Trio on brink of success

Get ready for the major country music explosion of Lady Antebellum, a new Capitol Records trio consisting of two Georgia-reared guys and the daughter of a Nashville star.

Comprising the trio are:

25-year-old Dave Haywood. His parents are Medical College of Georgia professor of dentistry Dr. Van Haywood and his schoolteacher wife, Angie, and they now live in North Augusta, S.C.

26-year-old Charles Kelley, whose father is Augusta, Ga., cardiologist Dr. John W. Kelley and whose mother is now Winston-Salem, N.C., resident Gayle Kelley. His brother is new music star Josh Kelley.

21-year-old Hillary Scott, the daughter of one of my favorite singers, Linda Davis (duet partner of Reba McEntire), and her husband, Lang Scott.

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Haywood and Kelley met at Riverside Middle School in an Augusta suburb and became friends. They continued their friendship at Lakeside High (Class of 2000 grads) where Haywood was on the tennis team and Kelley was on the golf team.

They also attended the University of Georgia with Kelley getting a degree in finance and Haywood earning a degree in management information systems. They moved to Nashville in February 2006 where they met Scott and formed Lady Antebellum. Their name comes from Civil War-era costumes they wore for an early publicity photo.

It so happens that I'm writing about Lady Antebellum on the 37th anniversary of this weekly Ramblin' Rhodes column.

One of the fun things over the years has been to be the first to introduce readers to virtually unknown locally-produced talent like Terri Gibbs, Leon Everette, Larry Jon Wilson, Dixie Dregs, The Lewis Family and others before they became internationally-known music celebrities.

I was lucky enough to be the first writer to interview The Judds, Alabama, Ronnie Dunn and Joe Diffie with readers being the first to see a column about them beginning with their first recording releases.

The same excitement I felt in interviewing and hearing those artists for the first time is the same excitement I'm feeling about this new Capitol Records trio Lady Antebellum.

To comprehend how good this group is, go to youtube.com and type Lady Antebellum into the search window and several of their videos will come.

Watch their video On The Road and Behind The Scenes, and if you don't come away with a happy feeling in watching their own excitement as their popularity grows (even with scraping caked ice off their back van window with a compact disc), then you need to see a psychiatrist.

Then watch Never Alone, the sensitive music video of famous pianist Jim Brickman on which Lady Antebellum sings with him.

And then watch the trio in a live performance of their debut Capitol single, Love Don't Live Here Anymore.

Their manager is Gary Borman, whose other clients are Faith Hill and Keith Urban. So what does that tell you about Lady A's chances for hitting it really big?

Plus "the buzz" has been going around Nashville's Music Row for months about this trio with my performer-songwriter friend Becky Hobbs being among those singing their praises. "I just love them," she told me a couple of months ago.

They've already opened for Carrie Underwood before 9,000 fans at a concert in Delaware; been introduced on the Grand Ole Opry stage by Vince Gill; just finished a 10-week cross-country tour of U.S. radio stations; co-written a song called Miles Away to be featured on the MTV series The Hills; and were guest performers last summer on the International Fan Club Organization show in the Ryman Auditorium.

Don Rhodes has written about country music for 37 years. He can be reached at (706) 823-3214 or at don.rhodes@morris.com.