Lady A Proud But Not Done Yet

Lady A hung out with Wayne D & Tay on iHeartCountry House Party this past weekeend to share details on new music and how excited they are to be a part of this years iHeartCountry Festival. The band also tlaks the important of being able to be individuals but keep focused on the group as well.


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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Uh, I'm excited because these guyshave done amazing things in their career and
the cool thing is they keep Idon't want to say reinventing, because you
do what you do, but youfind a way to do it. New
Lady A is in the house.What's up, y'all? Hey, good
to see you, got good tosee you guys. First of all,
how good does it feel? Theholidays is a nice reset, right,
hang with the family, hang withkids, just unplug in general. But

(00:22):
how good does it feel to belike all right? Because you need a
break at some point you're like lovey'all, but like go away for a
few weeks. We had holiday breakand then if you live in Nashville,
you know, about two weeks afterschool started back, we got a ton
of snow and so then we wereall snowed in for a week. So
definitely feeling like you know, Januaryright here at the tail end of it.
Find in our rhythm for sure.What's the best part about when you

(00:45):
guys get back together, like aftera holiday break or like you come off
the road tour, Like what's thebest markets? Like best friends? It's
like I've got, you know,a couple buddies that we see each other
once twice a year, and it'slike no time has passed. Same thing
with us and everybody, you know, the first fifty minutes is asking about
what our kids are doing. Butthere's always just a new excitement too,
and with anytime we have something newand new music to talk about, and

(01:07):
that kind of that like cautiously optimisticexcitement. The uncertainty is it gonna work?
People gonna love it? I hope, you know, And you don't
know if they're gonna, you know, like it or not. And so
there's I love that feeling of justthe unknown. But as far as us
getting back together, man, it'salways like no time. You know,

(01:30):
we're always in constant communication. They'renot to say we're on a group text
that one of us says something everyday, probably every day, I know
what, we know what everybody's jave, just got back from a Honting trip.
Hillary's girl's been in a play,you knows, just turned six.
Yeah, yeah, I'm probably ona golf course. Not not right now.
I will say, you guys doa phenomenal job, and it's and

(01:53):
i'd imagine it's it's easy to loseyour identity when you guys are built career
wise the way you are, butyou do a phenomenal job that like being
individuals because there's a lot of groups. It's like, oh, yeah,
I know, I'm not gonna usenames because but there's a band that you're
like, oh, I know thatband. Who's your favorite? The guy
the one with the right but everybodyknows y'all's names. You've done a phenomenal

(02:15):
job like being a group of beingan individual Was that on purpose? Like
let's be together but not lose ourselves. I mean, I think I don't
know if we fell into it.I think over the years of being in
a band together for seventeen years,realizing that we need to celebrate who we
are as individuals and what we bringto the table. I think has been

(02:36):
a huge part of our work oflike we love that we're a part of
this thing that we get to dotogether, but who we are separately is
to be celebrated to. I mean, like, for example, Dave can
do all of the tech production amazing. I mean, he would listen to
all the voicemails on tour that wewould be putting together to put the set
list together, like all the thingstechy production, and Dave is like the

(03:00):
guru. We all have our roles, you know that that we lean into
and celebrate in one another. Howhas that helped you over time because obviously
most recently within the last lesson ayear, right, No, it's actually
been a year and a half nowhas really over year and half? Yeah?
Wow? Yeah, sober for yeah, but but you have but you

(03:22):
put out your own project. Ohgosh, you put out your own music,
right yeah, well the first yeah, the project, uh, which
we always laugh. I was likeit was when Hillary had her first child.
I was like, I realized thatI'm not good at sitting still.
But I've had a handful of songsthat you know, never fit our project
that I wanted to show the world. And and then shortly after my sobriety
journey, Dave and I wrote asong called as Far as You Could,

(03:45):
just about about that journey. Andso I think that's what's nice about kind
of where we're at is people realize, because you know, the past,
it might have been a fear oflike, oh, if we do something,
you know outside of the group,they're gonna think we're breaking up.
I think people get it now.And it's like it's not really our you
know, for me, it's justputting out music. It's not a focus
of trying to like build necessarily someseparate thing, you know. It's just

(04:09):
like it's nice to be able tohave different artistic outlets, but it but
always know that, you know,Ladier is the home that you come back
to. And I just think we'rein such a cool spot too, where
we all have different inspirations, youknow, where we kind of come in
and like what's going on in yourlife and wanting to write and be in
a really honest place with our songwriting. I think is leading us into a

