Little Big Town

Just a big hillbilly gypsy family

If you’ve travelled to America in the past ten years or so you can’t help but notice that mainstream country radio stations have been jammed with lots of can’t-tell-’em-aparts. There’ll be a fellow singing in a vaguely Merle Haggard-like voice, followed by a woman giving it the Linda Ronstadt treatment, followed by another fellow singing in a vaguely Merle Haggard-like voice, followed by … well, by now you get the picture. It’s the same when a package arrives at Maverick Towers with a new CD from one of the Nashville-based majors, and all too often from one of the myriad of small indie labels mushrooming all over Music City.
When someone arrives with a different sound, that sound is typically not featured in heavy rotation on America’s country radio stations. So that’s the bad news. But here’s the good news: relatively new four-piece Little Big Town have somehow made it past the gatekeepers and become a commercial force Stateside despite recording really good songs with really different sounds. They are also one of the few modern country acts to break into the BBC Radio 2 playlist. They did it earlier this year with the catchy Fine Line off their third album, A NEW PLACE TO LAND.
This talented outfit comprising Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Roads and Jimi Westbrook have encountered a hard ride to where they are today. Though I referred to Little Big Town as being ‘new’ the four members got together almost a dozen years ago and have maintained the same line-up through thick and thin. Recently I got to talk to all four about their up-and-down-and-up career and the possibility of playing in the UK. They were very enthusiastic about pursuing a following for their music this side of the Atlantic and delighted they were making inroads on the radio with Fine Line.
“We’re thrilled,” Karen says. “We have always believed in this song and thought you guys might like it, but that was kind of a prayer and a wish. We are thrilled you guys like it and that we have the opportunity to share our music.”
“Maybe this will give us the opportunity to come over and visit,” adds Jimi. “It’s always been something that we’ve wanted to do and in coming to Capitol [Records], that was apart of our talks, that they would help us do this. It’s exciting and hopefully we can do that this year sometime. Absolutely!”
Sharing music is uppermost in the Little Big Town masterplan. It is their genuine love of music that has enabled them to keep on the road to international stardom despite being written off by the Nashville suits more than once. For Little Big Town, it’s been eleven years of career highs and lows. They debuted on the Grand Ole Opry in 1999, were signed by Mercury Records, but dropped due to musical differences without anything being released. Then came a deal with Monument Records who released their self-titled album in 2002. Then they lost that record deal and had to take ‘regular’ jobs to pay the bills.