Lady A is bringing the Christmas spirit!
Videos by American Songwriter
It’s been more than a decade since Lady A put out their first Christmas album, On This Winter’s Night. Now, though, the band was more than ready to return to the genre.
That’s especially true since their latest release, On This Winter’s Night (Volume 2), gave them the chance to inject their recent experiences into new music.
“A lot of life has happened for us in these 12 years. Nine kids have been born in the last 12 years since we did Volume 1,” Dave Haywood told American Songwriter. “We’ve got a song about seeing Christmas through their eyes on this record, and some [other] sweet things that felt right.”
The final product features 11 tracks, including collaborations with Ricky Skaggs and Chris Tomlin. Both of those, Hillary Scott said, helped bring the “faith-based part” of the album into focus.
Other tracks on the album include “Last Christmas” and “Wouldn’t Be Christmas,” which Charles Kelley and Haywood count as their respective favorites.
“We kind of slowed it down. It’s my favorite spot in Hillary’s voice,” Kelley said of the first song. “… I was just a really, really big fan of that song. It’s the one I find myself kind of going back to and listening to. I love the production of it.”
As for “Wouldn’t Be Christmas,” Haywood said, “Tackling writing our own Christmas song is always hard, but I’m really proud of of the originals on here. ‘Wouldn’t Be Christmas,’ to me, captures a lot of the energy and excitement around Christmas and the longing to be with those that you love.”
Lady A on Their Holiday Traditions
Throughout the holiday season, Scott enjoys watching Christmas movies and baking with her husband, Chris Tyrrell, and their four daughters. Whatever Christmas traditions listeners enjoy, Lady A hopes that On This Winter’s Night (Volume 2) will soundtrack those memories in the making.
“We would love to be one of those bands and have those records that becomes part of people’s Christmas tradition,” Kelley said. “That’s one of the my favorite things to hear from fans is like, ‘Hey, man, just so you know, we put on your Christmas record every year when we’re decorating the tree.’”
If families are looking for a new thing to their holiday activity list, they should consider joining Lady A at their upcoming Christmas shows. The band is gearing up for their This Winter’s Night Tour, a 12-stop run of shows this December.
“This is a totally different style show that we’re putting together… It’s a different flow,” Haywood said of the show, which will include two acts and an intermission. “We’ll treat each act kind of different thematically. We’ll start off more exciting… and then we obviously want to find some really special, intimate, acoustic, vocal-based moments.”
“I just love how fans of all ages have enjoyed our music over the years, and we want to keep that going thematically for the Christmas tour as well,” he added. “The goal for us is to connect with the audience, for it to feel real, and inviting, and special, and fun, and reverent, and all the things that Christmas brings.”
Lady A’s CMA Award Nomination and Future Projects
On This Winter’s Night (Volume 2) is Lady A’s first LP since 2021’s What a Song Can Do. Despite that fact, the band earned a nomination for Vocal Group of the Year at the upcoming 59th Annual CMA Awards.
The nod means a lot to the group, whose “whole goal” over their two-decade history has been longevity, Kelley said.
“We haven’t made a record in a few years, so we were honestly kind of surprised to be nominated this year,” he admitted. “… I just like to feel like we deserve it when we get nominated.”
Because of that fact, Kelley said, the nomination put “a fire” in their belly to release “a great record next year and make all those people that voted us in feel like they made the right choice.”
“I think we’re, as a band, in such a good place to make a really, really special record,” he said. “We are going to absolutely hunker down and work our butts off. I think we’re going to be coming out swinging here within the next few years.”
Lady A’s On This Winter’s Night (Volume 2) is out now. The band’s This Winter’s Night Tour will kick off Dec. 5 in Atlanta, Georgia. It will on Dec. 23 after a three-night stint at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. The 59th Annual CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena Wednesday, Nov. 19 on ABC and next day on Hulu.
Photo by Alysse Gafkjen
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