(04:30):
cool direction with this project. Whenit comes to the last release we had
from you guys October, right,the two Song Project yep. Yeah,
So that's unique because usually it's likehere's an album which now can be up
to one hundred and seventy eight thousandsongs. Yeah, but what what made
that? Because usually if it's anEP, we're talking like four or five

(04:50):
six songs tops. What's what madethis project? Like, hey, these
two deserve to kind of live togetherand in their own space. Mean,
we actually had a lot of feedbackfrom fans when we cut this music.
So we cut a handful of songsand had a fan event last year and
started just kind of hearing kind oflike our tour when we would take request
every night, got fans to actuallywrite down on a little card which ones

(05:11):
they loved. At a listening party, we had these two really kind of
stood out, love You Back,and then another one called a love song.
But we're all, I mean,we're all circling the runway trying to
figure out how we put out music. You know, the industry continues to
shift. We still love albums,but also want to be able to put
out music when we're fired up aboutit too, and felt that way,
especially about love You Back after hearingfrom the fans. Song also be a

(05:33):
part of a project that we endup you know, putting out here recently
or here soon. You know.For us right now, we're just like,
let's let the music dictate where wego. And so, you know,
love You Back felt like such agreat, you know, kind of
kick off to some new music.And you know, who knows throughout this
process this year we may develop aconcept album and all of a sudden those

(05:54):
songs will fit on there. Sobut I think having that freedom of not
boxing ourselves in anything is kind ofa little bit of that kind of cool
uncertainty that I'm kind of thriving offof lately, where I kind of embrace
it and that's what makes life fun. Is like, I don't know where
this is going to go, butit's God's going to lead it somewhere that
it's supposed to go. Is itcrazy to think of where music and your

(06:16):
careers have gone that Literally, youcould walk out of here and Dave thinks
of a song idea, everybody getstogether after dinner later tonight, super passionate.
Hey, let's write this you recordedtomorrow and people could be listening to
it Friday, like music never existedlike that before. Yeah. Yeah,
Yeah, we've seen a lot ofchange for sure. I mean not only

(06:38):
just as music lovers growing up,but then once we got into the business
ourselves. I mean, it isso immediate now, which there's such an
excitement to that. And it also, you know, if you're not kind
of keeping a handle on yourself,can feel like a whole lot of pressure,
you know, and a whole lotof pressure to just create, create,

(06:58):
create and produce so much and justmaking sure that that you know,
it's led by the art, it'sled by the inspiration creatively to put it
out into the world. I wasgoing to ask that because similar to the
way music is released, social mediakind of runs the world too. And
I mean, especially what we do. You could see, oh, this
person did this and this person didthis. I have anxiety because I haven't

(07:19):
done any you know what I mean. Does that exist in the music creation
now that it's so as quick too, I mean it can be, you
know, for us right now,it's definitely focused on quality more than quantity.
But you know, we also arewho we are, and it's like,
you know, I think we startedoff and felt like we were kind
of ahead of the curve, takingvideo cameras around and posting them up on

(07:40):
Facebook, and then it kind ofmoved into this Instagram world. Well then
we got four you could video onyour phone, and then we had you
know, family, and it wasthere was definitely that pressure of like,
I can't keep up with this,and you know what, sometimes I'm not
going to try. And you know, I think to being in a group
and being around for you know,close to seventeen years, we've seen so
many trends come and go and go, and I feel like, you know,

(08:03):
the one thing I've learned is youcan't chase it. The minute you
start chasing a trend, you know, where everybody's like, all right,
now, Morgan's hot, and thenyou start getting a bunch of people trying
to silent Morgan. It's like,then it's going to be the next person.
And you know, and I feellike the thing that you just have
to remain as an artist in yourheart is the sound that you've created.

