We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
By the time 2010 rolled around, Lady Antebellum were enjoying a string of number ones.
Their third chart-topper was “American Honey,” and there were a lot of firsts for the band when it came to this song: it was the first time that Hillary Scott took over the lead vocals, and the first time the band would record a song that they did not write. It was co-written by Carey Barlowe, Hillary Lindsey, and Shane Stevens.
The writers were inspired by a bottle of sippin’ whiskey. They were on their way to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for a writers retreat and stopped at a liquor store where they bought the bottle. While they were writing, that bottle of whiskey, named “American Honey,” sat on the kitchen counter and they thought that might make a great title for a song.
Not interested in writing another song about whiskey, they turned their attention to the word honey. They thought about how slow it takes to harvest, and they thought that wouldn’t it be great if we could slow down our busy lives. From there, the idea started to take shape and they wrote a song about looking back on old memories and simpler times.
They recorded the demo with three-part harmonies, and they knew who they were gonna pitch it to…
It’s this week’s The Song Remembers When – Lady A and their two-week number one “American Honey.”