and I said it today and
he goes, that sounds cool, And I was like, people
are just gonna be intrigued. At the time, all you
wanted were people to go what what's what's Lady Annabelle?
And I was like, man, you know there's all these
that are like cool bands, like Jane's Addiction and all
thea's like like it gives it a little bit of
mysterious vibe and um, and I was like, maybe there's

(24:54):
this like counted lady that used to live there, this
thing I don't know laying about and it's just sounds southern.
And and then I didn't really think about it. And
when we started going on tour, it's like, oh, so
she's the lead singer. I was like, I was like,
I'm an idiot, Like I mean, if I could go back,
I mean, especially when we were going through this whole
thing with her name change. I can't tell you how

(25:15):
many nights I would like stay up going and I
would come up with names in my head, like why
didn't I call myself, you know, freaking green Grass. Then
a screen because it was like it was so and
how do you how do you how how do you?
How can you convince people that it was just like
it just came out of the thin blue her. I
don't know why it just did. It just came out

(25:36):
and it sounded southern. And I remember having so many
people going. I won't name the artis, but I remember
having like two or three artists like y'all think you
all would be as successful without such a cool name,
you know what I mean? And it was like for
them it just felt cool. It just felt us. I
don't know. I can remember I was working and I
was still doing pop and hip hop in Austin, and
you guys were doing a radio tour because you'd bring

(25:58):
by the little pictures signed and his very early on,
and I was like, lady Anna Belle on, what the
heck is he even is that? But I was curious
enough to go and check it out, I know, and
you know, and I don't think we thought past that.
We we didn't never thought past like what's gonna make
someone just push the click on my Space and say
what let me hear it? And I don't know even

(26:20):
thought it's kind of cool that would be like oh,
and then a guy singing, I don't know what? Maybe
why when you guys going you play in the open
for your brother and it's the three of you. Were
you doing what you and Dave did where you were
just playing under your name or did you even have
a name or did you have that name? But we
had that we have that name by then we first
before our first gig. I mean we initially started I
think are or my Space. It might have been under

(26:42):
Springdale or something like that. I think it was a
road called Springdale. And I remember like telling that to
somebody's or like that sounds cheesy and you know, and
we're like, oh, it sounds a little bit too much
like Sugarland too, you know, I mean, we're just the
name is It's so hard to come with the name
because everything, I mean, the Beatles goals, you know, all
the mascots are basically taken. Yeah, and uh and so

(27:04):
you know, we didn't want to be like two dudes
in a chick or Hillary Dave, you know, Charles Band.
So it was just like, you know, you could just
come up with this name. But and yeah, it was
just very intrigued to people and it worked. Was it
a frenzy, a bidding war or you guys just got
into with one label who believed in you know, it

(27:26):
was it was pretty wild. Um, So Hillary had had
this development deal on Sony. Unbeknownst to Dave and I,
we didn't know what a development deal meant. I mean
we had just moved to town and uh, and so
she had had a development deal, I guess, and had
done like a final showcase for them and Joe Gilani

(27:47):
they passed. And this was like two or three months
before she met me, or maybe a month before she
met me. And she said it was almost like she
says all the time, it's like one door closed and
got opened another one. And I think, truly, she'll admit,
and I'll admit that we brought out the best of
each other. I needed something. I needed something to make

(28:09):
me unique and define my sound because I was kind
of sitting here floating between am I going to be
like a pop singer and R and B singer, a
country singer? Because I love it all and I think
being that's the one problem about being in cover bands,
as you can sit there and be like, blame it
all on my roots, and then you go, you know,
all night long, and then you'd be like Marion Maroon five,

(28:31):
you know, look get a bound and you're just like,
who am I? I gotta find my sound, and you know,
having her, I started bringing my register down and getting
this kind of cool, you know, kind of kind of
Greg allmond thing going to my voice, and she brought
that out of me even more. And I think for me,
I brought out some confidence in her, especially in the
performance side, to just let loose and to just trust yourself.

(28:55):
And uh, and also give her a sound, because you know,
when you listen to some of the songs she was writing,
it was kind of like, Okay, that's what all the
girls are doing, you know, like what's going to separate
you from you know, all the rest of the female
country artists. And so I think I helped Dave and
I helped give her this sound too, and and I
don't know, it just felt like a cool package and

(29:17):
there wasn't much like that around that time, you know.
And so yeah, we we do this this showcase it
at third Lensley and Victoria's Shaw hit invite all these people,
I know, you know, Uh, Hillary's parents had invited some
some industry friends, and slowly but surely it just grew.
And I remember one of the last shows we had
there at Third and Lendsley, we had pretty much every

(29:38):
label represented and uh, Paul Worley like just was the
first when we got done, jumped up and like rushed
to the stage was like, I want to work with
you guys, and he was at Warner Brothers and we
eventually wanted to sign with Capitol Records, and he I
don't know if this is true, but he said he
left Warner Brothers specifically so he could work with us,

(30:00):
and he became just strictly a producer again. And you know,
did our first our first four records, the first record
when you guys go in and you start to cut
songs as a new group, did they have a lot
of the songs laid out for you? How much of you?
I don't know. It was that. I think that was
the coolest thing. We had a pretty a pretty um
alpha manager to Gary Boorman, he manages Keith Urban and um,

