Charles Kelley Concludes 1st Solo Tour: All the Stops

Earlier this May Charles Kelley wrapped up the leg of The Driver Tour 2016. Are we ready to see it go? On one side people who know Charles Kelley as the tall guy in Lady Antebellum will be glad to see the trio back on the road this summer. However, Charles Kelley is an artist in his own right. One who commands the stage and is always moving around because he can’t sit still. A true performer who loves getting close as possible to the audience because he loves feeling the energy. The Driver Tour was a club tour, designed to showcase his first solo album in intimate venues such as The Gramercy Theatre, The Stony Pony, or The House of Blues. It was Charles Kelley’s outlet to make music for music's sake and get back to that artistic inspiration that Charles felt 10 years ago, when Lady A set out on the journey together to record their first album. For those skeptics who thought this was the end of Lady A you would be severely misguided. This was their reboot, their recharge. For all three of them; Hillary and Dave spent quality time with their families and children (as did Charles when Ward was born on 2/11/16). Yet, a theme of never stopping runs through all their blood because even during the break Dave produced a new trio called Post Monroe and Hillary Scott created a gospel album with the Scott family around her faith (her first single Thy Will out on radio now will help all those healing from a loss).

The first leg of the tour was suppose to begin in November. I had a ticket to the show at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. I was home for the weekend when I discovered the show along with a bunch of other dates was cancelled. With no reason why the only upcoming date that wasn’t cancelled was the NYC date in December at the Gramercy Theater. It worked out that I got meet and greet and tickets to this show instead. After years of Lady A meet and greet entries and front row VIP experiences I finally got my official picture with Charles and had the chance to get a hug and tell him how thrilled I was to finally meet him. The thrill didn’t end there because during the pre-acoustic VIP show it was like there was nobody else in the room. I asked him which were his favorite songs to perform live off the new album that we haven’t heard yet (since the album hadn’t dropped yet and the only single out was The Driver). He proceeded to play snippets of new songs Dancing Around It and Your Love! Then when he was talking about his opener Maren Morris nobody really responded, so I said out loud “Love her! My Church and Wish I Was are my favorite”. He smiled and was impressed I knew the songs that weren’t released yet. Casual conversation during his set, talk about intimate!

The workaholic that Charles is you know he was going to be doing a lot of solo appearances for the tour (and I was along the ride for most of them). It just so happens that the very next day Charles went from NYC to Long Island for My Country 96.1’s Secret Holiday Show. I work promotions for My Country 96.1 and the Program Director Phathead is the best at keeping the artists a secret until they hit the stage. However, the hints he gave during a Ticket Blitz were not hard to crack for me. He mentioned one of the stars is not necessarily a new artist, but has won 7 Grammy awards. Knowing the lineup was all guys, that Lady A was on a break, and that Charles was just in the city the night before I knew it would be him, especially since Lady Antebellum is a 7 time Grammy winning band. I was right, Charles hit the stage first, opened with a rocking version of Your Love, followed up with Dancing Around It, Lonely Girl, and closed with The Driver. I bought the Charles Kelley hat from the merchandise table the night before and wore it, so when he bent down to shake hands he recognized me from the meet and greet the night before!

The stops continue. I was on the train to see Brother Jerome at the Bowery Electric in the city in February when my concert buddy Michelle sent me details on Charles Kelley performing on Good Morning America the very next day. Immediately I signed up for my free ticket. That night I went back to Long Island, changed my outfit, slept for 2 hours max, and hopped in the car back to the city to get in line for the live performance. Yes, extremely impulsive, but had to be done and was so worth it! After a few hours in the cold, making friends with the nice people behind me all the way from Virginia, we finally were let in for the live shoot. To my surprise people come from all over for their chance to be on shows like GMA or the Today Show, not necessarily the performer. I went to the Today Show earlier that year when Old Dominion made their national debut and I certainly wasn’t going to miss Charles’ solo performance (even if I did just see him twice in December). Kind of surprising to go all that way when people barely know who was performing. Anyhow, that was a great experience. Right up front for his sound check, seeing him joke around with his band, and it was awesome when he recognized me again and we took another picture afterwards. I told him I’ll see you in Boston in April with Josh. He smiled and said “Yeah it’s gonna be great!”

Next stop for me was the House of Blues show in Boston, this time his opener was his older brother Josh Kelley. Since it was my second show of the tour I didn’t go VIP, but to my luck I got it anyway! I met this awesome girl Ashley Hunter Mason (who also has a killer voice, check her out on YouTube) and her dad. We were just talking with the security guard and then the radio host from Country 102.5 walked by. I give Ashley props because she casually asked if there was anyway to still meet him. She says “You know what. How many are you? 4? I think there are some wristbands left hold on”. And that’s how I got another meet and greet and my brother got to meet him for the first time too. The show, as usual, exceeded my expectations. He played everything and even added the cover of Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball which sounded amazing with his gritty and powerful voice. Zach and I met Josh Kelley after the show which was awesome too. His performance was fun; he is half performer half stand up comic, never laughed so much at a concert before!

The last stop wasn’t technically a stop on The Driver Tour. On May 10th the lineup for Froggy 101’s Guitars & Stars 12 included Charles Kelley. I took my brother to this show at the Scranton Cultural Center. We went VIP, so in addition to the catered food and the side stage performance from Drew Baldridge we both took a picture with the main stage artists: Michael Ray, Granger Smith, Brandy Clark, and Charles Kelley. At this point the best feeling is when your favorite artist continues to recognize you each time! You can always count on Charles not staying in one spot on the stage for too long. The stool the artists were sitting on was too restricting, especially for Lonely Girl Charles not only stood up, but he jumped off the stage into the crowd. For the last round of songs for each artist Charles encouraged everybody to get out of their seats and move up to the stage. My brother has learned well: he went right, I went left and we met in the middle of the stage- 2nd row of people!

There you have it, through the months with Charles Kelley on the road. Twice in December, once in February, once in April, and a final visit in May. I am grateful that this solo venture allowed me to get these meet and greet opportunities. Nothing compares to the smaller venues, the stripped down production, and the audience interaction. The music speaks for itself and Charles definitely delivered and left it all out on the stage. Each show had its own unique and intimate reason for being special and you don’t get that from a stadium or amphitheater show. Lady Antebellum is going to come back this summer more energized than ever. Nine years straight of album releases and touring becomes routine if artists don’t take time to regroup and re-spark that organic inspiration that originates from the beginning when things were new, songwriting was about creating something you believe in, not something that fits a mold or will follow and be bigger than the previous album. Here’s to a rejuvenated Lady A this summer and here’s hoping Charles ventures into another soul searching solo project again soon!