Lady A Embarks On A New Creative Journey With Nostalgic Hit, ‘Love You Back’

GRAMMY-winning trio Lady A, composed of Dave Haywood, Charles Kelley, and Hillary Scott, returns to their roots with the release of the nostalgic new single, “Love You Back.”  

The just-released tune, co-written by James McNair, Lindsay Rhimes, and Emily Weisband, is extremely reminiscent of the early days of Lady A. It is exactly what their fans have been yearning for.

Much-Anticipated New Song

In a cheeky Instagram reel that featured Scott writing the release date on a mirror using lipstick, the band announced the highly-anticipated release of “Love You Back” on September 8.

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Fans Are Excited

“New music is officially on the way! ‘Love You Back’ coming 9-22-23 🎞️🧡🔙 Pre-save today at the link up top,” the caption revealed, ultimately sending fans across the globe into a frenzy.

“Yay!! That’s my birthday so I’m calling this a gift from Lady A,” one fan wrote.

“I AM SO EXCITED!!!! 😭😭😭,” another gushed.

“SO EXCITED FOR THIS!! It’s giving old-school Lady A vibes and I’m here for it,” a third fan shared.

Request Line Tour

This past April, the critically acclaimed trio began their Request Line Tour with back-to-back sold-out shows at the iconic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, proving from the very first performance that 2023 was the year to give back to their fans.

The one-of-a-kind format of the Request Line Tour allowed attendees to leave the band a voicemail prior to the show, requesting a song from Lady A’s nine-album discography that they would like to hear that night.

“Over the past year, planning this tour has kept me awake countless nights dreaming up how we could show the fans that we’ve been profoundly impacted by them. This tour is about our fans’ connection to these lyrics and melodies. It’s about how we all love and want to be loved. I believe live music communicates that better than most anything else. I hope every person who steps foot in one of our shows feels seen, feels part of this moment that we’ll never forget and knows they are welcome. Let’s sing, let’s laugh, let’s let the light in,” Hillary exclaimed during the tour’s inaugural show.

With no two performances being the same, the Request Line Tour is truly a must-see for all die-hard Lady A fans.  

Aside from performing songs that their fans requested via voicemail, the GRAMMY Award-winning group used the Request Line Tour as an opportunity to tease some new music, with one of these unreleased tracks being “Love You Back.”

The band took it one step further, performing a series of never-been-heard-before tunes during their fan party at CMA Fest this past June, asking their fans explicitly which track they should release next. Unsurprisingly, the listeners chose “Love You Back,” the song that draws the most similarities to Lady A’s original style.

Secret Listening Party

When asked about this fan party, Haywood revealed, “It was great. I mean, we played, you know, four or five songs that we had finished, all different styles. One’s a rocker, one’s just a piano ballad, one’s another style, and then this one, you know, sounds kind of like ‘American Honey,’ first or second record Lady A stuff.”

“Sure enough, all the fans are like, ‘Oh, that’s what we love from you guys,’ so that’s, I mean, honestly putting it in their hands. Hearing from them has kind of been the theme for us this year in a lot of ways, with the tour and with this music, so I love that they want that from us,” he concluded with a grin.

“We’ve been listening to what the fans want,” Scott concurred. “With this tour, with the set list, with playing them the songs, It’s like we want nothing more than to hear their feelings and their hearts around this music, and so wanting to really lean into and continue to nurture that relationship.”

Returning To Their Roots

While it appears that Lady A is staying true to their roots with “Love You Back,” this has not always been easy for the three-piece ensemble.

Given the ebbs and flows of the music industry, Kelley reminisced on a time in which the band fell into the trap and struggled with their authenticity: “We want to provide a different sound from what’s out there always, you know, and I think in the past, I could name a couple songs that, you know, it was pretty obvious to me looking back that we were chasing something.”

“We were trying to fit into a box that we didn’t fit into,” the talented singer/songwriter continued. “I’m not going to name the songs, but there’s a couple out there that we had put out where I’m like, ‘Wow, that was us chasing. That was us trying to make sure we stayed relevant,’ and sure enough, the fans can see right through it. I mean, they can. They’ve got a pretty easy B.S. factor. They can hear it right off the bat.”

 In fact, “Love You Back” was an entirely different song before Lady A decided to add their signature charm to it.

Lyric Video

“The demo was definitely much more electric guitar-driven, and Dave really pushed along with Dann Huff, you know, starting with the mandolin and starting to get those warm tones,” Kelley revealed.

He continued, “I think musically that we lean a lot on Dave in that kind of world and kind of getting back to that sound, because I remember kind of going, ‘Gosh, but doesn’t that electric guitar sound really cool?’ but it’s like, ‘Well, it’s kind of what everybody is doing.’ It sounded a little bit more like what was happening right now, and so to me, you know, I think hopefully it will be a refreshing, familiar sound amongst what is happening.”

Lady A released a lyric video for “Love You Back,” which features live footage from when the group performed the song on tour. Check it out above. 

Fans can catch the multi-platinum trio performing the new song on NBC’s TODAY on Tuesday, Sept. 26.