(30:24):
you know we're we're with corn caption on now. But
Gary did it did honestly a great job. I have
I really do have a lot of respect for for him,
and he it was kind of like, y'all gotta give
these guys some artistic freedom, and but they never pushed.
I mean, I remember the A and R team was
a little kind of confused, you know. They wanted to
kind of dig their heels in a little bit and
send us some songs and we're like, no, man, I'm

(30:46):
telling you. And I remember there was a big discussion
on whether Love Don't Live Here really was a hit
or just sounded cool because it took a minute and
a half for the course to come in, and that
was like, wow, that is a long time, especially now.
But yeah, yeah, and there's two verses. I mean, it's
like this whole verse and then I go, yeah, boom
bump on it, and that's another verse, and then a chorus,
then a verse, than a chorus and outra. So don't

(31:08):
even have three courses. It's two courses, and so it's
very left footed and uh. And I remember them being like,
it's not we just don't know. And I remember us
maybe I just didn't. I didn't know that I couldn't
be this way, and I was like, no, this is
the first thing. Will trust me. This is going to
be huge. And I think our energy and our confidence

(31:28):
just exuded. And I'm telling you, I was a more
confident artist those first three or four records than I
am now. It's like, once you know, a little failure
feels like you start second guessing yourself. And that time
I didn't know what failure felt like and I mean
I was just like, we're the greatest, We're the greatest
things that slicepread just trust us, this is going to work.
Let's go a nothing to lose, I have nothing to like.

(31:50):
And I felt the same way about the only part
of my career and asked me nothing to So it
was balls out, Let's go taking chances, big risk, and
that's the truth. I mean it really there's something about that,
that innocence that there's just a beautiful there's a beautiful
concept and just the not knowing, I mean even being
in that thing. I didn't know who Joe Glani or

(32:11):
Mike Dungan was, or Paul Worthy and Hillary before that
show at Thorn, Lindsay was like so nervous. It's like,
well did you guys, Oh, there's just all these people.
It's like, I don't know who those people are. And so,
you know, it was just such an interesting thing that
now you know, I will say, after having you know,
certain singles flop that you thought were gonna be great,
it was like, you know, once that you really pushed

(32:31):
hard for that don't work, then you start going, maybe
I don't know what I'm talking about, And that's when
you get you know, maybe it's a healthy thing. You
know again, I mean it's like anything you just kind
of get a little bit of that second guessing going
through your life. What was the first single you guys
put out was it Love, Don't Love, Don't Live Here?
And then we put out looking for a Good Time,
which I will I will be honest, we were hesitant

(32:53):
about that. I think they were just really wanting to
push this youthful, fun thing. But like we listened to
that song now and Hillary especially is like, it's so
not us, Like, you know, it's like talking about like
a one night stand. I mean, I'm not gonna say,
like listen, I'm i mean, I've, I've I'm the wildest
of the group, but like Hillary Scott singing it about
having a one night stand is not Hillary Scott at all.

(33:16):
And and it didn't do that well. I think it
went to light number eleven or something. And then finally
it was like, let's get back to the great songs
off this record, and we put out run to You,
and that was our first number one, So you've got
run to You hits. The number one is needs You
Now after run to You, which is the fourth single,
so you at your first project. A lot of first projects.
The first single off the second record was the first

(33:38):
single off the second record, So I'm talking to Dave.
That song almost didn't even make that record, almost record
and had had to be heard back like an old
voice memoir. So so this is by that time, Okay,
So first record, we do this, and I believe we
wrote all songs off the first record. Maybe there was
one that was outside, but I think we had record

(34:00):
did it before we even like, I think Victoria Shaw
had written it, and I remember we heard and we're like, oh,
we want to sing that. But we didn't cut any
outside like pitches from the label at that time. And
by the second record, we were definitely feeling that like, okay,
this is this is big. And so we've written all
these songs and we go into the song meeting and
we're just just, you know, trying to help narrow down

(34:21):
the songs because you get very much in your head.
You you don't know what's good or bad by that time.
If you've written sixty songs, it's like you always love
the newest thing you've written. And we're in there and uh,
we're playing all these songs and and I don't know
what made me open it up, but I was like, oh, yeah,
there's one I'm missing. There was something we wrote with
Josh here, but it's a crappy little work tape, but

(34:43):
I will say the verses kind of cool. And I
played it and everybody's like, it's hard to hear. I mean,
it's like something you recorded on your phone. We didn't
have the harmonies worked out yet. In Autumn House and
Melissa spilman Um both were like, that's cool. Like I
don't know what it is, but it's cool. Just try it.
And so our process at this time, Paul Worthy's process

(35:05):
was to go into a rehearsal space before we went
in the studio and just work up songs and work
them up and see what works. And so I think
we took let's say twenty songs and then we were
able to narrow it down. And I remember like when
we started working on Needs You Now, and all these
different hooks started coming together, we were like, this is cool.