(08:24):
And I think to embrace a littlechange and push yourself, but stay stay
true to that core of what youreally love. You know, if it
doesn't excite you, it's not goingto excite the audience. This is where
I quote Bluie's mom, it's alot of Bluey with my children. Run
your own Race. Hey, that'sgreat, Actually it is, it is,
and that is truly. I meanit sounds silly, but that show

(08:46):
has got a lot of wisdom.But that's it. It's like going to
got a nice, nice going torun our own race. It's a good
song title, good song title,because it is. It's coming out Friday,
No, it is, it's it'sinteresting and every you know, everybody
has their own way of discovering newmusic and celebrating the artists they love and

(09:09):
all that. But for me personally, every now and then, I like,
I like when you know, forexample, John Mayer goes away and
then I've had enough space from thelast John Mayer project or the last John
Mayor show that I watched, andto go, huh, I wonder what
he's doing and then go search.It's like, there's there's beauty in missing
something and then kind of longing forit. I feel I feel like they're

(09:33):
the artists that do that really well. I just I think it's really wise.
I think they're they're obviously really hopefullytaking care of themselves in the way
that they create art in the process, and I think that that shows in
the beauty of what they make.Going back to you, guys, are
to the point in your career andthis is definitely a compliment. If you

(09:56):
go to a Lady A show,you end up going, oh my god,
I forgot about this, right though, oh my god moments exist in
the Lady A show because you haveso many different hits. People are like,
I can't wait to hear this,this, this, and then halfway
through the show, they reach overand hit their friend like they knew this
one. I forgot going through thosesongs and the moments and the tours and

(10:16):
we were Tay and I were workingin Vegas during your residency. Goes through
those moments and a feature you havea different answer. That's fine too.
You look back, there's still plentyof lady a story to be told.
But you look back today to dayone, what are you like, Holy
hell, that actually happened. Gosh. I feel like there's been several of

(10:39):
those moments, but I mean thethings that jump out to me is like,
you know, getting asked to becomea member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Like I'll never forget that moment whenwe stood on stage and saying with
Chris Christopherson at a stand up tocancer telethon, like you know, and
got to sing help me make itthrough the night with him. Like things

(11:01):
like moments like that that just jumpout. And that was one in particular
that I just really remember this morning. It was like, oh, they
did that, you know, Andit's those things, it's the it's yeah,
those are those for me traveling aroundthe world. I mean I never
would have thought, you know,our music would take us to Australia,

(11:22):
you know, Europe. You know, we've looked at even going to other
places too. I mean it's justwild to think how far your music can
reach, you know, and thathow special that is. So yeah,
it's pretty pretty surreal when you putwhen you kind of walk through the last
you know, sixteen seventeen years ofwhat we've been able to do. So
we feel super lucky and blessed tobe here. When it comes to the
music that we are looking forward to. Obviously you're creating, you're probably writing,

(11:48):
maybe not recording yet, right,just getting back both a little bit
both. Do you know what youwant to do next? Not that we
won't ask dates or names, butdo you have a plan? Are you
like, let's record and see whathappens. Yeah, I think that's where
we are. I mean we've gota handful of dates this year. You
know, we got off obviously apretty busy year last year with a request
line tour, and I think wantto give our space to create, give
ourselves space to create, and notforce it, you know. I mean

(12:11):
if I look back some some momentsin our career, I wish maybe we
had had an extra a month ortwo to to you know, spend a
little bit more time creatively on stuff, even if nothing came from it,
just a mental break, you know. And so to me, I think
we're just gonna we don't want tolook back and be like, gosh,
you know, you just wanted thesemoments to kind of because I don't think
I'll ever be happy if I didn'thave have something to look forward to,

(12:37):
like something with the band and beingup back up on that stage. And
I don't want it to get toa point where we run ourselves so ragged
that then you kind of you doit and it's gone. It's like I
would. I love where we're atnow, where it seems like we're building
this kind of runway to where wecan kind of dip in and out and
be able to actually give ourselves somelong space, like Hillary said, for
people to miss us a little bit, for us to like find out where

(13:01):
we want to go with this.And I think there really is something nice
about this complete, beautiful uncertainty thatI'm not sure where it's going to head
musically or where it's going to go, but I know I know it's going
to reveal itself, and there's nota ton of pressure because it's like we've
already had this body of work,like you said that we can always rely

(13:22):
on it's always going to be there. But I do think the artist in
us wants to keep creating and pushingourselves. So it's like it's kind of
a beautiful spot of like, youknow, we could sit back and kind
of just keep torn on the samemusic forever, but there's still a fire
in our ability that wants to seewhere we're going to go. And some
of my favorite artists in their careershave had so many different iterations. I
mean when you look at Willie Nelson, I mean, you know the artist

(13:46):
he was when he started the songwriter, to then the outlaw, to then
you know this icon and it's like, you know, there was a lot
of ups and downs and waves,and just I feel like you as long
as you stay authentic to it,that you can ride those waves and kind
of just enjoy the process. Anybodywho is a lady, a fan,
even if like a little right,they see that you guys are up here,

(14:09):
always busy, always working on something, whether it's in the studio or
at what point in your career.Because everybody starts burning the candle at both
ends. At what point were youguys like mental because mental health and especially
in country music in general, Ifeel like over the past couple of years,
it's like, hey, let's takecare of each other and ourselves.

