Country band Lady A talks about their single "Love You Back, "unique request line tour, 15-year career longevity, the recent surge in country music popularity, Charles opens up about being one year sober, and more.
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00:00 Of course they do it on a Monday.
00:02 [radio chatter]
00:04 [radio chatter]
00:06 [radio chatter]
00:08 It works gang. You did it. Good job.
00:10 How's it going everybody?
00:12 This is Lady A.
00:14 You're watching Billboard News.
00:16 [music]
00:18 Lady
00:20 I'm a little drunk
00:22 and I need you now
00:24 I run to you
00:26 baby but a memory
00:28 I can't love
00:30 you back
00:32 I'm very very stoked about the new
00:34 single. It's so so cool.
00:36 Tell me a little bit about what went into writing this.
00:38 Well this one, it's actually a really cool
00:40 story. So you know we write 80
00:42 percent of our own music.
00:44 And then we learned early on in our career
00:46 that you never say no to a great song
00:48 whether we write it or not. And so this
00:50 was one that a really good friend of ours and
00:52 co-writer, her name's Emily Wise Band,
00:54 sent this song to Charles. So I called her up
00:56 and I said, "Hey, let's find an hour.
00:58 I want to come over. You play Hillary.
01:00 I'll play me." [laughter]
01:02 And let's see if this fits
01:04 before I even send it to them. For sure.
01:06 Sometimes I just like to save some time and
01:08 just see if something is even in the realm of
01:10 our world. And it just felt so much like
01:12 us in a minute. I sent it to the gang and they were like, "Oh wow."
01:14 I mean we've had a handful of songs. Like
01:16 most of the music that you know from us
01:18 we've written like "Need You Now," "Run To You," but
01:20 "American Honey" was one that we didn't write that.
01:22 Nothing sweeter than summertime
01:24 in American Honey.
01:29 Sometimes you get songs that you feel
01:31 you're like, "Y'all wrote this for us." Yeah.
01:33 And it just, that's what it felt like. Yeah.
01:35 I was going to say, it sounds so much like
01:37 your guys' much earlier work.
01:39 It sounds a lot like the "Need You Now" era.
01:41 And I mean that in like the greatest way possible.
01:44 The vocal is so
01:46 powerful on the track.
01:48 How intentional was that wanting to like
01:50 go back to the roots of where you guys
01:52 started with this song? Well I really think
01:54 it is a part of
01:56 just where we are right now as
01:58 a band and with the tour that we've been on.
02:00 You know the Request Line Tour, the whole
02:02 concept of this tour and
02:04 this music is really wanting to give
02:06 the fans what they want. They send
02:08 us DMs, they call in and
02:10 leave us voicemails of songs they want us to play
02:12 live. We really want
02:14 to give our fans
02:16 what they want to hear from us.
02:18 And they're the songs that we love to sing
02:20 together. So it really kind of
02:22 works out.
02:24 Oh.
02:26 Okay.
02:28 They want to hear "Like a Lady."
02:30 Alright, here we go.
02:32 Cause I feel like a lady.
02:34 I'm really glad that you brought up
02:36 the Request Line Tour because I'm
02:38 obsessed with this concept.
02:40 I think it is such a smart way to get
02:42 your fans involved in the music that
02:44 you're doing. When did you guys
02:46 come up with that idea? Sometime
02:48 last year we did a couple
02:50 small shows and you know
02:52 we love to be spontaneous and if
02:54 we're in a room like a theater, I mean
02:56 you can have people shout stuff in the audience
02:58 and just do something off the cuff.
03:00 And we kind of started going, what if we tried to
03:02 organize that a little bit better? So we have
03:04 people sending requests. We get up every morning
03:06 and have a full drop box of voicemails
03:08 and messages on Instagram
03:10 that our team helped organize so we can get them in the right
03:12 city. And then we just build the set list
03:14 from scratch based on requests. And then
03:16 when we do the song we find them in the audience
03:18 and try to connect with them and have a moment.
03:20 It's so neat to connect with people when you actually
03:22 get to see them in person. We've learned some little tricks too
03:24 that we're going to start bringing the audience in
03:26 and having those connections. I think we'll
03:28 continue to do that the rest of our career.
