"Long Stretch of Love" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

Lady A Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar), ...

ntebellum and serves as the third and final single from the group's sixth studio album, '' 747'' (2014). It was released to radio in the UK on February 6, 2015 and then to American country radio on March 23, 2015, and it features lead vocals from both

Hillary Scott Hillary Dawn Scott-Tyrrell (born April 1, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter. She is the co-lead singer of Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, a country music group that was formed in 2006, and is signed to Big Machine Records ...

and

Charles Kelley Charles Burgess Kelley (born September 11, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and lead singer and founding member of the country music trio Lady A, which was formed in 2006 and are signed to Big Machine Records. Early life and career Kelle ...

, who wrote the song with

Dave Haywood David Wesley Haywood (born July 5, 1982) is an American country musician and songwriter. He is one-third of the American country music band Lady A, in which he plays guitar, piano and mandolin, and sings backing vocals. Early life Haywood's fat ...

and

Josh Kear Josh Kear is a Nashville-based songwriter signed to Sony/ATV Music Publishing. In 2007, he cowrote Carrie Underwood’s hit "Before He Cheats" with Chris Tompkins. The song spent five weeks at the top of the charts. His song " Drinking Class", ...

Content

The song is an upbeat country rock song with "brash kick drum, thumping bass, and crunchy electric guitar riffs". Lyrically, it is about "commitment to love and sticking with it through the ups and downs". All three members of Lady Antebellum co-wrote the song with

, and co-produced it with Nathan Chapman. Kear told ''

Nash Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overview ...

'' magazine that he had a track started for a writing session with the band, and when he presented it to them, co-lead singer

"hit on the verse melody pretty quickly, and the verses were all four of us throwing in ideas until the lyric matched the intensity of the track." The main riff is played on a Woodrow, an Appalachian instrument manufactured only in Asheville, North Carolina, which is described as having a sound "halfway between a dulcimer and a banjo." Kear chose to use the instrument in the song after buying one in Asheville. Dan Williams, who invented the Woodrow, played the instrument with Lady Antebellum when they performed the song at the Country Music Association telecast on April 19, 2015.

Critical reception

Giving the song a "B", Tammy Ragusa of ''Nash Country Weekly'' (then ''Country Weekly'') wrote that the song was "driving, edgy, and electric…occasionally to the detriment of the band's thick and beautiful harmonies" but added that "the combination does add to the aggressive nature of the lyrics". An uncredited review from

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

was also favorable, saying that "A forgotten tension between Charles Kelley and Hillary Scott reappears during this uptempo love song. It's the same chemistry that always left fans wondering 'Are they?' before it became obvious they weren’t." and "Scott mostly plays lead on the chorus, but unlike many of Lady A's most recent singles, the song feels like a true three-part collaboration."

Commercial performance

"Long Stretch of Love" debuted at number fifty-seven on the ''Billboard'' Country Airplay chart for the week ending April 4, 2015. It has since reached a peak of sixteen. The song debuted at number forty on the Hot Country Songs chart for the week ending July 11, 2015.

Music video

A music video was directed by Justin Key and premiered in April 2015. This video was shot during their sold-out show at The O₂ Arena in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. At the beginning of the video you can hear Charles, Hillary, and Dave talking about performing live, selling out a show at The O₂ and playing in one of their favorite cities, London. The video also shows backstage footage of the band. A second music video was directed by

TK McKamy TK McKamy is an American film director, screenwriter, and editor known for directing music videos. Thomas Knox McKamy III was born in Stone Mountain, Georgia and raised in the small town of Nicholasville, Kentucky Nicholasville is a home r ...

and premiered in July 2015.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2015 singles Capitol Records Nashville singles Lady A songs Songs written by Hillary Scott Songs written by Dave Haywood Songs written by Charles Kelley Songs written by Josh Kear Song recordings produced by Nathan Chapman (record producer) Music videos directed by TK McKamy