(14:33):
It's come to the forefront more thanever. So at what until you started,
You had your first child and weall kind of all started. Yeah,
I was actually I was going tosay, I feel like we really
started prioritizing our own individual health andthe health of the band as a whole.
Probably in like seventeen eighteen was reallywhen it became a huge which thankfully,

(14:56):
looking back, I don't have thisforever. I had this just ha,
this epiphany. It's like that westarted laying that foundation of communication and
being open and honest with each otherpre pandemic, which I'm very very grateful
for looking back, because that washard on all, you know, in
so many ways. So yeah,I would say seventeen eighteen, twenty seventeen

(15:20):
eighteen, and we had gone andsat and had kind of a mediator to
help us work through some things beforethat. That was so healthy and good.
But the consistency that we've maintained wasabout then. I mean you have
to be intentional about it. Imean, you know, I feel lucky
that we can say no to thingsright, and so we can. I
think we can pace out the sortof schedule that fits for all of us.

(15:43):
You know. I think one ofmy favorite things is when we get
to sit down and kind of mapout the year right, and it's like,
hey, we got this great opportunityhere, and let's do this,
let's do this. But it's like, hey, my daughter's in a play
on May fourth, and I'm herefor it, so that days off.
You know, we really try tomap out great windows our family. So
yeah, it does. I thinkwe want it to look like we've always
got you know, the new musicand new stuff happening, But we definitely

(16:06):
carve out personal things that are superimportant to the three of us, and
that's a priority, and we haveto sit and talk about it, be
intentional about it, and you know, I'm thankful we can do that now.
Yes, it's funny you bring upMay fourth if your daughter does have
a play in going to make itbecause you're busy. I know, as
soon as he said, I'm likeye to record that May fourth. You

(16:29):
guys are a part of you talkabout, you know, still saying yes
to things, but like also kindof managing those yeses. And it's not
which sounds like when you say itthat way, like selfish, like oh,
because you're too cool. No,it's like we have to be human
too, right. So with thatpart of the things y'all have said yes
to in twenty twenty four is ouriHeart Country Festival, which is has become

(16:52):
I mean, we're year ten elevenunbelievable and it's cool to see because yes,
there's festival that last you know,three four days at a time,
but like this is one night,it's one stage. This year it's Lady
A, It's Jason Eldan, it'sJellyroll, Old Dominion. We're going to
actually make it sound like Asley McBride, Riley Green Walker, Hayes, I'm

(17:17):
forgetting somebody, did I say,Brothers Osborne. I mean it's unbelievable when
it comes to an event like thatwhere you you're not just doing a show,
you can see the show or maybeeven talk backstage and visit with people.
How important is that for you?Maybe not mental health wise, but
like looking forward to shows because otherwiseevery city, every show, it's not

(17:40):
washer it's repeat, but close.Right. When it comes to a show
like this, why does it standout? And what does it mean for
you to be a part of gosh? I mean, just the lineup alone,
to be in their company, inthe company of all those artists you
just listed, is extremely humbling andexciting and such a great kind of I
think, spread of what our genreis and what it's doing. And I

(18:02):
also just love the opportunity to catchup with a lot of these artists.
I mean, the only other timeswe really get to do that are at
award shows and when everybody's running around, you know, crazy, and especially
if you're a female, you're inglam for hours, and you know,
it's just a longer glam time.So just to be able to connect and
see how everybody's doing, I mean, I think that because we do,

(18:22):
we have such mutual respect for oneanother and really our friends with so many
of the artists in our genre.So that's what I look forward to,
the connection time, for sure,And like I mean, and you want
to bring it, you know,I mean, all those artists are in
that room and you're like, youknow, so, I mean, for
me already thinking about it, I'mlike I want to bring a really high
energy show to that moment, youknow, and you know, it just

(18:45):
gets exciting to be like, likelike Hillary said, to still be you
know, a band that's been aroundfor sixty seventeen years and still be you
know, a part of what's new, stuff happening, what's been around for
a while. And to feel likeyou know, you're you're, you're in
this, You're in this family withso many different styles. And I think

(19:07):
that's why I love the genre somuch, is so many different styles are
represented, uh in that one night. And to be in front of die
hard country pants because if they're comingto the iHeart they're die hard country pants.
You know, when it comes toa show like that versus a regular
tour stop, how do you puttogether And obviously you're not talking about a
set list for a show like thatmay fourth I'm already thinking about it.

