Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its inception: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Roads Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet. The quartet's musical style relies heavily on four-part vocal harmonies, with all four members alternating as lead singers.[1]
After a short-lived deal with the Mercury Nashville Records label, Little Big Town released their first album, also titled Little Big Town, on Monument Records in 2002. By 2005, the group had been signed to Equity Music Group, an independent record label owned by country music artist Clint Black. Their second album, The Road to Here, was released that year. Certified platinum in the U.S., it produced consecutive Top Ten singles on the country charts in "Boondocks" and "Bring It on Home". A Place to Land is the title of their third album, released in 2007. This album's first single, "I'm with the Band", was a Top 40 hit on the country charts. Shortly after its release, the group was transferred to Capitol Records Nashville, which acquired the rights to A Place to Land.
To date, Little Big Town has charted ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. This figure includes a Christmas single which was made available only as a download, and a cover of "Life in a Northern Town" (which features Sugarland and Jake Owen).
Musical career
Early years
In 1987, while attending Samford University in the state of Alabama, singers Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild met; eventually, the two moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they reunited and began singing together.[2] Jimi Westbrook, a friend of Fairchild's husband, joined Roads and Fairchild in 1998.[1] The three singers began performing as a trio, eventually rehearsing with Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney, both of whom would eventually become members of the country pop group Rascal Flatts.[2] By 1999, Phillip Sweet was added as the fourth member of the group, which by then had chosen the name Little Big Town.
Little Big Town
Little Big Town's first record deal was with Mercury Nashville Records; however, no singles or albums were released on that label, due to creative disputes.[1][2] By 2002, Little Big Town was signed to Monument Records. Their first album, also named Little Big Town, was released that year. It produced the singles "Don't Waste My Time" and "Everything Changes", which respectively peaked at #33 and #42 on the Billboard country charts.
Westbrook's father passed away in 2002, just after the group's first album was released. Fairchild and Sweet both divorced shortly afterward, and the group was dropped from Monument's roster. The four members all took up day jobs to earn additional money, although they continued to tour as well.[2]
The Road to Here
In 2005, Little Big Town was signed to Equity Music Group, a label started and partially owned by country music singer Clint Black.[2] Their third single was released on Equity in May of that year; entitled "Boondocks", the song slowly climbed the country music charts, where it reached a peak of #9. "Boondocks" served as the first of four singles the group's second album, The Road to Here, which was released in the United States on October 4, 2005.
"Bring It On Home", the second single from The Road to Here, became Little Big Town's first Top 5 hit on the country charts in 2006. It was followed by "Good as Gone" and "A Little More You", both of which entered Top 20. By the end of 2006, The Road to Here had been certified platinum for selling more than one million copies in the United States.
A Place to Land
A Place to Land is the title of Little Big Town's third studio album, released in the United States on November 6, 2007. Its lead-off single, "I'm with the Band", peaked at #32 on the country charts. On April 23, 2008, Little Big Town announced it was leaving Equity for Capitol Nashville; Capitol will also release a second single from A Place to Land, called "Fine Line".[3]
Personal lives
Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook secretly married on May 31, 2006, although their marriage was not revealed until two months later.[4]
Kimberly Roads was married to Stephen Schlapman on November 28, 2006;[5] she gave birth to a baby girl, Daisy Pearl Schlapman, on July 27, 2007. [6] She now goes by her husband's last name, Schlapman[1] Schlapman was previously married to Steven Roads, who died from a heart attack in 2005. He was also the band's lawyer.[2]
Phillip Sweet married Rebbeca Arthur, a business owner and wardrobe stylist, on 30 March 2007. Arthur gave birth to daughter Penelopi Jane on December 27, 2007 at 5:47 p.m. at the Baptist Hospital in Nashville.[7]
Discography
Albums
Singles
| Year |
Single |
Chart Positions |
Album |
| US Country |
US Hot 100 |
US Pop 100 |
US Digital |
CAN Country |
| 2002 |
"Don't Waste My Time" |
33 |
|
|
|
|
Little Big Town |
| "Everything Changes" |
42 |
|
|
|
|
| 2005 |
"Boondocks"A |
9 |
46 |
59 |
56 |
15 |
The Road to Here |
| 2006 |
"Bring It on Home" |
4 |
58 |
|
|
13 |
| "Good as Gone" |
18 |
|
|
|
48 |
| 2007 |
"A Little More You" |
20 |
101 |
|
|
|
| "I'm With the Band" |
32 |
|
|
|
|
A Place to Land |
| 2008 |
"Fine Line"B |
51 |
|
|
|
|
Other charted songs
- A "Boondocks" was certified Gold by the RIAA.
- B Current single(s).
References
External links
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