Lady Antebellum photo courtesy of Capitol Nashville.

In the summer of 2006, three gifted young adults walked into a house to create music, uncertain of where they were headed — and Lady Antebellum walked out.

During that time, Hillary Scott's sultry alto, Charles Kelley's gritty tenor and multi-instrumentalist/ harmony vocalist Dave Haywood's musical overview ignited a unique blend of harmonies reminiscent of classic country, a soulfulness of 1960s R&B, the heart-on-the-sleeve openness of 1970s singer-songwriters, all with a keen edge of contemporary country.

"From the beginning, the music took on a life of its own and defined the direction we were headed," declares Hillary. "It only took one live performance of the first handful of songs we had written to realize that whatever it was we were going to do, it had to be done together."

The fuse was first lit in middle school, when Augusta, Ga., natives Charles and Dave met. Both eventually found themselves studying finance at the University of Georgia, where they began writing songs together.

Charles had begun his musical life playing drums with his older brother Josh Kelley (now a respected recording artist himself). It was apparent his passionate singing voice would bring him to the front of the stage soon; in 2005, Charles and his brother migrated from opposite ends of the country to Nashville.

Dave had been playing a variety of musical instruments from a young age, but like Charles, had looked to finance as a more realistic way to make a living—the proverbial "something to fall back on." He worked as an accountant for a year after graduation; during that year, Dave had the opportunity to travel the globe, working in such exotic locales as England and Japan. Despite his many opportunities, Dave's soul began
to reason with him to find the way to express his musical passion.

"I was thinking, Man, is this what I have to do for the rest of my life?" he recalls. So when Charles called and asked if he would come to Nashville and give the music business a serious shot, he agreed to move in with the Kelley brothers.

The boys are transplants to Music City, but Hillary Scott has always called it home. The daughter of Grammy Award-winning country artist Linda Davis and accomplished musician Lang Scott, she developed her passion for music at an early age as well. In high school, she joined her parents in the Linda Davis Family Christmas Show, and was instantly hooked. "When we started doing the Christmas show I thought, 'OK, this is really what I want to do for a living,'" she recalls. "I can't imagine doing anything else."

With the guidance of acclaimed songwriter/artist Victoria Shaw, she earned plenty of local buzz as a solo artist, but a major-label opportunity evaporated in March 2006 — just days after Dave arrived in town.

Two months later at a downtown Nashville music spot, she recognized Charles, whose music she had been enjoying on his MySpace page. "I introduced myself and struck up a conversation," she remembers. "He said that we should get together and write sometime." Charles adds, "I just thought she was hot." Not knowing the hidden talent that would soon emerge, the boys were persistent to get together with Hillary. After they started writing, the three were inseparable the rest of the summer. "We held ourselves hostage in a writing room until the early hours of the morning every night," said Dave.