Charles Kelley Is ‘Just As Dedicated’ To Lady Antebellum As He Kicks Off Solo Tour

Charles Kelley is gearing up to kick off his first solo tour this weekend, but before he hits the road, the Georgia native is reminding fans that he’s just as dedicated to Lady Antebellum as he’s ever been.

Kelley sat down with Billboard and explained that he could never work on a project like The Driver without the support of his band mates, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood. “When they heard the music, they got it and understood why I wanted to do it. It is a little different from what we do as a band,” he told the publication. “I told them that if we’re going to take time off anyway, I would really love to put this music out. The only conversation we had as a band was to make a sure that we protected what Lady Antebellum is. I told them I wasn’t going to sit there and try to re-create a Lady Antebellum album without the two of them. I wanted to make sure that it sounded and felt differently, and I think they understand that this is just an artistic detour for me. I needed a little bit of a shakeup. They both have been very supportive and both of them came to my showcase. They’ve been amazing. They know I’m just as dedicated to Lady Antebellum as I ever have been. They know I’m restless and can’t ever sit still. This is just me putting out more music. I’ve got a lot of songs that will never see the light of day, and that allows me to put them out there.”

The project, Kelley explains, is something that he hopes will get the artistic juices flowing. “In a sense, this is me starting over fresh. A lot of people don’t associate Charles Kelley as the guy from Lady Antebellum. It’s going to be comparable to having to go out and prove yourself as a new artist, and that’s a lot of the fun of this for me,” he said.

And more than anything, the crooner believes that the solo tour will reignite a fire to inspire him when Lady A gets back together to work on their next project. “For me, that’s what I’m craving, and I think when I get back out there with Hillary and Dave, it will make me appreciate what we do even more. I love our catalog of songs and our fanbase.”

Check out Kelley on The Driver Tour, kicking off this weekend in Cleveland, Ohio at the House of Blues.