Country Time: Growth Is Good
By: Matt Bjorke
Last updated February 7th , 2010

With the sale of 481,000 copies of their album Lady Antebellum defied all expectations and sold nearly Gold in their first week out in the marketplace with their sophomore album Need You Now. The trio, which came to be known in 2008 thanks to hits like "Lookin' For A Good Time,"  "Love Don't Live Here" and their Grammy winner Sunday night, "I Run To You," have certainly helped raise the profile of Nashville-made music with the music community and together with Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and The Zac Brown Band, they've helped make country music 'safe' for a multitude of audiences.   

Many people have wondered how two guys (Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood) and one girl (Hillary Scott) came to be known as Lady Antebellum and while that story remains a bit of a mystery, the name has helped separate them from the pack by giving them a distinctive memorable name, instead of something that might resemble a law firm, that is much more 'identifiable' outside of the country music world.  The music released by Lady Antebellum (or Lady A as fans call them) certainly has broad appeal as well.  "Need You Now," a five week #1 hit on the country charts, also spent time atop the Digital Singles charts at iTunes and Amazon.com, surprising many within the country music community.  

While some scoff at Lady A and Swift and Underwood's mass appeal and the type of 'fan' it brings to country music, more often than not these fans will stay country music fans long after their 'gateway' artists have come and gone.  Garth Brooks was a similar type of artist as were people like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and even Olivia Newton-John.  The success of the Zac Brown Band has helped them bring in some of the roots-rock fans of acts like Dave Matthews Band or even Phish, loyal fans all, to country music and that too can have nothing but good results for the country music community.  

Mass appeal of any of the acts mentioned above certainly gives credence to what we saw happen on the Grammys where each act was given the chance to showcase their talent on the televised broadcast.  They were allowed to show off their own songs and not just the songs of other artists as part of some medley.  Without the mass appeal, the Grammy's might have turned out differently but thanks to the likes of Lady Antebellum, The Zac Brown Band (Best New Artist winners) and Taylor Swift, more people know about country music, more people listen to country music and more people buy country music. What this all means is that country music is strong and country music will not be going away.

Is it your father's country music? No, but then again, his version of country music (likely the outlaws) was clearly not his own father's country music either.  Times change and so does country music.  And why we could be sad about its direction, we shouldn't be because it will always be home to traditions while at the same time allowing for the creative growth and freedoms of a group of artists with a crazy name like Lady Antebellum.  This growth, then, in turn allows for an influx of more fans to keep the genre what it is: the most popular music format in America.

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