Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Phillip Sweet (L to R in above photo) came together as Little Big Town in 1999. Karen and Kimberly had met at college in the late '80s and later reunited in Nashville where they began singing together in the mid-'90s. Jimi, a friend of Karen's husband, joined the girls to form a trio and the group began rehearsing with two future members of Rascal Flatts. In 1999, Phillip joined the trio and they became the quartet we know them as today: Little Big Town.
After their first label deal led nowhere without music being released, the group sang backup on a Colin Raye album and signed with Monument Records Nashville (home of the Dixie Chicks) in 2002. Their self-titled debut album was released in May 2002 with group members co-producing the album as well as writing or co-writing six of the ten tracks, two of which were released as singles.
"Don't Waste My Time" displayed the group's sweet (pun intended) four-part vocal harmonies with all members sharing lead vocals and a somewhat dubious sense of fashion - what were you wearing ten years ago? The song failed to find fans on Country Radio and the single peaked at #32 on the Country Songs chart.
The group's second single "Everything Changes" featured the same intertwined leads and lush harmonies but again failed to gain traction at the all important radio level. The sound of both songs is country only in the vaguest sense of the word; perhaps they should have been promoted to Adult Album Alternative. The track charted even lower than the first one, barely missing the top 40 on the country chart.
The group suffered another setback when Westbrook's father passed just after the release of their album, which peaked at number 40 on the Country Albums chart. Shortly thereafter, both Fairchild and Sweet ended their respective marriages. And if there had not been enough turmoil, the group left their label when it was dissolved later in 2002 and all four members took day jobs while continuing to tour.
Three years later, the group signed to Equity Music Group, which had been started by country star Clint Black. During their "hiatus" from recording, Kimberly's husband, who also served as the group's lawyer, had passed. All those life experiences shaped the songwriting and recording of their second album, The Road To Here. Released in October 2005, the album landed just outside the top 10 on the Country Albums chart and was eventually was certified Platinum, signifying sales of 1,000,000 copies.
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Wayne Kirkpatrick, who had co-authored a couple of songs on the first album, upped his presence on their sophomore effort, playing multiple instruments, co-writing twelve of the album's thirteen tracks and co-producing the whole shebang. Wayne had been a performer and songwriter for more than a decade by this time - his song "Change The World" was covered by Eric Clapton and won the Grammy for Song Of The Year in 1996. Some of the biggest names in country music have recorded his songs including Garth, Faith, Trisha and Martina. With Wayne as the Little Big Town's unofficial fifth member, the group enjoyed success for the first time as four Top 20 singles charted from The Road To Here, with three of them crossing over to the Hot 100 pop charts.
Released on 05/05/05, five months prior to the album's release, "Boondocks" established the group's newer roots oriented sound not with banjo, fiddle and pedal steel guitar but with mandolin, Dobro and six string acoustic guitar. The single made it onto country radio and cracked the Top 10 and was certified Gold. "Boondocks" even crossed over to the Hot 100 where it peaked at #46. The legendary R&B singer Etta James recorded the song for her 2011 album The Dreamer, which also featured her take on the Guns N Roses classic, 'Welcome To The Jungle". Sadly, it would prove to be her final album as she passed away within a couple months of it's release. HERC has prepared a brief tribute below featuring the two songs mentioned as well as her most well-known recording.
The second single from The Road To Nowhere is the warm and soothing ballad "Bring It On Home" which topped "Boondocks" on the Country Songs chart, making it into the Top 5 and finishing the year at #11 on the year end chart as well. The single, released in January 2006, also crossed over to the Hot 100 where it reached #58.
Bandmates Karen and Jimi had fallen in love and gotten married in May 2006. The up-tempo "Good As Gone" was the group's fifth single overall and, unlike the previous two, it failed to crossover to the Pop charts. The track, released in September 2006, almost a year after it's parent album, became Little Big Town's third consecutive Top 20 Country song.
