A few weeks ago, I spent the day with Josh Kelley while he was in New York promoting his debut country release, Georgia Clay. Throughout the day, the Georgia native filled me in on his songwriting process, his early years writing and performing with his younger brother, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, and some defining moments in his career and personal life. You can watch the video below and for my complete writeup and interview, visit The Boot.
Don’t have a date for Valentine’s Day? Just turn on country radio, and you might get some advice for finding that special someone. Yes, country music is known for tales of love and heartbreak, but something’s gotta happen to spark all that romance. For some, it begins with a pickup line. Read below as I count down the best pickup lines in country music for The Boot, mixing the clever with the cleverly cheesy.
“Boy, if you wanna know the things I’ve been thinking/ You’d be meeting me outside”
‘Last Night Again,’ Steel Magnolia
That’s Meghan’s line, but an honorable mention goes to Josh’s equally provocative opening lyric: “Your lips are moving but I can’t hear you/Wish you would talk your way right over here.”
“I’d like to check you for ticks”
‘Ticks,’ Brad Paisley
Known for his quirky and descriptive lyrics, Brad paints the vivid picture of meeting a girl at a bar before escaping to the sticks in hopes of getting to know her a little — make that a lot — better. Whether or not our amateur entomologist finds any bugs on her is another story.
And my current favorite (and cheesiest of all, I know).
“Are you from Tennessee?/’Cause baby, you’re the only 10 I see”
‘Pickup Truck,’ Shane Yellowbird
Pickup lines are abundant in this song; whether they actually work or not is still a mystery. “My name is Shane/How do you like me so far?” he asks, followed by the predictable “I need a map/’Cause I’m lost in your eyes.” Cheesy as a supermarket’s Velveeeta shelf, sure, but give the guy some credit for persistence.
For my complete list, visit The Boot and be sure to let me know some of your favorite (or least favorite) pickup lines in the comments!
“I’m playing at Penn Station … I can check this off my bucket list now!” Keith Urban yelled to a sea of surprised rush-hour commuters at the bustling New York City train station Tuesday morning.
The Aussie country superstar performed an impromptu concert at Penn Station, in celebration of the release of his brand-new album, ‘Get Closer.’ Joking that he wanted to make a set-list full of train songs, “like take the last train to Trenton,” he joked, Keith instead kicked things off with an old favorite, ‘Days Go By.’ (He did, however, change the line “better start livin’ right now” to “better start catching your train.”) That was followed by the first single from the new CD, ‘Put You in a Song,’ followed by the heartwarming ballad ‘Only You Can Love Me This Way’ and then another uptempo fan-favorite, ‘Somebody Like You.’
For the complete review, visit The Boot.
To say 2010 is Lady Antebellum’s year would be an understatement. The trio kicked things off in January with the release of their sophomore album, Need You Now, and a Grammy win for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group under their belt. The nominations continued, as the band has five nods at both the CMA Awards and American Music Awards next month — tying them with the number of nods Eminem received for the latter awards show.
I chatted with Lady A’s Hillary Scott, Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley at their recent benefit performance in New York about success, songwriting (they’ve already begun penning a follow up to Need You Now) and why you should put that phone down at “a quarter after one.”
What is your songwriting process like?
Dave: If anything, it’s really musical. We start a lot with melodies and instrumentation and trying to figure out good melodies for verses and choruses. We get to lyrics sometimes second, so we’ll start humming a melody, finding something, and see where the music takes you as far as lyrics are and what you want to say and go from there. We love great melodies and great songs that have great hooks and melodies, so we start a little bit more on that side as opposed to other people that start more lyric-based. Sometimes we’ll do it the other way.
For my complete interview with Lady Antebellum, visit The Boot.
Photo Credit: Wendy Hu
Last week, I interviewed Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum before their benefit concert for Musicians On Call at City Winery. Hillary filled me in on the story behind one of the songs she wrote, Sara Evans’ latest single, “A Little Bit Stronger.” A very personal song, she said it’s a track that means more to her now then when first written.
For the complete article, visit The Boot. Stay tuned for my exclusive interview with Lady Antebellum in the upcoming weeks!