03:30 Some of the most powerful moments too
03:32 have been because you know they don't
03:34 get a heads up if their voicemail is getting played.
03:36 So we've had one show in
03:38 particular where the person was not
03:40 there so that was interesting. It was like
03:42 Jason where are you? Maybe he was in the
03:44 bathroom. Maybe he'd gone to the bathroom.
03:46 The majority of them it's been
03:48 you hear just this kind of
03:50 and then we find them in the room
03:52 and then it's just this really sweet moment.
03:54 Some of the songs have been hilarious
03:56 requests like we got a request
03:58 to do a Sugar Land song and so we made
04:00 a joke like are you at the right show?
04:02 I think they were confused. I literally
04:04 think she felt that we had that song.
04:06 But then we also have these heartfelt
04:08 this song met me at one of the hardest moments
04:10 in my life. Can you please play
04:12 this song? We'll bring him up sometimes
04:14 give him a hug. We had a bachelorette
04:16 dance on stage with me singing Shania Twain.
04:18 It's been very fun.
04:20 You never know what you're going to get. I was going to say are there any
04:22 particular requests you guys have gotten
04:24 that have made even you just kind of go like
04:26 I'm sorry what? We did come up with a pretty
04:28 funny thing. Dave had this idea
04:30 and we started getting all these really crazy
04:32 requests. Lava Taylor Swift. Mmmbop
04:34 like just random stuff. You guys
04:36 would have been so good. You could tell people were just trying to
04:38 kind of like just kind of be funny or whatever
04:40 and so Dave had this idea. He was
04:42 starting to play Boys of Summer on the piano
04:44 and we realized that over Boys of Summer
04:46 you can sing almost any song. The chords
04:48 of Boys of Summer.
04:50 We started doing this little idea
04:56 some of the nights where we would sing
04:58 requests from other artists in one section
05:00 but it was all over those chords.
05:02 That's so smart. I think they literally
05:04 call it the four chords. Yes.
05:06 You can get as many. You can. Anything.
05:08 That's so cool. I love that.
05:10 Well now that Love You Back is coming out now
05:18 it is such an interesting time for it to be happening
05:20 because there is this sort of
05:22 renaissance that's going on in country music.
05:24 I feel like it's gotten so much more
05:26 popular with so many more fans
05:28 over the last couple of
05:30 years. What do you guys attribute
05:32 this like sudden rise to
05:34 popularity of the genre?
05:36 First and foremost I think it's just the blend of all
05:38 the different influences. I really truly do.
05:40 I think we grew up in the playlist area.
05:42 You make a mix tape.
05:44 Now it's the playlist.
05:46 I grew up
05:48 loving everything. So I feel like
05:50 when we started our band it was like
05:52 a little bit of the Eagles meets Fleetwood Mac
05:54 meets the Chicks meets Rascal Flatts.
05:56 It was just everything kind of
05:58 coming together into this
06:00 sound and I really think that it's
06:02 probably a little bit more approachable.
06:04 I also just think people make great music.
06:06 At the end of the day it's songwriting.
06:08 It's a story telling.
06:10 And there's really authentic
06:12 story telling. It's not just about a hooky
06:14 melody or something like that. But there's room for everything
06:16 man. I just think that's the beauty of it.
06:18 And the fans really want
06:20 to know you.
06:22 In country music. I mean I think about the
06:24 albums that jump out to me that
06:26 have connected in really big
06:28 ways. I mean Carly Pierce 29.
06:30 She was bearing it all in her story
06:32 of what was going on with her life and that
06:34 really resonates with people. When you are
06:36 brave enough to be vulnerable in plain sight
06:38 that is poured into your
06:40 music. I think that is where real
06:42 connection happens.
06:44 [Music]
06:46 [Music]
06:48 [Music]
06:50 Charles I also wanted to congratulate you. You recently
06:52 celebrated one year of sobriety.
06:54 Yeah. Getting close to 15 months
06:56 and I never thought
06:58 that
07:00 I would actually enjoy it.
