Little Big Town moves to top of charts
By Bruce R. Miller, Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, October 02, 2008
Little Big Town has been climbing the charts with such hits as "Boondocks." The ascent, however, hasn't been overnight. The group has been together for 10 years. The personnel, from left, Phillip Sweet, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Roads Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook.
For the members of Little Big Town, it all comes down to a gut feeling.
"If our gut all says the same thing, we go with it," says Kimberly Roads Schlapman. "If it doesn't, we take a step back and say, 'Let's see what happens.'"
Case in point? A little song called "Life in a Northern Town." The group wanted to do something with Sugarland and Jake Owen while they were out on the road. One day, Kristian Bush (one-half of Sugarland) suggested a cover of the old Dream Academy song. "Just on a whim, we worked it up one afternoon, practiced it at sound check and did it that night," Schlapman says. "The crowd response was overwhelming." Someone recorded the performance, sent it to Country Music Television and the ball started rolling. The "whim" led to a recording and, now, a nomination for the Country Music Association's Music Event of the Year prize.
"That taught us to go with our gut," Schlapman says.
For 10 years, that gut feeling also has prompted the four (Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet) to keep holding on. While other groups, duos and solo acts got record deals, Little Big Town waited patiently for its turn. "It was hard," Schlapman says. "There were many, many years where we had part-time jobs because our music wasn't paying the bills. We had a lot of struggles, professionally and personally. Now, maybe, all the hard work is finally paying off. Hopefully, it's just our time."
In addition to the event nomination, Little Big Town also is nominated for Vocal Group of the Year, another sign that perseverence pays.
Headliner status? It's in the cards for 2009, a year that could bring the biggest changes of all.
"We'll have much more pressure and, hopefully, we'll be successful," Schlapman says. "We're going to take an opening act and treat them the way they deserve to be treated."
Martina McBride, Sugarland and, now, Carrie Underwood have provided LBT the kind of nurturing wing that has allowed its members to soar.
Other headliners? Well, Schlapman says, "you realize you need to give the opening acts the respect they deserve. Just because they're new doesn't mean they don't need good food to eat, proper time for sound checks or the pay they deserve. You've got to make the environment as comfortable as possible."
Martina, Sugarland and Carrie have, she says. McBride, in fact, showed new mom Kimberly how it's possible to balance parenthood and business. "She always brings the top of her game. You will never hear a bad night when she does a show. Her kids are on the road with her all the time and she only travels weekends during the school year.
"I was pregnant when we were with her and I just soaked everything in."
Now, when Little Big Town is on tour, Schlapman's 1-year-old daughter Daisy is, too.
Schlapman's husband, Stephen, "plays nanny" when she's on stage and helps her make life as normal as possible for their daughter. "Children like routine, so we try to make every day as normal as possible. Kids are so resilient and she does great."
Sweet also has a new daughter who travels with the group. "They have given us a different perspective," Schlapman says of the two girls, who are five months apart. "We live with their innocence. They show us a whole new level of love I could not have imagined. It's just awesome."
Daisy was born while Little Big Town was on the road.
"We had two more weeks of tour left with Martina. Everybody was saying we were going to be home a week before she was due." After a show in Arizona, however, "I felt really tired after the show. I went to the bus and laid down and in two hours I was in labor."
Determined to keep up their end of the bargain (another one of those "gut feelings"), the other three went on to Las Vegas and finished the tour without Schlapman. "A bus came and got us and we drove home four days later."
That "show must go on" philosophy? It has always been a part of Little Big Town's constitution.
"One thing about being a band, you get to share the good and the bad," Schlapman says. "I wouldn't trade what we've got for anything. I don't want to have to make decisions on my own."
The journey? "It's been very rough," Schlapman admits. "We were very, very low. We never thought of quitting. But we wondered if anyone would ever hear our music. We were turned down by everybody in town. It was dark at times. We went through some personal tragedies that made it even darker."
Schlapman's first husband (Steven Roads, who died of a heart attack in 2005), however, always told her and her partners to "put your head down, barrel through and pump your arms."
"If you begin to question if it's time to give it up, then it's time to think about it," she says. "Otherwise, if you have the heart and the willpower and the stamina to keep going, surround yourself with people who take care of you and tell you the truth. You have to grow a little bit of a harder shell. It takes that."
