Capitol Records NashvilleAs Charles Kelley gears up for the release of his debut solo album The Driver this Friday, he’s unleashing the details of his spring tour — one that will find him welcoming his brother Josh as his special guest.
Even though Charles and his Lady Antebellum bandmates may’ve found more widespread acclaim, it was his older brother who pursued his music career first, enjoying a pop hit with his song “Amazing” in 2003. Charles says it’s actually his brother who’s to thank for laying the groundwork for his success.
“When I first moved to Nashville, he was the reason I came, and he really helped teach me how to write songs. You know he really did, and the people he was around,” he remembers. “His band, you know, would write with me, and I was this nobody, and he would bring over writers.”
While Charles and his wife Cassie, who are expecting their first child around the middle of this month, still live in Nashville, Josh’s home base is in Los Angeles, with his wife, actress Katherine Heigl. It was a combination of winter weather and time off from Lady A that conspired to get the siblings back together again.
“Last year in January, my wife and I just randomly decided to get out of the cold. We were off, the band was off for a couple months from touring. We were like, ‘Let’s just Airbnb a house in L.A. for a month,’ so we went up there in January,” he recalls. “And Josh and I reconnected like we haven’t in a long time.”
One of the tracks on Charles’ album, ‘Round in Circles,” was the result of the brothers’ rekindled relationship.
“Josh and I, we’re very different. He’s this free spirit. Not that I’m not a free spirit, but I’m definitely a little more — I focus when I work and Josh is just one of these guys that always just wants to just let it happen, and he’s got such a laid-back approach,” he reflects. “And I totally just kind of fell into that when I was there in L.A. and we wrote a bunch of songs and I don’t know, I felt like Josh and I became best friends again in that trip, which was really cool. So I was proud we wrote a song that I felt was strong enough to be part of the project.”
On Wednesday, Charles starts making the media rounds to promote his album with a stop on Good Morning America on ABC. On Thursday, he swings by Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, before checking into The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS on Friday, the project’s release day.
Here’s the itinerary for The Driver tour this spring, with pre-sales starting for Citi card members Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time:
4/9 — Washington, DC, The Fillmore
4/11 — Boston, MA, House of Blues
4/13 — Cleveland, OH, House of Blues
4/14 — Chicago, IL, House of Blues
4/15 — St. Louis, The Pageant
4/23 — Anaheim, CA, House of Blues
4/24 — San Jose, CA, Club Rodeo
4/26 — Los Angeles, CA, Troubadour
5/1 — Houston, TX, House of Blues
5/3 — Nashville, TN, 3rd & Lindsley
5/6 — Athens, GA, Georgia Theater
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