Lady Antebellum’s Movie Music
It was a moment when Hollywood met Nashville, as the movies intersected with Music City. The Country Music Hall of Fame was the site for the Nashville premiere of the new movie “The Best Of Me.” The movie features an obviously country-oriented soundtrack, led by Lady Antebellum. The trio walked the red carpet with the movie’s writer, Nicholas Sparks. He told us they were an integral part of the movie. “Lady A came up before anyone else was cast. Lady A came up before the director. I was a big fan of their work. I was more excited than they were. It was just something we wanted to do, and we were pleased it was able to work out. It’s a wonder for me to spend time with such wonderfully talented people.”
The movie’s soundtrack has 14 songs on it, each chosen to work with specific scenes in the movie. Sparks talked about that aspect of the project: “Music plays a definite role in film. There’s an art to musical score. If the movie is a song, you want the soundtrack to work with what’s on the screen.” Why country in this film? “I think it ties in with this story, but it starts with Lady Antebellum, they wrote this great song and that really set the tone for the entire soundtrack. I have no idea what the soundtrack would have been without them.”
The idea for writing this song came about at an extremely time for Lady A. They were on tour at the time with their Take Me Downtown Tour. They were also in the middle of writing songs for their new album 747. But they took the time to write “I Did With You,” a song based on the original book. Hillary Scott talked about the inspiration for the song. “I think we were all inspired by the main characters in the book. The story is so relatable on so many levels, and it was an honor to write for this movie, and to be able to put ourselves into the story and bring it to life with a lyric and a melody. If I had known when I was a teenager seeing one of his movies that I’d be in a room talking with him about a song I wrote for another one of his movies, that’s something that 16 year old Hillary would never have dreamed this, so it’s a very special thing for me.” Hillary was obviously a fan of Nicholas Sparks and his work. “No one had to twist my arm too hard for me to jump at the opportunity. The time we spent on it, to be a part of it, it was all really special.”
Nicholas Sparks previewed the story of The Best of Me: “So many of my novels are drawn from personal events in my life, and this one was inspired by being in by 40s. I’m beginning to wonder what if I made different choices, what would my life have been life if I went to this college, or met this person, or had kids early, so I said let’s explore this in a story, and the result was The Best Of Me.”
Several other recording artists were walking the red carpet with Lady Antebellum. Pop star Colbie Caillat contributed “In Love Again” for the soundtrack, and she was in Nashville for the premiere. “About two months ago, they asked if I had a song I wasn’t going to use for my new album, and I had this song that’s about breaking up with someone I’d been in love with and reconnecting with them, and that’s what the movie’s about. I love working with Nicholas Sparks, last time we did “Safe Haven” together.
Newcomer Thomas Rhett has a song called “The Way Things Go” in the soundtrack. “I’m not gonna deny I’m a sucker for a good love story. If anybody is a love story professional it’s Nicholas Sparks. I read this book while waiting at the airport one time, so it’s cool to have my first song in a movie that means something to me, so I’m pumped.” Thomas said he was looking forward to actually meeting Nicholas at the movie premiere.
Other artists on The Best of Me soundtrack include Hunter Hayes, Kip Moore, Kacey Musgraves, Eric Paslay, and David Nail. The soundtrack is out now, and the movie opens in theaters on Friday October 17th.
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