On October 5, 2006, Little Big Town joined Lindsey Buckingham for an invitation only concert that was filmed for later broadcast as an episode of CMT Crossroads. On stage together they performed eight numbers, including 3 Fleetwood Mac songs: "The Chain", "Big Love" and "Go Your Own Way". The episode was first broadcast on CMT in December 2006 and in 2010, a compact disc of the show was issued as By Invitation Only. [HERC's hoping a DVD will eventually see the light of day.]
Like her bandmates, Kim had also found love and she tied the knot in November 2006 and gave birth to a daughter exactly nine months later. Also in November, Little Big Town appeared on the soundtrack album to the direct-to-video film The Fox and The Hound 2. The group released a 2006 Holiday single with their rendition of "Go Tell It On The Mountian", which managed to chart at #35 on the Country charts. (It was later released on the Country For Christmas EP featuring Holiday songs from their 2009 labelmates.)
"A Little More You" which was released just after Valentine's Day 2007 and became the fourth and final single released from their sophomore effort. It made the Top 20 on the Country charts and just missed the Hot 100, bubbling under at #101. [HERC can't quite put his finger on it but for some reason this is his favorite Little Big Town video.]
The final member of the group to re-marry was Phillip Sweet who jumped the broom in March 2007 and welcomed a baby girl nine months later. [HERC is sensing a pattern forming here.] Between all the nuptials and tours with Sugarland and Martina McBride, Little Big Town managed to record their third album, A Place To Land, which immediately became one of HERC's Desert Island Discs when it was released in November 2007. All the ingredients were in place from the previous album including secret weapon/fifth member Kirkpatrick and yet, despite universally positive reviews, the two singles released from it did not do as well as those from The Road To Here. The album itself made the Top 10 on the Country Albums chart and cracked the Top 25 on the Top 200. The group did tours with both George Strait and Carrie Underwood and re-joined Martina McBride for the final leg of her tour in 2008.
The album's first single ("I'm With The Band") is another entry in the holy canon of great life on the road songs such as Bob Seger's "Turn The Page", Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead Or Alive", Creedence's "Travellin' Band" and Willie Nelson's "On The Road Again". (The song's soaring vocals are perfect accompaniment for those sundown soaks and swims HERC often enjoys here at the Hideaway.) "I'm With The Band" peaked at #32 on the Country charts.
While Little Big Town sounded unlike any other country act, comparisons were made to the '70s California Sound of both the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac. (Indeed, the band had been performing the Mac track "Go Your Own Way" in concert since their formation.) Possibly their most Fleetwood Mac-sounding song,"Fine Line" was the album's opening track and became the second single when it was released in July 2008. It managed to best "I'm With The Band" by one position, making it up to #31 on the Country charts.
Also in July 2008, Little Big Town appeared on an all-star country tribute album to songs featured in Disney's animated films, Country Sings Disney. The group's offering was "We Go Together" from 2006's The Fox and the Hound 2. The album debuted at its peak of #15 on the Country album charts and peaked in the upper half of the Top 200.
Early in 2008, the group left Equity music and signed with Capitol Nashville. Their new label acquired the album rights to A Place To Land, added four new studio tracks and a live version of the 1985 Dream Academy song, "Life In A Northern Town", performed as an all hands on deck concert encore with Sugarland and Jake Owen in 2007. (Although this track was not officially released as a single, it garnered enough airplay to chart at #28 on the Country charts and #43 on the Hot 100 based on digital downloads from Sugarland's own Deluxe Fan Edition of their album Love On The Inside.)
In September 2008, the premiere episode of True Blood aired on HBO. In what would become a hallmark of the show, a different song is played at the end of each episode, as the credits roll. The song that played over the closing credits on that very first episode was none other than "Bones", from Little Big Town's 2005 album The Road To Here. (The song would later be featured on the first soundtrack album to the series when it was released in May 2009.) The newly enhanced A Place To Land album was released in October 2008 in time for the Holiday gift giving season.. (HERC ponied up and bought the re-issue, actually paying less for it than the previous one. It doesn't get played as much as the first one, though.)
The third and final official single from the album was "Good Lord Willing" which came out just before Christmas 2008, peaking at #43 on the Country charts in early 2009. The band headlined their own tour from January through April in 2009 before recording their fourth album.
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