Country's hot new group heading to Summer Motion

ASHLAND -- The red-hot country music trio Lady Antebellum has a top-five debut single "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," a Top New Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country Music (ACM) and a summer full of county fair and festival tour dates to keep them busy.

The fun part is even though they've been together for more than two years now, the whirlwind ride is only just beginning.

"It's all happening so fast," said Dave Haywood, the group's multi-instrumentalist and harmony vocalist. Haywood also turns 26 on Saturday.

"Everything still feels so new," he said. "We're still very excited about the award and the success of the first single. It's been amazing."

Co-lead vocalists Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott round out "Lady A," as early fans nicknamed the trio.

Kelley is brother to respected singer-songwriter Josh Kelley, while Scott is the daughter of Grammy Award-winning country artist Linda Davis and skillful Nashville guitarist and vocalist Lang Scott.

Haywood and Kelley are childhood friends, having known one another since middle school.

They open for country's current comeback king Tracy Lawrence at Ashland's Summer Motion tonight. The show begins at 8 p.m.

Additionally, Lady A will revisit the Tri-State for a handful of dates, including a stop at the Putnam County Fair in Eleanor on July 12, and at the Jackson County Fair in Cottageville, W.Va., on July 22.

The group came together two summers ago in a series of long, round-robin writing sessions. A self-produced set of demos then sparked interest on the popular social networking Web site MySpace. After only a handful of live gigs around Music City, the group became the talk of the local live music scene.

But, as Haywood explained, the road to a record deal with Capitol Records and performances on the hallowed Grand Ole Opry stage wasn't as easily traveled as it sounds.

"We always tell people that we didn't really have a plan as we started out," Haywood said. "We wanted to see what we could do together, but that was about the extent of it. We've been fortunate to have some things go our way."

The self-titled album is an earthy blend of roots rock, country and soul -- a modern country music sound that doesn't feel canned or artificial. Kelley's mahogany-rich tenor blends well with Scott's warm alto on songs such as the R&B-tinged "Slow Down Sister" and the rollicking new single, "Lookin' For a Good Time," among others.

"'Lookin' For a Good Time' pokes fun at the young dating scene in Nashville," Haywood said. "We wrote it with Keith Follese who has co-written songs for people like Martina McBride and Tim McGraw. Musically, it's just a fun summer song that we think would sound good riding up to the lake or hanging around with friends."

Lady A fans have been tuning in to the band's video blogs online since January. Each "Webisode Wednesdays" short film gives a personable look at the band's rapid rise, but it also showcases their vibrant personalities and a few backstage shenanigans.

What makes the Webisodes work so well is their candid nature.

One January film shows Kelley trying to stay warm in Cincinnati while the band was on tour with Martina McBride.

A clip from May shows the band playing and singing Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on the "Rock Band" video game at their first CMA Music Festival fan club party in Nashville.

"We keep the camera with us wherever we go. It's just a way to keep our fans connected to what we're up to and what we're like as people," Haywood said. "Our fans really seem to like that. We got 500 people to sing the 'Webisode Wednesdays' theme song at our fan club party. That was a blast."

Fans can check out a new Lady A "Webisode Wednesdays" short film every week at the band's official Music City Networks Web page, and on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and iLike.com.