Little Big Town in harmony with country, rock

By Ken Tucker

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - The mood is light and upbeat at producer Wayne Kirkpatrick's studio 25 miles south of Nashville, and well it should be.

In this remote location in the midst of the Williamson County farming community, Little Big Town has been busy cultivating an exceptional crop.

Released October 30 via Equity, "A Place to Land" is a collection of fresh but familiar sounds. Does one hear echoes of Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles while listening? Absolutely. But it's clear that this band, which features four lead singers and family-tight harmonies, is blazing its own path.

Little Big Town, a band that sold slightly more than 40,000 copies of its 2002 self-titled debut on Sony Nashville's Monument imprint and failed to make inroads on country radio, surprised many on Music Row when 2005's "The Road to Here," released on then-fledgling independent Equity, became a commercial and critical success. The album has sold 1.13 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and spawned the top 10 Hot Country Songs hits "Boondocks" and "Bring It On Home."

Live performance has always been one of the band's strengths, and it has toured constantly. Currently out with Sugarland and Jake Owen on the CMT tour, Little Big Town has opened for Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Martina McBride, among others. Last year the band toured with John Mellencamp, who asked the members to sing backing vocals on eight songs on his album "Freedom's Road."

"The collaborations we've done in the last year definitely changed us," the band's Karen Fairchild said, citing its CMT "Crossroads" appearance with Lindsey Buckingham and the tour with Mellencamp. "They stretched us, and we want to do more of hat."

Between marriages, pregnancies and touring, Little Big Town didn't have much time to record the new album. The result is "we were a lot more focused," group member Jimi Westbrook said.

The band co-wrote 10 of the album's 12 cuts with Kirkpatrick. Current single "I'm With the Band," which is No. 39 on Hot Country Songs and features Westbrook on lead, is what the title suggests -- a song about the brother- and sisterhood of the road. "Evangeline," a haunting tale of physical abuse, is among the songs that conjure Fleetwood Mac.