Lady A to perform on May 20 at Fantasy Springs, returned to 'core sound' for new album

Music has the power to elevate moods and provide comfort during difficult times. That’s what Charles Kelley of Lady A wanted to express in the title track of the country band's recent album “What a Song Can Do.”

As Kelley wrote songs during the COVID-19 pandemic, he went back to the music his parents raised him on, such as James Taylor, Carole King, Etta James, and Donny Hathaway.

Kelley told The Desert Sun going back to the oldies also inspired Lady A, which includes members Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, to return to the bandmates' “core sound” featured on their self-titled debut and their second album “Need You Now.”

“That made us want to go back to the basics of the sound of Lady A and what made people get into us in the beginning,” Kelley said. “Songs like ‘Need You Now,’ ‘American Honey’ and warmer sounds. There’s a lot of that on this record.”

The group released the album “Ocean” before the pandemic in 2019 and the song “What If I Never Get Over You” was the band’s first No. 1 hit single since “Bartender” in 2014. But COVID-19 shut down the live entertainment industry in 2020 before the musicians could tour and promote the album.

“Ocean” was also the last album to be released under the group's previous name, Lady Antebellum, which was changed during the summer of 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.

“It broke our heart because there were a lot of songs on (“Ocean”) we were hoping to get out and tour on." Kelley said. “We’re still super proud of it. There are a lot of records out there with songs on them (musicians) refer to as ‘the ones that got away’ and wish they were put on the radio. I hope over time a lot of these albums and songs can be rediscovered by different generations.”

Lady A will kick off its Request Line Tour with special guest Dave Barnes on May 20 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

They became members of the Grand Ole Opry last year

Last year, Lady A achieved a milestone for country musicians by earning membership into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville during a performance for the NBC special “Grand Ole Opry: 95 Years of Country Music.

Hootie and the Blowfish frontman and country musician Darius Rucker surprised Lady A and announced they were invited to become members of the historic venue featuring a weekly country music concert broadcast on WSM-AM in Nashville, which they accepted and were inducted that same day.

“After the past couple of years of not touring or knowing what was going to happen, it was a feel-wonderful moment for us as a band,” Kelley said. “We’ve been doing this for over 15 years and I feel like there’s much left for us to prove and create, but it’s nice to feel the country community and the Grand Ole Opry felt we were worthy enough to become members.”

For country artists and bands, longevity is difficult as more acts are added into the mix and rack up hits. Kelley said a major change he notices in recent years is country record labels are hesitant to develop artists and expect immediate hits.

“It took Eric Church a few records to break through, it took Luke Bryan a record or two to break through and sometimes you need to let artists develop and now it seems if the first single doesn’t work, they’re moving on to the next thing,” Kelley said.

Lady A continues to have success selling out concerts and selling millions of records. What's the group's secret? Kelley believes it’s the chemistry between the three members that keeps them successful.

“Even if we never had another hit again, we’ve built a nice body of work and as long as we stay together as a band, we’ll play in front of 100 people,” Kelley said. “We love it so much and the size of the venues may change over the years, but I think the core fan base and these songs will stand the test of time.”

After playing several shows in Southern California during their career, including a headlining slot at the 2013 Stagecoach country music festival, Kelley said he notices the Lady A members have a strong fan base in the region.

“I think (Southern California) likes our brand of country music, and it always seems like it’s a great show whenever we go out there,” Kelley said.

When Kelley isn’t on stage, he loves to play golf while on tour. He’s played the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, which hosts the Masters Tournament every year, but said his favorite course is Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.

“There’s no view like it and it’s an amazing golf course,” Kelley said. “I love that it’s still public and it’s the greatest public golf course out there.”

If you go

What: Lady A with special guest Dave Barnes

When: 8 p.m. Friday, May 20

Where: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio

How much: $79 to $159

More information: fantasyspringsresort.com

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye. Support local news, subscribe to The Desert Sun.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Lady A to start Request Line Tour on May 20 at Fantasy Springs