Little Big Town

The American country band Little Big Town was formed in 1999 and has four members: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Roads, Jimi Westbrook and Phillip Sweet. It all kicked off when the two female members, Kimberly and Karen, began singing together at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1994, Fairchild moved to Nashville to work in Music Row for a booking agent. A year after Karen’s departure, Roads moved too. After reuniting they started to sing together again but they added a friend of Fairchild’s, Jimi Wastbrook, who also accompanied them with the guitar. Through one of Fairchild's co-writers, they met another singer-guitarist, Phillip Sweet, who solidified the quartet in 1998. The band ended up featuring no lead singer but instead, they traded lead vocal duties as well as relied on the harmonies of the four members. The CCA booking agency supported the quartet and was able to help them get a contract with Mercury Records.

In 1999, Little Big Town made their first public appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. Even though the group was able to land some publishing deals, their deal with the Mercury label was cancelled. Some time after, they signed to Sony’s Monument Records and in 2002 they released their debut album. The self-titled album was highly criticized having no commercial success and was able to land just a minor hit ("Don't Waste My Time"). It wasn’t long before the label dropped the group leaving them without a record contract again.

The group’s resurgence came when Little Big Town signed with Equity Music Group label (co-owned by country singer Clint Black). Enduring a series of professional and personal setbacks that would have destroyed most bands, on October 2005, Little Big Town released their second album, The Road Here. This time, their album was most welcomed critically and even spawned the hit single “Broondocks” (Top Ten single in the Billboard Hot Country charts).