{"id":3127,"date":"2011-08-05T18:16:06","date_gmt":"2011-08-06T01:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/little-big-town\/"},"modified":"2011-08-05T18:16:06","modified_gmt":"2011-08-06T01:16:06","slug":"little-big-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/little-big-town\/","title":{"rendered":"LITTLE BIG TOWN"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

LITTLE BIG TOWN<\/h1>\n

There\u2019s a reason why this tenacious country group refuses to go back to the house<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When Little Big Town\u2019s self-titled debut was released in 2002, its poppy, overproduced sound was met by critical scorn and commercial indifference. The band has been on a mission ever since. \u201cThe first record we made was just crucified, so we had something to prove,\u201d says Kimberly Schlapman, who shares vocal duties equally with bandmates Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook. \u201cWe had to show that we were the real thing, that we were an organic band and real musicians and songwriters.\u201d<\/p>\n

That early stumble has fueled the group\u2019s fire ever since, even after its subsequent albums were roundly hailed by critics and audiences alike. \u201cWe\u2019ve never lost that,\u201d says Fairchild. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if we sell a million records or not, we always feel like we have to prove ourselves again and again\u2014which is good. I think it makes for better art. If you quit trying, you should probably go back to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Big Town\u2019s latest album, The Reason Why<\/em>, finds the group continuing the artistic roll it has been on since 2005\u2019s The Road to Here<\/em> brought them to fame. The tone of the recording was dictated in part by the fact that all the members have become parents over the last several years. \u201cHaving new children in your life gives you a sense of youthfulness,\u201d Sweet says. \u201cThat purpose in our lives gave us a newfound boost of energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet domestic tranquility has had little effect on the group\u2019s ongoing attraction to songs about romantic distress. \u201cWe just like sad, lonely songs,\u201d says Fairchild with a laugh. \u201cThat\u2019s what storytelling is about, that\u2019s what country music has always been so good at. They might not be our stories, but they\u2019re stories that need to be told.\u201d The band, which typically writes as a collective along with longtime producer and collaborator Wayne Kirkpatrick, also drew on friends and family for inspiration. \u201cWe want to see what\u2019s going on in people\u2019s lives and in the world, and talk about some of those things, too,\u201d says Westbrook. \u201cThose conversations about things in life are important to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when the album was complete, the members of Little Big Town gave it a title that reflects their constant motivation throughout the group\u2019s 12-year history. \u201cThat title says so much,\u201d Schlapman observes. \u201cIt speaks to our philosophy in this career that we\u2019ve had together. The music is the reason why.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Chris Neal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LITTLE BIG TOWN There\u2019s a reason why this tenacious country group refuses to go back to the house When Little Big Town\u2019s self-titled debut was released in 2002, its poppy, overproduced sound was met by critical scorn and commercial indifference. The band has been on a mission ever since. \u201cThe first record we made was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2300,1062,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3127"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3128,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3127\/revisions\/3128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}