(35:25):
This will be our favorite song off the record that
won't be a single. You know how those are. It's
like all my favorite records have like songs that never
were singles, which are the greatest songs and um, I
feel like a lot of our records have been there.
I'm like, you know, it's like everyone's so afraid of
putting out the ballot, you know, and it's like those
are my favorites. But yeah, so we we end up
cutting it and I think we cut we cut. We

(35:47):
cut them in batches, um, and it was like we
cut like six songs, and we were out on the
road and our label was like, you know, we had
had this like playing for them to come over and
listening like the first batch of songs, but we had
ran only had like some show we needed to go do,
and so we were like, well, y'all just go listen
and just let us know what what they think. And

(36:07):
and we were like, they're gonna want our kind of
law for a single, fun tempo duet out of gate
big old hit and are I can't remember who Texas.
I think it was like publicists, um, and she was like,
they're losing their mind over needs you now. They're like
we had to play it like multiple times and we're like,
no kidding, needs you now? Wow? How about that? And

(36:31):
you know it ended up changing our lives. Yeah, when
did you realize that rocket ship was truly a rocket
ship and different than we'll say the race car that
the last record away. I don't know. I mean, obviously,
there's so many different times. It's it's hard to remember.
We were so busy and I didn't know any different.
I didn't know any different. It was like, oh, this

(36:52):
is this is what happens. But I do remember Rundy
was a grind to get it up the charts. It
almost died it like thirty and Jimmy Harnen, who were
with now, was at Capital Um and I think that's
why I wanted to go back and work with Jimmy
Hardens so much, because I could, like I would be
out on the golf course with him and he was
on the phone the whole time. I was like, he's
not very fun to play golf with, but that's who

(37:13):
I want on my side. Um and he he really,
I believe, single handedly pushed run to You through to
get it hurt because songs like that. I me think
of some songs like too, like like a girl Crush
needed to just be heard to get through those and
it really doesn't. Songs people don't realize don't really get
hurt until their top twenty, not really not enough to

(37:34):
soak into the ether of people's minds, and so it
broke thirty, got a twenty, almost died broke twenty, and
once it got up it kind of finally took off.
But Kneed You Now was so easy. It was like
every station was like, we're in, we love it, can't
stop playing it, and it just blew and I remember
being like, this is different and we had never had
a song just like sell like this UM, and it

(37:56):
just felt different. Well when did people start to go, hey,
we're gonna actually tried this a hot ac or we're
gonna see it's crossing over to pop? That was I
believe I can't remember his name, but I believe the
Nashville pop station was the first one to do it.
UM if I'm not mistaken, And it's so funny if
you listen. We had the cup we had to do.

(38:17):
There was like a couple of stations that wouldn't play
the slide guitar because they thought it was too country,
and we were like, I think they thought it was
a steel guitar, and it was like I remember being like,
screw them, they don't play it. And then it was
like no, this is a big song. So we changed
the the so he goes dude the um where I

(38:37):
saw if you notice on the on the pop version,
it's just like kind of more of like just a
eighties you know, kind of kind of riffy guitar apart.
But I remember, you know, once it started getting played
over there and really take it off, you know, it
just it just took on a different life. I mean,
obviously they're the Grammys. We've we got to perform it
on the Grammys. And if I'm not mistaken, they had

(39:00):
made a mistake. They thought Needs You Now had already
gone number one or something. I think they felt they
were getting run to You and Needs You Now mixed up,
and they let us because because oh that's what it was.
They felt Needs You Now was what we were nominated for.
We were actually nominated for Run to You in the
Country category in the country category, And if I'm not mistaken,

(39:24):
they didn't realize. But but it was too late and
then that the song was doing what it was doing,
and Gary was like, no, we're gonna do need You Now,
And so we do Need You Now on the Grammys,
and I think it had just gone like around top
ten or something, maybe number one, maybe top ten country
country got it, and once we performed it on the Grammys,
it took off and took on a whole another life.

(39:45):
And that's when to all the other pop stations that
were kind of you know, it just kind of blew up.
Were you so busy that you didn' actually notice how
famous you were getting? Oh? Yes, I still to this
day being a being a guy in a group. I mean,

(40:08):
there's such a beautiful annemity to it. It's like I've
always thought it was the most beautiful thing. Mean, yes
I'm tall walking through the airport, but people are still like,
I recognize you, but I still don't really know. Are
you from a little big town or you what? What
are you famous? Are your baseball player or something? And
there's just a beautiful an anemity to it. Um. You know,
you get to go kind of be this freaking rock

(40:30):
star in front of all these people and then literally
go off and I could go to the Applebee's after
the show and maybe one person would recognize me, which
is great. And I've always thought that's the beautiful thing
about being in a group, especially a country group. Um.
But it was definitely different. I don't know. I think
the three of us like humbled each other so much.
We never like felt famous, and so each of us

(40:53):
anytime like someone maybe try to like do something that
was a little too famous or put like sunglasses onto
the airport, we like, what are you doing? Stop doing that.
In a few minutes, I want to talk about some
songs that you wrote that other artists cut. There were
massive songs. Put your headphones on for just second. I
want to play some stuff from the new record. Am
I rambling? Horrible? You're great at this? Okay, this is

(41:14):
what this is? All right? Good? I just feel like
I ramble. That's good. I'm not very good at like
succinct answers. That's why this is perfect for you. This
is the only this is the only place you should
talk for now on in this room with me, and
we'll just service it to everybody else. Uh, talk of
this town. It's you three, Jordan Reynolds. I know if
I'm working with Dan and Shay and the Nicole Galleon,
who I know pretty well as well. When there are