And watching some artists become big stars overnight? "It's hard," Schlapman says. "We've put so much into this...we've worked hard. But if it weren't for our journey, we would not be the band we are today. I'm grateful for every moment -- even the low ones -- of the past 10 years. They formed us into the people we are today."
"If our gut all says the same thing, we go with it," says Kimberly Roads Schlapman. "If it doesn't, we take a step back and say, 'Let's see what happens.'"
Case in point? A little song called "Life in a Northern Town." The group wanted to do something with Sugarland and Jake Owen while they were out on the road. One day, Kristian Bush (one-half of Sugarland) suggested a cover of the old Dream Academy song. "Just on a whim, we worked it up one afternoon, practiced it at sound check and did it that night," Schlapman says. "The crowd response was overwhelming." Someone recorded the performance, sent it to Country Music Television and the ball started rolling. The "whim" led to a recording and, now, a nomination for the Country Music Association's Music Event of the Year prize.
"That taught us to go with our gut," Schlapman says.
For 10 years, that gut feeling also has prompted the four (Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet) to keep holding on. While other groups, duos and solo acts got record deals, Little Big Town waited patiently for its turn. "It was hard," Schlapman says. "There were many, many years where we had part-time jobs because our music wasn't paying the bills. We had a lot of struggles, professionally and personally. Now, maybe, all the hard work is finally paying off. Hopefully, it's just our time."
In addition to the event nomination, Little Big Town also is nominated for Vocal Group of the Year, another sign that perseverence pays.
Headliner status? It's in the cards for 2009, a year that could bring the biggest changes of all.
"We'll have much more pressure and, hopefully, we'll be successful," Schlapman says. "We're going to take an opening act and treat them the way they deserve to be treated."
Martina McBride, Sugarland and, now, Carrie Underwood have provided LBT the kind of nurturing wing that has allowed its members to soar.
Other headliners? Well, Schlapman says, "you realize you need to give the opening acts the respect they deserve. Just because they're new doesn't mean they don't need good food to eat, proper time for sound checks or the pay they deserve. You've got to make the environment as comfortable as possible."
Martina, Sugarland and Carrie have, she says. McBride, in fact, showed new mom Kimberly how it's possible to balance parenthood and business. "She always brings the top of her game. You will never hear a bad night when she does a show. Her kids are on the road with her all the time and she only travels weekends during the school year.
"I was pregnant when we were with her and I just soaked everything in."
Now, when Little Big Town is on tour, Schlapman's 1-year-old daughter Daisy is, too.
Schlapman's husband, Stephen, "plays nanny" when she's on stage and helps her make life as normal as possible for their daughter. "Children like routine, so we try to make every day as normal as possible. Kids are so resilient and she does great."
Sweet also has a new daughter who travels with the group. "They have given us a different perspective," Schlapman says of the two girls, who are five months apart. "We live with their innocence. They show us a whole new level of love I could not have imagined. It's just awesome."
Daisy was born while Little Big Town was on the road.
"We had two more weeks of tour left with Martina. Everybody was saying we were going to be home a week before she was due." After a show in Arizona, however, "I felt really tired after the show. I went to the bus and laid down and in two hours I was in labor."
Determined to keep up their end of the bargain (another one of those "gut feelings"), the other three went on to Las Vegas and finished the tour without Schlapman. "A bus came and got us and we drove home four days later."
That "show must go on" philosophy? It has always been a part of Little Big Town's constitution.
"One thing about being a band, you get to share the good and the bad," Schlapman says. "I wouldn't trade what we've got for anything. I don't want to have to make decisions on my own."
The journey? "It's been very rough," Schlapman admits. "We were very, very low. We never thought of quitting. But we wondered if anyone would ever hear our music. We were turned down by everybody in town. It was dark at times. We went through some personal tragedies that made it even darker."
Schlapman's first husband (Steven Roads, who died of a heart attack in 2005), however, always told her and her partners to "put your head down, barrel through and pump your arms."
"If you begin to question if it's time to give it up, then it's time to think about it," she says. "Otherwise, if you have the heart and the willpower and the stamina to keep going, surround yourself with people who take care of you and tell you the truth. You have to grow a little bit of a harder shell. It takes that."
And watching some artists become big stars overnight? "It's hard," Schlapman says. "We've put so much into this...we've worked hard. But if it weren't for our journey, we would not be the band we are today. I'm grateful for every moment -- even the low ones -- of the past 10 years. They formed us into the people we are today."
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