In the latest look back at memorable Artists Den concerts, Billboard is traveling back to 2017, when Lady Antebellum took the stage at New York City’s United Palace, playing songs from their then-recently released record Heart Break — including both the album’s title track and the song “You Look Good,” which you can watch above and below.
Plus, the band discussed the process of writing the collection of songs, and they gave fans an inside look at the concert venue and its history.
Ahead of the trio’s performance, they sat down to chat about what it was like creating Heart Break and how the process for making that album differed from previous writing sessions.
Dave Haywood explained that he remembered his bandmate Charles Kelley walking onto their tour bus and stating that he wanted them to find a new process to make their next record, suggesting getting away somewhere so they could focus, while also re-creating the “innocence” of when they first started writing together 10 years ago.
“One of the things we talked about was just finding the core of the songs that really spoke to us, not just recording a song because we thought it was a hit,” Kelley said. Writing the album in Florida and Los Angeles, the band spent three months focusing on nothing but writing while living in a house together.
“That’s what we wanted to do for this new record, was put all of our time into getting back to us hanging out, being a part of each other’s lives every day, cooking meals, making drinks, and just having fun and making music the way that we set out to do in the beginning,” added Dave Haywood.
“When we removed all of the distractions, and when we truly invested in this time together, not only for our career but for our own friendship, it really paid off in spades,” said Hillary Scott. “We felt like we were more productive in a shorter amount of time than we’ve been in a long time…We’ve always been close, but we got to connect even deeper into our friendships, and that was really priceless.”
In another video clip, which you can check out below, the United Palace’s President and Chairman at the time Xavier Eikerenkoetter spoke about why the venue is a “transformational space” and Lady Antebellum discussed their passion about performing in a space that looks to help children who want to excel in the arts.