(41:35):
five of you in a room, those two powerhouses there.
I was about say to the best song as we have,
and I ask you this question. Honestly, when there are
five of you in a room, are you going all right?
We have five great songwriters here, are you going all right?
This song? Is each of us like, no, you're not
a no, no, not at all, Because I know some
folks who don't want to write with more than three
people because they're like, if this song does hit, I

(41:56):
don't want to split the money this much. I mean
maybe you know, if anybody has that would have that concern,
it should be a songwriter. I mean for us, you know,
I've always said it's you know, we're which is why
we cut a lot of outside songs. I mean, we
make our money on the road. You know, we're we're
selling T shirts and stuff. These songwriters are the ones
that you know or sometimes in my opinion, getting very

(42:17):
screwed with what's going on, you know, with with streaming
and streaming and um and so if anything. You know,
these are two powerhouses. They don't you know, they could
just the three of them? Are the two of them
could just write a song and send it to us
and if we love it, we'll probably cut it. We're
we don't have any ego with that. But I will
say when the three. When Dave and Hillary and I
can get together in a group with another writer, it

(42:41):
just becomes our sound war and we know where our
vocal parts need to go. You know, there's times that
obviously we've cut outside songs, but you know, and there's
been some that have been sent that I was like,
it just didn't fit our voice, was like damn. But
when you were in a room with with two writers
like that, you kind of go into it going, there's
no way we're gonna write a bad song. It would
be impossible to write a bad song. Now, it doesn't

(43:02):
mean there's not times we'll go in and write songs
that just barely don't make the record. I mean there's
and I and and sometimes I get such like do
we make the right choice? You know, there's so many
songs for every artist. I guarantee you Luke, Dan and
Shay as much as they right have, you know, hundreds
of hits out there just that you know we'll never
see the light of day, which is kind of a shame,

(43:24):
but but you know you're gonna go into the room
and get something good with these two. Let me play
and have a few tracks. I wanted to talk about specifically,
here's that I talk to this town exactly. I don't

(43:52):
want to be I'm gonna go to the second song
and not that we're gonna do this all chronological. But
I was my friends with Ryan Heard, who was one
of the writers with you on this, on this next time.
I just saw this morning. I was telling you right
when I walked in here we were he was we're
at our little I was working out and he was

(44:12):
hitting golf balls. He uh had also posted which is
why I looked this up. He had posted, Hey, thanks
for letting me be a part of writing a little
bit of this record. And it's you know this song
here what a song can do. And it was you
Ryan Heard, Sam Ls, Laura Belts, let me play this
and a question you sn'll make it change? Sing just

(44:59):
cool easy. You know you talk about being deliberately equal
when you're singing. What about the songwriting process? And you know,
because you have uh this the single now which Hillary wrote,
you were not on that writing team. Are you guys
deliberate about how many songs get on because it's hard,

(45:20):
it's hard to be by. That's when you write no
no doubt. Um. You know there was a time By
the way, what a Song Can Do probably is my
favorite song I've been a part of writing and four
or five years. Why that specifically it is the sound
of it is so quintessential lady a UM. To me,
it's got the back and forth with Hillary, but it's
got that kind of a little bit of petty Tom

(45:40):
petty Southern. You know. It just reminds me of like,
what if I never get over you need you now.
It's in the same vein of all those little things
that I feel like when we're at our best, that's
the sound of our band. But and I love Ryan
heard he does that so well. I told him. I
was like, we could like that little writing group right
there along with David Hillary, we could write an entire
record together, you know, especially Sprinkling, like Jordan Reynolds and

(46:02):
Nicole Galley, and it's like we all love the same
types of sounds and music. Um. But this record in particular,
you know, it was written during the pandemic and I
I needed something to take my mind off everything, and
I wrote almost every day and so it naturally was
just that thing of like with this record. I mean,

(46:23):
there were records in the past. I will say maybe
around like the fourth or fifth record where you can
tell like you're like, man, David, Hillary not into this
song because they're not on it, or they just are
they really listening to it. We're so at this point now,
we're like, we're so in a weird way. I hate
to say that, but we are like very kind of
eagle lists egolists when it comes to the spand right now,

(46:47):
we just want to stay relevant and make great music.
And and and I mean, the first time I heard
the funny thing is is like Hillary didn't write much
at all this past year. I wrote an insane amount.
Dave wrote a pretty solid amount, and Hillary didn't write
that much. But whence she wrote, she is like when

(47:08):
she wrote, she wrote like some of the best songs
she's ever written. Worship What I Hate is probably the
most powerful song off the record. Anybody that gets the record,
I'm not you know. She wrote it with Dave, Um,
Natalie Himby and um Amy Wash Amy wash writes a
lot with Ed Shearing, And I remember hearing that and
being like, if I was in the room and you

(47:30):
threw out a title worship what I Hate, I would
have been like, we're not writing that. That's too heavy,
and so we've kind of learned to probably saying like
a lady. I was like, like a lady. We're named
lady a like a lady, which is kind of what's
cool about it. I mean, like it's a little too
feminine for us. We can't do that, man. I mean,
we've got two guys in this group, and so we've
learned that sometimes it's also nice and it gets us
out of our own way, because when I get in

