Review: Lady Antebellum at the Troubadour

Country act Lady Antebellum knows its strengths and they're on display at a tight, focused show at Troubadour.

The members of Lady Antebellum know what they're doing — they understand their music and how it operates as completely as any pop act currently working.

That's why Thursday night at the Troubadour, Hillary Scott introduced “Dancin' Away With My Heart” as “a really sweet, sentimental song.” And why Charles Kelley said “Singing Me Home” had “a Motown feel.” The group's deep self-knowledge is also what drove Kelley to refer to “Love Don't Live Here” as the first single Lady Antebellum sent to country radio, a typically clinical characterization from a songwriter who values positioning and perception no less than melody and lyrics.

So what on earth was Kelley talking about when he described the vibe at the Troubadour as “very loose”? Thursday's concert was the final stop on a brief small-venue tour pegged to the release earlier this week of Lady Antebellum's new album, “Own the Night.” (“Own the Night: Unplugged” was the official billing, which explained how so many stools ended up onstage.) But even though the show offered an exceptionally intimate look at this Grammy-winning trio, there was nothing untidy about the group's hour-long performance.

David Foster, Lady Antebellum, Jason Derulo and Lady Gaga score top honors at BMI pop awards

David Foster, Lady Antebellum, Jason Derulo and Lady Gaga won big Tuesday night at BMI’s 59th annual Pop Music Awards in Beverly Hills.

Gaga, Derulo and producer J.R. Rotem all shared the title of BMI pop songwriters of the year. Each tallied four singles -- Gaga for "Alejandro," "Bad Romance," "Paparazzi" and "Telephone"; Rotem and Derulo for "In My Head," "Ridin' Solo" and "Whatcha Say," plus  Iyaz's "Replay" -- on the organization’s 50 most performed songs of the year list.

Lady Antebellum’s Grammy winning hit, “Need You Now,” earned the trophy for pop song of the year for cowriters Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley.

With 16 songs including Beyoncé's "Sweet Dreams," Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" and Kesha's "Your Love Is My Drug" among the year’s most-performed, Sony/ATV Songs LLC claimed the pop publisher of the year award.

Foster, a 15-time Grammy winner, was named the BMI icon for his “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” Brian McKnight, Keri Hilson and Chaka Khan paid tribute to the songwriter-producer by performing the hits he had a hand in crafting.

During his speech, Foster said he’d “never been the type of musician going around complaining about the music business … it’s alive and thriving,” before doling out 10 rules of advice that he’d learned in the business.

“Rule No. 1: Save your money,” he said. “No. 10: Save your money.”

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy
Twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: From left: Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood; songwriter-producer David Foster; and  producers Jason Derulo and J.R. Rotem at the 59th annual BMI Pop Music Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 17 in Beverly Hills, California. Credit: Lester Cohen / WireImage.com

EMI artists and songwriters launch charity for Japanese disaster relief

Artists and songwriters from the EMI roster have teamed up to raise funds to aid the Red Cross in its continued efforts to provide relief from the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March.

Starting Tuesday, music fans can go to eBay and bid on more than 200 goodies from artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones, Katy Perry, Gorillaz, Iron Maiden, the Beach Boys, David Guetta, Lady Antebellum, the Chemical Brothers, Depeche Mode, 30 Seconds to Mars, Daft Punk, Keith Urban and the Beatles, among others.

The auction is split into two phases, with the first running from Tuesday until April 15. The second phase will take place April 11-21.

Items up for grabs include Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin’s jacket from the 2010 "Viva La Vida" world tour, a pair of vintage speakers from Abbey Road’s famous Studio 3, the Beastie Boys’ Japanese MTV award and a signed limited-edition lithographic Depeche Mode print.

Also on the auction block is a 1987 Ferrari 412 as featured in Daft Punk’s film "Electroma," Perry’s cupcake trampoline from her current "California Dreams" world tour, a limited-edition Beatles’ Yellow Submarine Schwinn bicycle, a signed guitar from Jones, the MacBook used by Guetta to create the demos for "One Love," framed hand-written lyrics from Brian Wilson and a limited-edition Gorillaz lithograph signed by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn.

"Japan has been one of my favorite countries to visit, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this disaster," Jones said in a statement. "I'm so glad I can be part of this fundraising effort, along with the EMI family."

All the funds raised will be used toward Japanese Red Cross disaster relief efforts, and the EMI Group has promised to match a portion of the total.

More info can be found on the charity's eBay site.

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-- Gerrick D. Kennedy

twitter.com/gerrickkennedy

Photo: Chris Martin’s jacket from the 2010 "Viva La Vida" world tour. Credit: Courtesy of EMI Group

John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Josh Groban hits together on 'Songs for Japan' benefit album

Contemporary and classic hits from John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Bob Dylan, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Josh Groban and nearly three dozen other acts have been gathered on “Songs for Japan,” a new compilation that will generate funds for the Japanese Red Cross Society’s disaster relief efforts.

The album’s 38 tracks include Lennon’s “Imagine,”  Bieber’s “Pray,” Dylan’s “Shelter From the Storm,” U2’s “Walk On,” Gaga’s “Born This Way,” Springsteen’s “Human Touch,” Perry’s “Firework,” Groban’s “Awake,” Pink’s “Sober” and Nicki Minaj’s “Save Me.”

Other artists represented include Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Keith Urban, Rihanna, Lady Antebellum, Eminem, Elton John and Shakira.

All artists, publishers and record companies have waived their royalties and other proceeds so that 100% of money generated from sales of “Songs for Japan” will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society. The collection is available for digital download now on iTunes and will surface as a double CD set in early April.

Meanwhile, Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, is playing two benefit shows in New York in the days ahead from which proceeds will go to relief efforts. She’ll be joined by Sonic Youth; her son, Sean Ono Lennon; Cibo Matto; and others on Sunday at the Miller Theatre in a performance that has already sold out. Then on Tuesday, she’ll have Patti Smith, Tony Shanahan, Matto and others with her at Le Poisson Rouge. Tickets are $100.

-- Randy Lewis

'Need You Now' allows Lady Antebellum time to plan what they need next

 
Going into Sunday night’s Grammy show, Lady Antebellum’s camp took a sanguine approach to the awards themselves.

"We're just focusing on the performance," group manager Gary Borman said during rehearsals last week. "That's the one thing we have some control over."

Even before the Recording Academy heaped five Grammys on the trio’s “Need You Now” album and single on Sunday, the monster success of both was fully being relished by band members Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood.

“We spent 300 days on the road last year,” Scott noted of their nonstop efforts supporting their second album. The Grammys constitute the last, albeit must delicious, icing on a cake made up of multiplatinum sales -- the album was the second biggest seller of 2010, with 3.1 million copies, behind only Eminem’s 3.42 million-selling “Recovery” -- it’s been honored by the Country Music Assn., the Academy of Country Music and other bodies.

They’ve still got one more round of “Need You Now”-related award competition ahead with the 2011 ACM Awards in April, but they’re now starting to turn their attention ahead to work on their third album.

“We’re starting to come up with some new things now,” Haywood told me last week after they’d wrapped up their rehearsal run-through.

For Scott, all the success brings with it a less-tangible reward. “In the songwriting, it’s really important for us to take more time, and this is giving us a chance to rest up and then really take our time with this next record.”

-- Randy Lewis

Photo: Charles Kelley, left, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum collect one of five Grammy Awards the trio won Sunday night. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times