Lady Antebellum Explains Reason Behind Label Change

Lady Antebellum recently made headlines when they switched record labels, leaving Capitol Nashville after more than 10 years with the company. The trio, comprised of Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood, is now on the roster at Big Machine Label Group, with Kelley sharing that the group is excited to explore new avenues with their music.

“I think we did six or seven records with [Capitol], so you know it was just time for our contract to be up,” the singer told NashFM 93.1‘s Joshua “Bru” Brubaker. “We just felt some really new, excited energy from Big Machine. They had heard some of the songs we’d been writing and [we] just really felt like they had a fresh energy that would be fun. They’ve got some new ideas of where they think they can take this thing. So we felt just kinda re-inspired to work with them.”

Kelley explained that he and his bandmates are hoping to go in a new direction with their music under Big Machine, which is also home to stars including Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Sugarland and Thomas Rhett.

“We’re definitely wanting to be a little bit more honest with our music and our lyrics and probably show a different side again, just musically,” he said. “It will probably sound a lot different than ‘You Look Good’ and ‘Bartender’ and a lot of that too — we’re probably gonna dig a little deeper on this project this time. I’m just excited for everybody to hear. We’ve been writing a ton. We’ve been going through a lot as a group and even in our personal lives, just growing in our families and growing as a band and we’re ready to kinda really throw it all out on a record.”

In December, Haywood and wife Kelli Cashiola welcomed daughter Lillie, and Scott and husband Chris Tyrrell welcomed twin girls Betsy and Emory in January, so it’s safe to say the group has plenty of personal material to write about.

Lady A released six records with Capitol Nashville and earned nine No. 1 singles, five No. 1 albums, seven Grammy Awards, six CMA Awards and seven ACM Awards.

The group is currently on the road on their Summer Plays On Tour with Darius Rucker and Russell Dickerson and will likely begin working on new music in the near future after striking their deal with Big Machine.

Photo Credit: Getty / Ethan Miller