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Lady Antebellum featured on Air Force Christmas radio program

  • Published
  • By Dale Eckroth
  • Air Force Recruiting Service
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  Multi-platinum selling country trio Lady Antebellum spreads holiday cheer on this year's Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas radio special. The hour-long program, produced by Air Force Recruiting Service, features songs from the group's Christmas album "On This Winter's Night," which was released Oct. 22.

"We're honored to have Lady Antebellum on our program," said program host Tech. Sgt. Harry Kibbe. "They're in such high demand. I feel pretty grateful they made time for us and for Capitol Records giving us access to their album before it was released."

During a break in their "Own The Night 2012 World Tour" Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood sat down with Sergeant Kibbe in Nashville and shared their favorite holiday memories and how their lives have changed since releasing their first album in 2008.

"I remember driving around in Charles' Jeep Grand Cherokee and booking [shows] ourselves," said Haywood. "This year was our first chance to play arenas. So that's a huge dream come true to be in these big places with a big production and big tour. We all feel like we're in the same place and we've grown closer as friends. And we've pretty much been through everything together for the past six years."

"The thing that has changed the most is our schedule," added Scott who shares lead vocals with Kelley. "When we started out we found ways to make ourselves busy. But now we just really are. This Christmas season is the first time in our entire career that we really aren't touring up until the holidays. This will be a great season for us to be with our families and make wonderful memories and nurture those relationships that we miss so much whenever we're gone."

Sergeant Kibbe, broadcast producer at Headquarters AFRS, said the trio made his job easy. "The one hour we had with them flew by. It seemed like just five minutes," he said. "From the time they walked into the studio they were as friendly, cool and down to earth as could be. Hillary said it was like being in a marriage. And it showed. They worked well off each other and it's easy to see why they've been named vocal group of the year. They truly deserve all the success."

Listening to "I'll Be Home For Christmas," from Lady Antebellum's album and featured on a Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas, Kelley said the song has to hit home for a lot of military families. "That's the ultimate sacrifice you men and women are doing when you're not able to be home for Christmas," he said. "I can't imagine not being with my family.

"We appreciate what you [military members] do and allowing us the freedom to be with our family and have that security and feeling of being safe on Christmas. We definitely don't take that for granted. America is the greatest place on earth. Because of that freedom and because of all the things you guys are fighting for and doing, we're allowed to go chase our dreams."

A Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas, now in its 11th season, will be sent to more than 3,300 country stations in the United States and the American Forces Network by the end of November, according to Jimmy Spacek, broadcast operations chief at Headquarters AFRS. The program, which was recorded at Spotland Productions in Nashville, is designed to help ease the holiday program load for station program directors. It includes spot breaks for stations to sell commercial time.

"Not only does the public service program help stations with their holiday programming options, it also provides a way to show support for the men and women serving our country around the world," Spacek said.

The Red, White and Air Force Blue Christmas heritage dates back to the 1970s when the Air Force produced the weekly radio show "Country Music Time." It featured established as well as up-and-coming artists. In the 1990s the show was revamped to an annual holiday program called "The Gift" and later renamed with its current title. Artists who've appeared on the holiday show include George Strait, Faith Hill, Darius Rucker, Toby Keith, Lee Ann Womack and Vince Gill.