I was elated when Country 2 Country announced the return of Lady A. For two reasons, firstly, they’re my favourite band and they have been since I first heard their debut album. Secondly, it meant that they were back together and Charles was on the right path to sobriety.
Through the years, since their formation, the band has gone through and witnessed a lot together. All three are married with children now, they have supported Hillary through the heartbreak of miscarriage, Charles through his quest for sobriety, they have taken time out when needed to follow their own paths both personally and with their music but they have always reunited and it’s a special bond they share. Dave Haywood joins me from his basement studio, “We are a family,” he clarifies, a smile upon his face. “I call them my other spouses – I sometimes see them more than I see my wife and my kids, especially when we’re on tour. We’ve walked through anything and everything you can think of, for 16 years. They’ve seen me at some of my highs and some of my lows, personally, and we just try to be there for each other.”
Their music has been a beacon of hope for so many fans over the years and their songs follow in the band’s values of honesty and integrity. “I think that’s one of the things that we’ve always tried to do is be a band of integrity, be a band of support, be a band that just stands up for one another, we respect each other so much. So when Charles said he needed a little bit of time, we were like, life, family, this kind of stuff comes first. We’ve all had moments where we’ve needed to take some time, there was a couple of shows when I had my kids, when Hillary had her children, when we were going through different things personally, we’ve had to just shift things around. That stuff is most important for us to support each other that way. So we’re super proud of Charles. He’s doing amazing – he just celebrated six months of sobriety.”
Dave and Charles recently penned and produced the song ‘As Far As You Could’ with fellow songwriter Jimmy Robbins about Charles’ journey to sobriety. It’s a song that allows Charles to open up and let fans into his journey and Dave is looking forward to working this moment into the band’s live set at C2C. “We’ve got a newfound energy coming back. We just started rehearsing a couple weeks ago, for C2C, putting together a setlist and you know. We’re trying to find ways to make it special for the fans for them to come along on that journey. I think hopefully, there’s some power in us being honest and transparent about being human.”
A text comes through from Charles and he reveals that just before the call they were discussing ideas that they would take back to Hillary later on that week. Previously when the band have gone on hiatus, Charles has released music and so has Hillary but we haven’t seen any solo work from Dave. I was keen to know what he got up to when the band took a break. “I love the creative side. This is my basement studio, I’ve got bouzoukis, banjos, guitars, mics. I’m a studio rat. I stay down here late at night and just work on ideas.” Dave has written for other artists as well as for Lady A records and enjoys elements of production as well. “Personally, I’m a little more introverted. So whenever we get a little time off, I love disappearing into my own studio, writing with other artists, producing other artists.”
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF MAVERICK MAGAZINE. AVAILABLE AT C2C!