(47:52):
the writing room, I'm I'm pretty opinionated, and I can't
help myself, but really kind of insert uh in a
big way, uh my opinions, and you know, so we've
learned too that it's nice to step away. But we
are at our best I think when the three were
start in the righting room together. But but naturally this record.
The reason I have so many is just I wrote
so much. And what I love about David Hillary two

(48:15):
is like I mean, when they first heard what a
song could do, they're like, that's first off, that's got
to be a single. At some point they were like,
this is one of the best songs. You know, it
was our story. You know, that song feels like such
our story. So here is you talk about it. I
also was going to highlight this. This is worship what
I hate? That's the ultra I've heard it before, I know,

(48:45):
but played the are you able to actually play play
the some of the choruses? Mike, what do you have?
I thought you were telling me like, this is a
song you haven't heard before. I like, no, I know,
but but but but it's some of the best Charleston lady,
but some of the best lyrics. Man, um, you want
it from the star it, man, just do it. It's
like two in the morning here. But do you like
the first first? Of course, I just this what's one

(49:06):
of the best really played that much on a podcast?
There's just music rights issues on Oh got you well?
I get started from the first verse. Okay, okay, that's okay,
that's of course nothing. You want it back? This is great? No,
that's great. Okay, Body that I didn't have to play.

(49:27):
I'm seeing every flog fame, insecurities and you're like trying
to build a church out of Volma her when it
really needs grace Hi game side something that's not the
one of the best voices in country music rights, not

(49:48):
only in this song. What stuck out to me, it's
not just that she's a great singer, but you can
also hear her be vulnerable with that voice at times,
I'm telling you, man, when she's when she's at her best,
she like like there was a song on the one
before which was the type track, and then there was
a song on the one before called Hurt, And we
always try to find this that one thing that just
breaks your heart and it's always everybody's favorite off the

(50:09):
record that never becomes a single like that. That was
her to me in this song. Was you hear her
not be super strong vocal, hillary her be a great singer,
but also great communicator with her boy exactly you can tell.
I mean that song is about, you know, what we
were all doing, especially during a pandemic. Just everyone's just
sitting there doing these unhealthy things, drinking too much. Lord knows.

(50:30):
I was uh looking at our phones all the time,
comparing ourselves to others, and and it was like, you know,
I worship what I hate, Like I'm this is like
my idol. Now, this phone is my idol. This this
is you know. And it was like when I heard it,
I was floored. I was just blown away and I
and I literally texted David Hillary. I was like, I'm
so glad I wasn't there that day. I think I

(50:51):
was like, I was golfing. I was like, guys, I
got like one of I think I was probably golf
with Darius. It was like when Darius wants to golf,
I always say yes and um how And I was like, man,
I just I've been writing a lot of y'all just
go and do this. And I just was like, gosh,
that's for me. I'll ask you about one more song.

(51:13):
And mostly it's not so much about this song, but
there's a song friends Don't Let Friends, which where was
that playing this? Mike? Why has this been played recently?
We did it on New Music Nice we did Yeah,
that's what it is, Okay, okay. So we were talking
about this song and it's you Carly t R Darius,
and it just reminded me of the awkward when you

(51:34):
have to ask somebody or you asked someone to do
a project or song with that. Do you ever asked
somebody and they say no, yeah, oh yeah, you ever,
I'm assuming you it's a it's a given take, or
I'm yeah yeah, and we've been asked. I mean honestly, Like,
I mean, I've asked several artists and they were just like, man,
I mean literally like I've been on you know most

(51:54):
most of the time. It's like I'm on so many
And the truth is it is I mean, think of
all these artists, I mean, how many other projects there on.
And there was a couple that that you know, I
was like, I get it, like you know, and you're like,
they're like, man, I got a single about it, come
out with this part. You know, You're like, I totally understand,
because the last thing you want to do is put
them on a song, and then you don't get single

(52:16):
rights for those out there listening, Like just because they're
on this song, you know, we'll still have to run
through like we'll we'll have to for us to put
this song out to radio, like we'll have to ask
Darius Is people and in Universal and um if it's
not a single. Though, at some point, I'm gonna I'm
gonna I'm gonna raise a sting because it's one of

(52:36):
my favorite songs. I wrote this with tr down at
the beach. We were literally watching our kids play and
we had a little beer in our hand and we
were like friends on that friends Rik alone, we gotta
write that and so yeah, what a song can do? Uh?
New record? Fourteen songs, A lot of songs. I mean,
you know, considering what people are putting records now, and
a lot of people are focusing on four or five
song packages. Why was it important to you guys to

(52:58):
put out such a robust Well, I don't know. I mean,
we just had a lot of material. I mean, but
you don't know if you notice we'd put out you know,
put them out in chapters like seven first and seven later,
And I don't know if that was the right or
wrong move. We're trying to just see if people could
wrap their heads and consume the music a little bit
more that way, because not from a necessarily sales standpoint,

(53:18):
Just like for me, I will, I will, be honest,
it's hard for me to wrap my head around more
than about eleven songs, and and honestly, moving forward, who
knows if we'll ever do as much you know, I mean,
because I really do. Whatever a year that goes by,
it's like this is a singles game, but or at
least you know, maybe the thing for me would be beautiful.
It's like put out like these little four songs, the

