Lady A Breaks Down How the ‘Playlist Era’ Helped Country Music Explode in 2023

After a blockbuster year for country music, the members of Lady A — Charles Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood — are ready to break down why they think the genre is having such a moment.

In a new interview with Billboard News, the country trio explains that the mixing of genres through streaming consumption has allowed country music to shine like never before. “I think it’s just the blend of all the different influences,” Kelley says. “We grew up in the playlist era, where you’d make a mixtape, and so I grew up loving everything. I feel like when we started our band, it was like a little bit of the Eagles meets Fleetwood Mac meets The Chicks meets Rascal Flatts. It was everything coming together into this sound.”

Scott adds that, with fans more eager than ever to find artists that they can connect to emotionally, country music provides a place for them to learn all about a new artist. “Like Carly Pearce’s 29 — she was bearing it all with her story and what was going on with her life, and that really resonates with people,” she says. “When you are brave enough to be vulnerable in plain sight … that is where a real connection happens.”

The band also talks about their recently completed Request Line Tour, where they asked their fans to submit song requests via phone and built the setlist around the tracks audiences wanted to hear. “When we do the song, we find them in the audience and try to connect with them and have a moment,” Haywood says. “It’s so neat to connect with people when you actually get to see them in the moment.”

Watch our full interview with Lady A above.