Little Big Town
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| Little Big Town | |
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 Little Big Town performing live on February 28, 2008.
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| Background information | |
| Origin | United States |
| Genre(s) | Country |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Label(s) | Mercury Nashville Monument Equity Capitol Nashville |
| Associated acts | Clint Black Jake Owen Sugarland |
| Website | http://www.littlebigtown.com |
| Members | |
| Karen Fairchild Kimberly Roads Schlapman Phillip Sweet Jimi Westbrook |
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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 is known for its prominent use of vocal harmonies, with all four members alternating as lead singers.[1]
After a failed deal with the Mercury Nashville Records label, Little Big Town released its 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; it produced consecutive Top Ten singles in "Boondocks" and "Bring It On Home". A Place to Land is the title of their third album, released in 2007.
To date, Little Big Town has charted nine 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); this latter song charted from unsolicited airplay. The Road to Here received platinum certification in the United States, while its lead-off single "Boondocks" received a digital gold certification.
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[edit] Musical career
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.[3]
[edit] Personal lives
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Please help improve this section by expanding it with: more referenced info on their personal lives, but keep it reasonable. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
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]
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]
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Chart Postions | RIAA | Label | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | US 200 | US Indie | ||||
| 2002 | Little Big Town | 40 | Monument | |||
| 2005 | The Road to Here | 12 | 51 | 1 | Platinum | Equity |
| 2007 | A Place to Land | 10 | 24 | 3 | ||
[edit] 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"C | ||||||
[edit] Other charted songs
| Year | Single | US Country | CAN Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | "Go Tell It on the Mountain" | 35 | single only | |
| 2008 | "Life in a Northern Town" (w/ Sugarland and Jake Owen)B | 28 | 35 | Love on the Inside (Sugarland album) |
- A "Boondocks" was certified Gold by the RIAA.
- B Current single.
- C To be released.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Ruhlmann, William. Little Big Town biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e Mansfield, Brian (2006-10-22). Success no longer on Town's outskirts. USA Today. Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ Little Big Town Signs With Capitol Nashville
- ^ Little Big Town Members Announce Marriage. Great American Country (2006-07-11). Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ Little Big Town's Kimberly Roads Weds. Great American Country (2006-12-7). Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ It's a Girl for LBT's Kimberly Roads!. Great American Country (2007-07-30). Retrieved on 2007-12-16.
- ^ Little Big Town's Phillip & Rebecca Sweet Have a Daughter - Little Big Town, Babies : People.com
