Little Big Town Goes Big on Christmas With Prime-Time Holiday Special and Album to Close Out Group’s 25th Anniversary Year

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As a music enthusiast with a keen eye for talent, it’s been awe-inspiring to witness Little Big Town’s journey over the past 25 years. The group has consistently demonstrated a unique blend of musicality, camaraderie, and humility that sets them apart in the industry.

Little Big Town, being a vocal quartet, often prefers to carry out tasks in groups of four. To mark their 25th anniversary, they decided to go all out with four significant celebrations: a nationwide tour alongside Sugarland, a compilation album featuring their best songs, a holiday record, and their first two-hour prime-time special on NBC titled “Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry.” These choices seem fitting as they celebrate one-fourth of a century together.

To add a finishing touch, members Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook get to enjoy this achievement, with many acknowledging they haven’t changed much from their initial appearance and sound since the end of the 1990s. Their secret? According to Westbrook, it’s “Smoke and mirrors.” He humorously suggested they use cryogenic chambers each night after the show, but in reality, he doesn’t know. What they do is continue to struggle and strive, and most importantly, they are having fun. It seems that a family who works together to create intricate four-part harmonies stays united.

One factor contributing to their longevity is minimal competition within their genre. Unlike others, they aren’t vying for the same chart positions or struggling with rivals encroaching on their unique harmony-based style without a prominent lead vocalist. While Fairchild does take more lead vocals than the rest, it’s not as if they’ve been under constant pressure to launch solo careers. Instead, fans appreciate that the group’s success relies on the combined efforts of all four members, making them the harmonious village known as ‘Town’.

Fairchild remarks, “Individuals, or rather gatekeepers, often insist on categorizing things with a single voice or style.” He continues, “I’m grateful that groups like the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and the Eagles didn’t adhere to this narrow approach. Can you imagine not having George Harrison’s voice? Those were the times when there was less pressure on individuals to conform, and I take pride in our ability to maintain that freedom.

Westbrook explains that in our earlier days, being different from others may have hindered some of our success. People suggested we should choose a single lead vocalist, but we argued that our harmony served as our lead singer instead.

For over a decade now, Sandbox Entertainment’s Jason Owen has been my manager, and he doesn’t hesitate to draw comparisons with Fleetwood Mac. On several occasions during our career, we’ve covered their iconic slow-rock number, “The Chain,” but it was Jason who persuaded us to incorporate this piece as a regular element in our tour this year. As he puts it, “There’s a similarity because you have Karen and Jimi, who are married, creating a balance that mirrors Fleetwood Mac’s relationship dynamics, even though they didn’t experience the same turbulence as Buckingham & Nicks or the two McVies.” He also suggests that our sound aligns more with The Eagles, leaning towards their genre more than country acts like Alabama and some of the older country groups.

Currently, the band has made it to Boston for a major performance following a rather turbulent bus journey. This isn’t their first encounter with potholes – they’ve faced a few career-wise in their early days. As Fairchild puts it, “The path hasn’t been smooth, that much is clear. It’s more like navigating the Rockies.

In 2005, their double-platinum country song “Boondocks” marked their arrival on the music scene, but their first four albums were distributed by three different record labels, indicating a lack of stability. However, things changed in 2011 when Owen took over their management, a year after establishing Sandbox. He also brought in producer Jay Joyce to introduce some changes in their sound. This led to their first No. 1 hit, the quintuple-platinum “Pontoon,” the following year. Other No. 1 hits like “Girl Crush” and “Better Man,” co-written by Taylor Swift, further solidified the need for a “Greatest Hits” compilation well before their 25th anniversary.

For approximately a quarter of a century now, they’ve held the top spot on the most popular act in the industry chart (though this isn’t an official title). Westbrook remarks, “There are highs and lows in this line of work, and initially, we faced more downs than ups. However, we quickly understood that if we wanted to stay in this business for a long time, we needed to treat others with respect. I believe we were all brought up with these values, to be considerate and kind to people, and it’s something that resonates with us and those who travel with us. It’s simply part of our nature, as well as the nature of our families, and it’s rewarding to hear that people appreciate this aspect of us. We genuinely care for people.

Little Big Town has often been connected with Christmas, not just due to holiday releases, but mainly because they’ve taken part in and even hosted “CMA Christmas” specials previously. It’s also become a personal tradition for them. As Owen puts it, “For 15 years, they’ve held a charity event at Blackberry Farm every December that raises money for education in Tennessee. We don’t do anything else after that, not even for New Year’s Eve. Instead, we spend four or five days celebrating and reminiscing together. During those years, I’d always get emotional listening to their Christmas songs and the way they perform them, and I’d think, ‘We absolutely need to make a Christmas album!’ Now, we’ve finally done it, and at a time when we felt we could do it justice. So, I sold the NBC special to provide that platform, and the feel is reminiscent of the 70s Johnny-and-June style.

The NBC special, which was shot at the Grand Ole Opry, boasts a star-studded lineup with Josh Groban, Sheryl Crow, Kelsea Ballerini, and Kate Hudson. Fairchild remarks, “It really brings to mind those classic variety shows, like the ones from Barbara Mandrell’s era or Sonny and Cher, or even Johnny Cash’s – it evoked that same feeling, combined with the holiday ambiance.

In late 2023, the Christmas album titled “Glow” was produced by Dave Cobb in Savannah. Schlapman explains, “We traveled to Savannah, Georgia to record this album at his studio.” Upon arrival, they found the entire studio adorned for Christmas with Santa hats and twinkling lights everywhere, even amidst the swaying palm trees outside. This was an unusual experience for them as they had only made records in their usual location, except for the one produced by Pharrell Williams in L.A. However, stepping away from their daily routine and into a dedicated music-making space was delightful. They thoroughly enjoyed it, and they found Dave Cobb to be incredibly talented.

Among the tracks featured is a cover of Merle Haggard’s melancholic “If We Make It Through December,” which Cobb firmly requested to include. “It’s truly one of our favorite things we’ve done in a while,” expresses Fairchild. “In its original form from Merle, it might have seemed a little out of reach for us on a Christmas album, but Dave suggested, ‘What if you wrote that yourselves?’ So, we sat down and came up with melodies and phrasing that are quite distinct from Merle’s. I hope Merle isn’t displeased in his grave. I hope he’s looking down from heaven, appreciating what we’ve done and thinking, ‘That’s kinda cool, those kids.’

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2024-12-16 22:16