07:02 I kind of was like okay I want to do this. I want to do this
07:04 for my family. I want to do this for my band. I want to do
07:06 it for myself.
07:08 But I never really thought I would
07:10 actually enjoy
07:12 it like I have. And I think it's the energy you get
07:14 from not having
07:16 crazy nights and all those different things.
07:18 But just also for me I think it's
07:20 kind of led me a lot closer to my spirituality.
07:22 It's led me to look at myself
07:24 and what I want more.
07:26 Like what am I doing? What am I standing for?
07:28 What do I want the next 20 years?
07:30 And I think sometimes you have to kind of hit
07:32 that little point of desperation
07:34 in a way I think to find that.
07:36 I'm glad I hit it in my
07:38 40s and didn't wait until later
07:40 on in life. What kind of difference have
07:42 you guys noticed in the year since
07:44 Charles has been in recovery?
07:46 A lot.
07:48 The first thing that comes up to me
07:50 is I was listening to you answer that question.
07:52 You've always been so big
07:54 hearted. You've always had a big heart and a passion
07:56 for music and the people
07:58 you love and loyalty.
08:00 And now I feel like
08:02 there's more communication of those feelings.
08:04 A lot of daily gratitude of, you know, let's
08:06 celebrate, enjoy this moment.
08:08 We don't always have to look for the next thing.
08:10 What's going to be the next thing we do is
08:12 let's be grateful with this music, with this
08:14 moment, with this show tonight.
08:16 He's been fantastic. We're so proud of him.
08:18 When other artists, new artists, specifically
08:20 ask us, "If you have any advice,
08:22 what would it be?"
08:24 Because we're 17 years into this now,
08:26 you know, that's really the
08:28 unanimous thing we say
08:30 is just be present.
08:32 Take each day and take a second
08:34 or more, as much time as
08:36 you want to just soak up
08:38 in gratitude where you are.
08:40 The good days and the hard days because they're teaching
08:42 you something, you know? And so I think that
08:44 you've definitely been living in.
08:46 Thank you. Well, you actually mentioned
08:48 you guys are coming up on 17 years
08:50 in the industry. It's been 15 years
08:52 since you put out your debut album.
08:54 I feel very old hearing that.
08:56 [Music]
08:58 [Music]
09:00 [Music]
09:02 [Music]
09:04 [Music]
09:06 What does that mean for you
09:08 to have had this longevity
09:10 in the industry? I just got goosebumps
09:12 when you said that. We feel it
09:14 really deeply. We are so
09:16 grateful. I mean, there are so
09:18 many times we look at each other
09:20 over these last five years specifically and
09:22 we're like, "Man, we're still here
09:24 and we love doing this together
09:26 and we're still excited about
09:28 the music and getting it to the fans
09:30 and performing live." And it hasn't felt
09:32 that long in a lot of ways.
09:34 I mean, it feels like such a
09:36 blink. But then at the same time
09:38 when we sit down with you and have these conversations
09:40 and we think about all of these things that
09:42 we've been a part of and experienced,
09:44 now for us it's how do we pay
09:46 that forward and then also continue
09:48 to dig in creatively
09:50 and make art that we're proud of
09:52 and that connects. With it being 15
09:54 years since your debut album, what are
09:56 you guys hoping for the next 15 years?
09:58 Gosh. That's a good question.
10:00 I mean, when you said longevity, I just
10:02 that's our goal. I mean, we've said
10:04 that for years. As a band, you know,
10:06 we work hard at that. We try to communicate a lot
10:08 like your earlier question, to be there for each other
10:10 when each other needs us and
10:12 to support each other as best we can. So,
10:14 just still be standing and do what we love.
10:16 I mean, the longevity is the win for us.
10:18 Another 15 years of getting to do
10:20 any venue we can. You know, we all know
10:22 that there's ups and downs in careers
10:24 and so there'll be different kinds of places
10:26 we're playing, different, you know,
10:28 places and styles of music we'll go, but
10:30 just to be together I think is going to be the win.
10:32 Well, this has been so much fun. Thank you
10:34 guys for taking time to talk to me. It was so
10:36 great. I appreciate it.
10:38 Amazing.
10:40 (whooshing)