How Little Big City built 25 years of harmony on an unconventional foundation

The typical chord in a country song has three notes, but the members of Little Big Town approach their material with four voices.

The discrepancy is a source of tension—good tension, to misquote John Lewis—that adds up to 25 years. The group gave its first public performance at the Grand Ole Opry in May 1999, sang the national anthem a day later before an Oscar de la Hoya boxing match in Las Vegas, and received its first concert payday — a $2,000 check after the opening for Dwight Yoakam — four weeks after that.

As Little Big Town celebrates its 25th anniversary with its release on August 9th Greatest Hitsall four of the group's original voices — Jimi Westbrook, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Phillip Sweet — remain in the lineup, in a show of norm-defying unity.

“I think back to when we started and the people who were in town — a lot of them are [still] here, but then there are a lot of people who aren't,” Westbrook reflects. “We know how hard it is to endure this much. But then for a team of four to stay together without any personnel interruptions within the four of us – yes, we know how hard that is. And we are so grateful.”

Little Big Town is celebrating its silver anniversary with several notable businesses. Of the band Greatest Hits The collection will feature three new collaborations: Sugarland joins the group on a cover of Phil Collins' “Take Me Home,” Kelsea Ballerini helps revamp LBT's 2010 track “Shut Up Train,” and Miranda Lambert updates his single 2010. Little White Church.” “He came into the studio and was just smoking it,” Sweet says of Lambert's performance.

Later this anniversary year, LBT embarks on an 18-arena Take Me Home tour with Sugarland, and NBC will present a two-hour celebration special, Little Big Town Christmas at the Oprywith a slate of unknown guests.

Much has changed during LBT's 25-year run. The members were with three different labels. Westbrook and Fairchild married seven years into the band's existence. Schlapman lost her first husband to a heart attack. and adding children to the LBT mix created additional dynamics in navigation.

No matter how the tides of fortune have turned or their personal relationships have changed, the quartet has remained committed to the group. They've done some work outside of LBT, but none of them have released a solo album that sparked the band.

“I think we find real joy in creating together,” says Sweet. “There's something about it that's healing – it brings things that we wouldn't be able to do if we were all independent solos [artists]. I mean, harmony – whatever the word is – is a real thing. We have found harmony within ourselves and when our voices sing together, we feel this joy, we feel this harmony, we feel something greater than ourselves.”

The 25th anniversary and Greatest Hits they simultaneously show what makes Little Big Town's brand bigger than the average career. Most of the songs in Greatest Hits — including 2005's “Boondocks,” 2012's “Pontoon” and 2014's “Girl Crush” — feel more recent than they actually are. LBT's Taylor Swift-penned “Better Man” topped Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in 2017, seven years ago. It's the last top 10 single the band has had, though other, more recent songs — including 2020's RIAA-certified double-platinum party track “Wine, Beer, Whiskey” and 2019's female empowerment hit “The Daughters” — have done their greatest songs. impact by expanding the group's creative turf.

This year's Sugarland dates are a reminder of how Little Big Town connects even when country's most traditional medium of exposure, broadcast radio, isn't particularly receptive. Those two gigs teamed up with Jake Owen for a cover of 2007's “Life in a Northern Town,” a choice that seemed odd at the time: a melancholic post-new wave pop song that contrasted with the heart-throb rockers that was more commonly used as country. covers of that era. “Life in a Northern Town” did not chart, but earned a Grammy nomination and became a cult favorite among LBT fans. It also strengthened the team's creative beliefs.

“It definitely shaped the way we approach making music – following our own creative inspiration instead of trying to chase radio, because that wasn't always available to us,” says Westbrook. “I feel like we've probably always been that band that people have given us opportunities when we've been stretched. So I think a lot of the biggest songs we've had have been moments that weren't necessarily what people would say chasing a trend. We were just following our creative inspiration.”

This inspiration plays unlike any other act in the format, in large part because LBT crams four voices into those three-note chords. On some of the act's most effective tracks – “When Someone Stops Loving You”, “Silver and Gold”, “Leaving” in Your Eyes, “Tumble and Fall” – there are moments when the extra voice is wedged into a note that makes the harmonies thick and choppy with a slight sting of dissonance. Even if these songs are not among the band's greatest hits, they complement the members' creative palette and put them in a distinct sonic space.

“There are tones between tones,” explains Sweet. “There are beautiful things that happen when we create together that I can't explain. There are vibrations and tones and things that happen. You can't explain it. you just have to feel them. [If] goes to No. 58 on the charts, who cares? We loved it.”

These songs, it can be argued, are – along with the requisite hits – key to the group's longevity, keeping the fan base interested in Little Big Town's work even as they keep the members interested in staying together. .

“We're still here, fighting and loving every minute,” Westbrook says. “And I'm grateful that after 25 years it's still happening.”