First bursting on to the scene in 2007, country music stars Lady Antebellum make a stop in the Pioneer Valley Thursday at the Mullins Center in Amherst.
Touring behind the release of their third album Own the Night, which topped the Billboard 200 chart during the week of its September debut, the group is still riding high on its run of good luck from the 2010 Grammy ceremony in February, where they won five awards including the coveted Best Album and Best Record prizes.
Though only nominated for one award at the Grammys this year (Best Country Album), the band is far from bitter. And instead, has decided to focus its energy on its live performances.
“People want you to entertain them,” says singer Charles Kelley in Lady Antebellum’s official website bio. “The fans feed off your energy. They see it on your face. So we’ve learned to let ourselves go on stage. With three people the strongest moments are when we are close and tight together. But it’s a giant stage to fill up.”
Co-vocalist Hillary Scott agrees. She says, “When we were tracking ‘We Owned The Night’ in the studio, I was in the control room with Paul [Worley] (the band’s producer). Listening to the track inspired me to visualize our live show. I grabbed a legal pad and began drawing out the stage. That was the first sign to me that the song would be a cornerstone of this third album”
Such attention to detail is nothing new for the group, as many of the songs on their latest release revel in their accurate illustrations of young love and the many turbulent aspects of being with a significant other. First single “Just A Kiss” focuses on “the couple who prefer not to take their love relationship further anytime soon, want to take things slow,” while album-closer “Heart of the World” relates the feelings that accompany a more mature pair who have to contend with babies and other adult worries.
Watch the video for “Just A Kiss” Lady Antebellum’s first single off of their album “Own the Night” here:
Still, amidst all their success and songwriting skills the members of Lady Antebellum remain that rarest of creatures in the music industry: a band that actually cares what their fans think.
“All these people who spend their hard earned money on a concert ticket or a CD, they invest in us and who we are,” says Scott. “Not just in the music we play, but in our lives. So the least we can do in return is reciprocate that trust in the form of continuing to tour, create music and do our very best at both.”
If the early response to Own the Night is any indication of the band’s belief in their audience, then lucky concert-goers in Amherst should be in for quite a treat.
Lady Antebellum with openers Josh Kelley and Eden’s Edge perform Dec. 15, 7:30 p.m., $35-45, Mullins Center, 200 Commonwealth Ave., Amherst, (413) 545-3001, www.mullinscenter.com. For more information on Lady Antebellum or to see future tour dates please visit www.ladyantebellum.com.
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