(53:39):
EPs where you've got like the radio single, then you've
got some other stuff. But it's just I don't know, Man,
always breaks my heart how much music we write that
we feel really proud of and you just wanted to
get out there. And I don't know, now we're getting
to the spot where it's like we don't have to
be the biggest thing in the world. I don't you know,
we've we've in my favorite acts. Man. I mean, I'll
be honest with you. You know, I was probably really

(54:03):
focused on their first three or four records and then
kind of like I'm still a big fan of like
Bruce Springsteen, but I haven't bought one of his new records,
and and I totally get it. We're if we're not
selling or consuming as much as we did in the beginning,
where you know, but I do think this record and
in our last record, Ocean is some of the best
music we've ever put out. And um, we finally have
just gotten out of our way of trying to like

(54:27):
put out or right what we think. Like you guys
you know are gonna love don't don't look at me.
I have with it. I know that. But you know
what I mean, I've gotten further out of that game
than than I ever right, Um, when you talk about artists,
it's just what you're saying to me that I had
the same conversation with Luke Brian. We were flying to
Idle together and he was like, man, he was like,

(54:49):
I've had my time. He's like, I always want to
be the guy, but I've had my time being the guy.
He's like, it's time for the next people that are
the guy to be the guy. Well, he's always going
to be sorry to keep me and you're Mike, He's
always gonna be He's Luke Bryant. But yeah, I mean,
at some point you've got to like the only way
this genre survives is for us to give these new

(55:10):
artists a chance. And they've learned off of us and
seeing what we've doing, and I hope they take it
and take it to a whole another level. If anything,
I'm just looking for, you know, that was why I
get really obviously when Marion came out, she was just
so like such a breath of fresh air, you know,
Ingrid Andrewson, I'm I'm waiting for more of that, for
people to start taking some chances a little bit, and

(55:31):
uh and and us as a genre to take some
more chances because there is a lot of the same
out there. And that's okay too. I mean, it's very
it's it's great, it's fun, it's easily digestible. But man,
I like I want, I'm ready for more because I
need it too. Man. I thrive off of like discovering
new music and and uh, you know, I'm ready for

(55:52):
the next big thing. Before we run here, I do
want to highlight a few songs that you wrote that
other artists we mentioned Luke uh two thousand nine, Luke
Bryan and do I Baby. Was this your first songwriting
success at all? Yes, well at all outside of the band? Yes, yes,

(56:15):
meaning did you write it for you guys? We just
I don't know what made us. Um. I think we
just became good friends with Luke, and I don't necessarily
know if we were trying to like get an outside
cut or I was just like Luke, we should write
some time, and um, yeah, we just let's see. This
was so The funny thing this was we wrote this
around kind of the time probably Running You was doing

(56:36):
its thing. The reason I remember around the time it
was is because we had need You Now at number one,
and do I was at number two, So talk about
as a songwriter. I remember being like, uh yeah, cool
and now I'm like going back like that doesn't happen, dude.
And I remember calling up Mike Dungan you were on
the same label, and I was like, dude, he'll need
you now. Do I go up to number one? He goes,

(56:58):
we can't, Like you can't need you now right now?
Like this is a needs you now? Set up there
for like four weeks. Why do I would like set
up there like waiting for its turn. And then finally
we had dropped just enough for Dye to get in
there and get the number one. And I remember being
as a songwriter like this is pretty dad, I'm cool,
but um man, Luke, I mean we can't. I can't

(57:19):
take a ton of credit. Luke had this idea and
the course was half as long, and I was like,
of course, is so houcky. Luke. I was like, we
gotta double that chorus and then it's got to come
back to the do I he had to do? I
turn't you want to don't want to kiss your baby?
Sign to me wanting your drive? You crazy baby? Do.
I that's as long as it was. It was like, no, man,
keep it going. And so we I feel like some

(57:40):
of Dave and I was pop melody, you know, kind
of got in there and uh and you know, and
it was Luke's first number one, but I feel like
it opened it opened him up in a big way
that he wasn't just this kind of one trick pony.
But obviously nothing did for Luke what Country girls shake

(58:01):
it from Me did for Luke, right, But it was
cool to be a part of his first number one.
And and by the way, you have I believe eleven
number ones with Lady A that you've written. So what
I mean songwriter? I mean that you was just a
songwriter that you weren't singing with your own voice on
our record. And so that's um, I grabbed a cap
Darius homegrown honey, Yeah, honey again, when you write this,

(58:23):
what's the what's the mindset you're writing for? Darius? Um?
We knew. I had told Darris, like, you know, I
was like, we've never written together, man, have we never
written together? This is crazy? We're like best friends, which
is the same thing with like Thomas Rhett, He's got
two songs off this new records, like we've been friends
for freaking seven eight years, Like how have we never
written together? And the only two songs we've written made

(58:45):
this record, Friends and lent Friends and in a song
called things he handed down, But Darius, we were there
and uh, and so I went over to Nathan Chapman's
UM studio a little bit before and I was like,
we're about to write with Darris. We gotta get something
kind of brewed up, and uh, we kind of had
this little chorus is honey, honey, so money? And I
was like, oh man, that sounds like that could be

