Although Lady Antebellum didn’t write their latest single, “What I’m Leaving For,” when they first heard it, it instantly hit them in the heart, because it was literally their life as touring musicians, in a song. Since its release, the song has been embraced by military families, other parents who travel for work, as well as parents who go to work every day and can’t stay home with their kids. And since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Lady A’s song has taken on even greater significance for the men and women who are working in healthcare on the frontlines of fighting the virus. Dave Haywood says, “Now living in this pandemic, we’ve really dedicated this song to the doctors and nurses and all the health care workers that are out there on the frontlines really risking it, walking into these hospitals, walking into the E.R., and really taking a huge risk to protect us … Getting up, looking at your beautiful family and then walking out that door. That’s what they’re leaving for.”
The band is self-isolating with their families, and in some cases, trying to home school their older children. Dave says, “We’ve got a five year old a two year old, so pre-K. So, the worksheets and the homework are not too terribly long. I mean, we do like 30 minutes of stuff and then everyone’s hit their quota. But we’re doing the best we can.”
Like many parents, Dave is grateful for Disney movies during this time. When he’s not trying to teach his kids or get them outside for some fresh air and play time, he says, “It ends up being a lot of Frozen 2 and Trolls movies … we have watched every movie that Disney has ever put out, I can tell you that.”
As far as maintaining his own sanity while hanging out at home, Dave says he and Charles and Hillary have been working on music and trying to do a lot of things to stay connected with their fans. He also says, “I actually started doing some Sous Vide (Sue Vee) cooking, if you’ve heard of Sous Vide. So, I’ve been working at home trying to figure out how to do different steaks and salmon and stuff like that, for fun.”
It looks like Dave will have a little extra time to experiment with his cooking since Lady Antebellum has postponed the kickoff of their Ocean Tour from May 21st to July 2nd.
Lady Antebellum – What I’m Leaving For coronavirus :39
Dave Haywood – “I think ‘What I’m Leaving For’ has taken on a whole new meaning for us. You know, now living in this pandemic, we’ve really dedicated this song to the doctors and nurses and all the health care workers that are out there on the frontlines really risking it, walking into these hospitals, walking into the E.R., and really taking a huge risk to protect us. And that song has been resonating with them, when you really listen to the words. We wrote it about leaving our families for touring, but really, getting up, looking at your beautiful family and then walking out that door. That’s what they’re leaving for. And so it’s really resonated with the health care community during this coronavirus time and I really think it’s taken on a completely new meaning for us.”
Lady Antebellum – kid quarantine time Dave :27
Dave Haywood – “We’ve got a five year old a two year old, so pre-K. So, the worksheets and the homework are not too terribly long. I mean, we do like 30 minutes of stuff and then everyone’s hit their quota. Honestly, it ends up being a lot of Frozen 2 and Trolls movies and just all kinds of kids’ movies half the day. But we’re trying to do some arts and crafts, let the kids play outside in our yard. And we’re trying to fill our time as best we can, but we have watched every movie that Disney has ever put out, I can tell you that.”
Lady Antebellum – adult quarantine time Dave :42
Dave Haywood – “My wife and I, we’re just kind of keeping our head above water best we can and surviving. I mean, I’ve been working downstairs on different Lady Antebellum songs that we’re trying to put up, where I’m working on the tracks and Charles and Hillary send me their vocals from their phone. And we’ve been putting up some performances of some of our songs just to stay active, and we may start writing some over Zoom or FaceTime, but I don’t know. I try to stay busy. It’s hard for me to kind of sit still for too long. I get kind of antsy, so I stay down kind of working on music or trying to find things to do with the kids. I actually started doing some Sous Vide cooking, if you’ve heard of Sous Vide. So, I’ve been working at home trying to figure out how to do different steaks and salmon and stuff like that, for fun.