(19:29):
But but when but when you think, obviously it's not a full lady a
show, you know, ninety plusminutes. Uh so you gotta you gotta
almost like squeeze the orange a littletighter on a show like that. Uh
So, how do you build what'sa set list like for that versus a
normal night, Charles, Really it'sgoing to be you know, hit them

(19:52):
hard. But then like that waywhen you do get you know, a
moment for a special song or anew song, you know it means some
thing and then you know, butI love it. I mean, I
think that's my favorite is honestly whenit's like you have to create what's gonna
what's gonna hit the most in thisenvironment, and it and it all,
it really is dictated by the crowd. And if they're up, they've been

(20:15):
staying around and they you know,we just got done and we're following you
know, someone like Al Dean orwhatever it might be, or whoever.
You know, you better keep themon their feet. You know, you
don't want to be the one tokind of you don't want to be the
bathroom. Yeah, you don't wantto be the one to suck the life
out of the room. So it'sfun. I mean, that's my favorite
thing to do, is to isto finally be a group that has a

(20:37):
collection of songs where we can pickand choose which ones are gonna fit the
best in what environment. I'm gonnacorner you and answer as good as you
can, because this is gonna getclipped and shared on social media. Let's
say I handed you a piece ofpaper. I'm not asking for the whole
thing. I saw your eyes gonnago hang on. Uh, if if
you had to tell me right now, what show you're going to open?

(20:59):
Lady A set at the Eye CountryFestival with on how many songs? Yeah,
honestly probably you look good. Kickit out really hard with the horns
or a bartender. You know,I think you come out swinging. You
know, it's something fun. Imean on the nights in there is a
good option too, and then youknow, you kind of ease and I

(21:19):
tell you as many times that we'vetried not to finish, not to end
the show on the You Now,it's like you now is the This is
always kind of the last one.It's funny with the song like that.
Usually it's like tempo, bam,the confetti hits, the lights turn on,
and everyone goes home. But like, there's something about that song that
one. It doesn't matter, itdoesn't matter wherever you are. I mean,
the confetti is weird, but itworks, but it's fun. Last

(21:42):
thing I want to ask you,guys, is we wrap things up?
Uh? You are constantly creating,whether it's individuals or you get together for
a project. When it comes tothe current single, why did that make
sense for right now? Yeah?Well, this song, we just we
loved it so much. I mean, it was a song that sent to
Charles. You know, we write, like Charles said earlier, seventy five

(22:03):
percent of our own music, youknow. But we have learned over the
years, and I think pretty earlyon, like if the outside song that
we get sent is so strong thatwe wish we would have written it,
we need to put our ego downand cut it in. And so there
have been you know, American Honeyis an example of that. What if
I Never get over You as anexample of that, and this song is

(22:23):
also an example of that, andwe just I love the lyric. I
think, you know, anytime Ican close my eyes and listen to a
song and see a movie play,I'm just I'm so sucked in. And
I also just think that it's justan interesting way to talk about heartbreak and
to talk about the memory of someoneyou love. And it wasn't originally a

(22:47):
duet when we were sent the song, and so then Charles, you can
take it from here you'r A andR and no. I mean I think
for me, we're always trying tothink of, you know, how to
get both perspectives on that, andit just again it just felt like it
felt like a sound from us thatwe wanted to put out that we hadn't
done in a while, you know, because if you look at kind of
some of our last few big numberones, you know, you got like

(23:07):
you look Good, you got ChampagneNight, you know you Bartender thrown in
there, you know. So Ithink I think it's nice to remind people,
you know that that we're also theband that does you know, American
Honey, you know, need YouNow, and like those kind of songs,
and this one definitely had it justfelt right. I mean, I
think sometimes I try not to overthinkit as much anymore. Anytime we tried

(23:30):
to force things, it almost seemslike it never works. And this one
just really showed itself as a specialoff the project. You know, whether
it was a tempo, mid tempoor a ballot, it's like, let's
just put out what really speaks tous, and this one really spoke to
us. That's awesome. I appreciateit, guys. Next for the time,
thank you,