(59:06):
a cool lady A song. I was like, and I
was like, if he doesn't like this, we're gonna save
this for lady A. And the minute we played it
for he was like, that's awesome. And so, you know,
we were just off to the races. But um, but yeah,
that day we were in my head. We were trying
to write for Luke, I mean, Darius one more two eighteen,
Brett Young here tonight. Were you guys touring to I

(59:28):
feel like we're touring together when you wrote this? We were,
And I don't know if he still does this. He
can't write without a whiskey in his hand. He is
so funny, like because he's like he's superstitious or yes,
I don't know if a superstitious or it just calms
him down. He's not like I don't want to say
this and not and I hope he wouldn't think I
like him like throwing under the bus because he's not

(59:49):
like I drink more than than than Brett. I mean,
he's very controlled guy. But like I remember we wrote
it like eleven o'clock and I was like, do you
are you drinking whiskey at eleven? It's like do we
need to talk? We have a talk, and you know,
I'd like just woken up. I had like a coffee
by and I was like, and you're a rock star, dude,
He goes, Dude, I can't write without having a whiskey man.

(01:00:10):
And uh So, anyways, that one, I had just had
a little bit of that melody the of the end,
and I was trying to write for him. He probably
thought he was trying to write for for me, which
happens a lot. I wrote a song with Marion and
Ryan heard and I thought I was going in there
to write a song with with Maren for her record

(01:00:30):
and uh and and she's sang in the demo and
she's like and she was like, Hillary is gonna kill this.
I was like, I was like, no, Maren, You're gonna
kill this. And uh, it's so funny. It almost made
our record. It may make a future record, but uh.
But yeah. The last things I'm gonna ask you are
a bit about the name change, but not really what

(01:00:51):
you expect about the name change. I don't mind at all.
I'm not I'm really not that interested in in the
drama of that. I mean, I think we kind of
all saw that play out. But it's like all the
murch you had with Lady Annabellum written, like those are
the questions I have, Like what the crap do you
do with It's like a world serious team to finish
a second, like you got it all printed out? What
do you do with it? Then? I don't know. I mean, listen,
I love you know. I just think we're in a

(01:01:14):
time now where like when you know better, you know,
when you know better, you do better. And we had
never thought about that name. I mean I had talks
with so many of my you know, my black friends,
and they were like you know, I never really thought
about it, but when I look at it, you know,
we like because I know you guys, and I know
that's not but they were like I could see how
that just and I don't know, man, with everything that's

(01:01:35):
going on, it's like, I don't want to be a
part of any I don't want to have anything associated
with us that would make any human being think that
that was any part of our hearts because it could
not be any more different. Um. I just think it's
just one of those I call one of those little
blind spots, especially when you grow up in the South.
You're like you kind of you kind of in a
weird way, romanticize some some things around here that you're

(01:01:58):
not necessarily associated it with the bad. You're associating it
with like the grace this, and you know what I mean.
And I think that was kind of naively kind of
where we were in that and and there's a lot
of people that I thought we folded or whatever. And
it's like, well, you know what, then if you if
you don't want to be a part of the conversation

(01:02:18):
of change and just opening ourselves up to like making
a better world, and that's fine, you know, dig your
heels in. But that was what it was all about.
And yeah, I mean probably a lot of tea shirts
out there. There was a lot of like all kinds
of stuff we you know, and people still will call
us lady and a Bellman. I slipped and have done
that on the operating stage and I was like, I

(01:02:38):
was like, god, no, listen, that's okay. I mean, same
thing with the Dixie Chicks. They never had there's no
way they had any intention of that being offensive. And
there's a lot of people are like, well it's not offensive.
It's like, well, no, kid, it's not offensive to you.
And Lady and Bella is not offensive to you. Listen.
It wasn't offensive to me. It's not necessarily I don't
associate those things with that word, but a lot of

(01:02:59):
people do. And when you can make a change, especially
when people called us, you know, lady a. That probably
would have been the most difficult thing if we didn't
because think about the brand recognition. That would have been
the most difficult thing if we didn't have a name
that already everyone associated. I mean from the day day one.
I mean I remember, like the first time we went
on Today's Show, it was like lady A taking over

(01:03:21):
the pavilion. This was like two thousand seven, so everyone's
been calling us lady A. But it was a very
difficult time. I mean really wild Um never been in
our lives kind of misinterpreted like like that or whatever,
or you know, And because it's always been about the

(01:03:41):
music and that's that's what we wanted about. That was
one reason you know that wrote that song on Talk
of this Town was like, I don't want to be
the talcoless town. It's got a little double meaning there, um.
But man, we learned a lot about ourselves and it
kind of made us even more passionate about being a
part of of a band that represents love and a
welcome and vironment and and putting out music that makes

(01:04:02):
people feel good. I don't know. So for us, it's like,
I know there's something beautiful that's going to happen, and
I know there's something beautiful that's that's out there that
you know, we're we're all, we all are going to
make changes and people are always so resistant to it,
and uh, I don't know. I just I'm hoping that
there's gonna be some beauty from the from the name

(01:04:23):
change at some point because I will say right now,
it's it's been it's been pretty tough to be misinterpreted
so bad with your intentions, especially people that I don't know,
you never even tried to know, you never even tried.
They're only basing their only knowledge of you off a
headline that they read exactly and and and and trust me,
there's so much more to that in a very crazy

(01:04:46):
way that people wouldn't even understand, you know. But but listen,
we're just we're trying to do our best like everybody else.
And I think as long as you try and and
um and you know, try to leave the world a
little bit better. You know, I don't want my my
old boy as he grows up and he's in history
class going dad, well what did you mean by that?

