 |
Lady A has been a popular band not only in the country music scene, having thirteen songs that have made Billboards hot 100, the highest of which being "Need You Now" which peaked at #2. They have been one of the biggest bands in country music's current shift from authenticity towards a more mainstream audience. As Bob Gendron of the Chicago Tribune puts it, "Can a band appear too perfect for its own good? In the case of Lady Antebellum Friday at a sold-out Allstate Arena, no, particularly since the surging trio fixated on refining mainstream conventions and placing the faintest of country accents on mellow pop-rock — populist aims that reward polished execution." (Chicago Tribune) Lady Antebellum has been basing there music in there country roots but has been sounding much more pop-rock than traditional country. Lady A has been abandoning the trope of the cowboy and dressing in more mainstream apparel giving it a look that's more appealing to the country as a whole than simply to southerners who don't want to abandon there roots.
 |
The band is currently going on their "Own The Night Tour" which is selling out mid-major venues all around the world which is currently in Australia. Most of the reviews that have come out about the concert have been extremely positive and have noted their shift from traditional country music. "The country-pop hitmakers return to the stage where they won Record and Song of the Year Grammys last year for a show that makes clear why they've merited their four-year club-to-sold-out-arena ascension." (Chris Wellman)
Billboard, "Artist Lady Antebellum" http://www.billboard.com/artist/lady-antebellum/947395#/artist/lady-antebellum/947395. (accessed Oct. 1)
The band is very active in charity with their primary focus being on MyLifeSpeaks which is a charity designed to help orphans in Haiti. The organization has been able to provide a community center, five orphanages, and a medical center to the orphans. Hillary Scott is the most active in the group and has been to Haiti.
Billboard, "Artist Lady Antebellum" http://www.billboard.com/artist/lady-antebellum/947395#/artist/lady-antebellum/947395. (accessed Oct. 1)
Bob Gendron, The Chicago Tribune, "Manicured and polished, Lady Antebellum owns the arena stage" http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-03-10/entertainment/ct-ent-0312-lady-antebellum-review-20120310_1_arena-stage-lady-antebellum-dave-haywood
Chris Wellman, The Hollywood Reporter, "Lady Antebellum: at the Stapels Center Concert Review" http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/lady-antebellum-staples-center-concert-review-305401
This post does a pretty good job of giving an overview of Lady Antebellum. I am glad the bio was kept brief, since there are three members of the group. I was interested and surprised to know that Hillary had tried out for American Idol twice without making it very far, wow! One thing I would have liked to learn was about how they named their band. I have always wondered that and meant to look it up. There were a few issues in the actual writing. Be more careful and pay more attention to your basic grammar and wording. Maybe proof read more closely or get someone else to help you. I liked that you had links to Lady A's songs. I hope other people click them to listen. It was also good that you included the MyLifeSpeaks charity that Hillary is especially active in.
ReplyDeleteThis post was effective in addressing some interesting concepts about mainstream country music and its retainment of authenticity through the genre's self-perpetuating change of conception and definition. I feel like your point on this subject would have been made clearer if you would have delved a little deeper into the bands transition from small town club-hopping band to major-record-label-arena-packing pop sensation. You pointed out that Lady Antebellum was a good example of country music's transition from traditional stylings regarding authenticity, to a more contemporary, mainstream feel. I understood your point in the sense that the band is providing a platform for the “crossover” of traditional country music into a pop-rock infused styling. However, I was confused in regard to Lady Antebellum's roots and if they ever even had an authentic, traditional folk sound before they hit the big time. I agree with Samantha about possibly proof-reading the writing to check for things like simple grammatical errors. As a whole I thought your post was good in making your point clear and I think you did a good job summarizing the concepts.
ReplyDelete