(01:05:07):
And what you now? Because when I learned about I
was like, well that's hard to explain. I don't know,
and so I don't know. It just we grew up, man.
You grow up and you start looking at the world
and going all right, man, we can all do better.
And that's just the bottom line. We can. And sometimes
it takes a pandemic and you know, and and and

(01:05:27):
a lot of things that happened that that kind of
change the world for the better, you know, And it
takes time. It's it's it's still going to take a long, long,
long time. But there's a there's some beauty I think
that's going to come out of this pandemic and everyone
having some forced stillness and um, it's also gonna be
a lot of anxiety and and and therapy we're all

(01:05:49):
gonna have to go through after this. What a song
can do is the new record? Uh going to talk
to you? Yeah? Man, I mean it's not like we
don't ever talk, but no, usually it's with the three
of us, or it's I think the last time I
saw he was in the hallway the opry and everybody's
got their families or you know, people with them. How
you like a married life? Man, it's good. Just feel

(01:06:10):
any different, are you? It feels yes, it feels different
in that I always feel like people in my life
are going to leave me because growing up that's what happened.
But dad left, my mom died, everybody left. But it's
gonna be hard for her to do that legally, Like
like that's the that's the difference. I always I always

(01:06:31):
felt like, man, she's she's so freaking smart, she's so
pretty everything she shouldn't be with me. And I always thought, well,
eventually she's going to figure it out. But now if
she figures it out, it's just gonna take a couple
more steps, and I feel like in the midst of
those steps I can convince her otherwise. So, yes, it
has been so great that I get scared. It's so great.
Well that's that's good. At least it's so great. I mean, dude,

(01:06:53):
the first I remember the first year, I mean being
my my wife, you know, uh, sorry, Mom and Dad.
We lived in sin for a year, and it was like,
you know, once we moved in, it was it didn't
feel that much different because we had already kind of
been together, you know, but and we were dated for
like six months then or four months or so. Then
the pandemic hit and we were stuck together, really had

(01:07:13):
to get to know each other. Yeah, and then it
was like, oh, yeah, this is for her, Well then
you're awesome. Yeah, then you if you got through that,
you get through anything. Anybody that literally we're dating and
got through the pandemic together or probably on a heck
of a path. It's been awesome, so awesome that I'm
scared to say it's been awesome. Um okay, well well
we'll leave it there. You guys check out the new record.

(01:07:37):
Um good, good talk talk. You nailed this, man. We
just did an hour rambly and not not ramble at
all on ramble j over here, No no, no, you
conversationally and how you communicated, how you should communicate. It's
hard to communicate on any sort of show when you
have nine minutes and three people. As much as you
love those three people, I was telling them before you

(01:07:59):
came in, it's like, all I got to spend enough
time with Dave. I s been enough time with Charles.
I guess been enough time with Hillary, and then I
gotta make everybody feel like they're walcome and then nope,
time to go. Second segments over. So yeah, for sure,
send my loved everything and you should get You should
get the two of them one separately. It would be interesting.
So Dave has been on Okay, cool, Dave came over
for a long time. But David, Dave sent me to
on site basically yeah, so I mean he did me too.

(01:08:23):
When you guys, when you guys had the controversy or
the like I was reaching out today of like, because
I've been a lot of trouble and I've not recently,
but through my career I've been sued. I've been and
so I reached out to Dave and was like, hey, man,
I'm thinking about you. Here's what I know. Here's what
I'm seeing from an outside because you know he's been
I mean, he sent me to on site, which is
the place to go. I wouldn't take that lightly. Yeah,

(01:08:46):
but that's, you know, a guy that I trust. Yeah, Yeah,
he's he's he's one of the best, the most genuine
and one of the biggest lessons our first manager said
he had. He'd been around managing every act under the sun.
He goes, here's you're famous. N Till you've been sued
at least two or three times. People don't come after
people without that are are are aren't successful? You know
what I mean? I mean when they see there's like

(01:09:08):
a whole group of lawyers and stuff out there too,
looking for little little ways of making money off of
off off of people. I mean, this is just it
is what it is. It don't You're not alone, There
isn't There isn't an artist in this town that's successful
that hasn't been sued for something. I remember hearing a
story one time that Bruce Springsteen got sued by someone
in that had said he had written a poem in jail,

(01:09:31):
and it was easier to give the guy like thirty
grand than to fight it with the lawyers. And that's
what they bet on. It's so messed up. It's the
it's it's just I can't even get it. It's so ikey.
And that's why my even my car insurance is so high, honestly, like,
I have an umbrella insurance policy that it's like if
somebody hits you and they see it's it's automatic. There's

(01:09:52):
money to be made out there. There's people that are
prized that are gonna come and try to get it.
All right, you go, Charles Kelly at Charles Kelly on Instagram.
Lady is got a lady ya, he's got a new
record and uh, we'll see you soon. Yeah, man, where
there is m hm