The summer of 2005. The first time I ever heard Little Big Town. It was during CMA Fest or whatever it was called then and we were sitting pretty far from the stage and off to the stage so we really couldn't see them all that well. It was a few months before they would release The Road to Here. Little did I know that this group was going to end up making a huge impact on me. I had no idea how many roads I would drive on, how many Little Big Town miles I would tack onto my car over the next few years. Thousands. It has to be in the thousands. I've seen many acts more than once, but none anywhere near as much as I've seen them. I didn't know back then that I would end up meeting them time and time again and how much those meetings would mean to me. How much these four people would mean to me. Little did I know how frustrated I'd end up getting, wondering why they weren't more popular than they were then.
Things have changed a bit. I've watched these guys and gals go from playing clubs and fairs to headlining arenas and winning awards. Their popularity has sky-rocketed. Took everyone long enough. I'm just saying. Their music has changed over the years; they've pushed themselves in directions I never would've guessed they'd go. One of my biggest hopes is that the people who have become fans in the
past couple of years either already have or will go back and check out their earlier albums. It is that hope paired with my love for these four people that fueled my decision to make them my next featured artist in this series. You can bet your bottom dollar that they will be featured again. As was the case with Chris Young, it was so hard narrowing it down to just five, but I did it. So without further preamble, let's talk about some of my favorite LBT album cuts.
"Evangeline" This was included on what I still believe is the best album they've ever put out, A Place to Land. I consider this to be one of their forgotten albums since it didn't get anywhere close to the attention and support that it deserved. It is a musical masterpiece. This is not a happy tune; in fact, it's quite the opposite. It's a story about a girl named Evangeline who is in an emotionally abusive relationship. Now generally when people sing about abuse, it's more about physical abuse. That's one of the reasons why this song is so important. Abuse is abuse and it's something that needs to be addressed. It's something that needs to be talked about which is why I was so disappointed when it didn't become a single. I can understand why it didn't. First, A Place to Land as a whole kind of got lost in the shuffle when they changed record labels. And second, radio would rather play upbeat or romantic songs. I find this unfortunate because I know there are a lot of Evangeline's out there who need to hear this song. "It ain't love if it's mean, Evangeline". No. No, it is not. Plus from a musical standpoint, it's aurally stunning. Kimberly sings lead and her voice is hauntingly beautiful in this. This has to be one of the best songs to highlight just how incredible their harmonies are. That last minute or so is everything.
We move from a song about emotional abuse to one about love. Actual, real love. "To Know Love" is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Jimi takes lead on this one and what a fine job he does with it too. He's good like that. If you are in need of a song to dance to at your wedding or know someone who is, this would be a great one. I mean: "'Cause to know you is to know love/ And to know love is to know enough/ To walk with you through this life/ From now on 'til the day I die/ 'Cause what better way is there to live than to live with you". Gorgeous song, one that can also be found on my beloved A Place to Land. I've listened to a lot of their songs live over the years, but they never did this one at any of the shows I went to and that makes me sad because I just know it'd be even prettier live. Alas, it was not meant to be. But I love that this song exists. Songwriters, take note. More songs like this; less songs about hooking up, k?
I think we need to liven things up a bit here and I'm going to do that by taking you back to The Road to Here with "Welcome to the Family". A song about a couple of brothers welcoming their new brother-in-law into their family, who might just be a bit insane and scary. Basically if this guy ends up hurting their baby sister, he's going to be in a lot of trouble. To say the least. This used to be a staple of their shows and it made me so sad when they stopped doing it. One of my favorite LBT concert memories is randomly hearing them do this live after not having done it for a while. This was at a club show and we were right up to the stage and we basically flipped out like the suave, mature adults we were. Ahem. Total over the top excitement going on there and it caught Jimi's attention and made him laugh. Good times, good times. I know there's people out there who can relate. In any event, this song was so much fun to see live. It would have made for a fantastic video and one of my favorite things about it is that Jimi and Phillip share the lead. Jimi taking the first verse, Phillip taking the second and Jimi taking the bridge. This song never fails to put me in a good mood.
Next stop? Switching over to The Reason Why and "Runaway Train". Another song featuring Jimi on lead. I really didn't set out to turn this into a Jimi Westbrook love fest, but here we are. This is one of those songs that's just electric when performed live. It just cooks from beginning to end. It's also the kind of song that begs for a video. The storyline is all laid out for you and it would have been so much fun to watch it play out onscreen. I believe it would have done well for them, as well.
Staying with The Reason Why as we come to out end. This last song very well might be my favorite Little Big Town song of all time, which is saying something. "Lean Into It" is all about how hard life can get sometimes and how overwhelming it can be. Sometimes we go through things that we don't know how we're going to get over. Sometimes we don't know how we're going to move on. In those times, there's really one thing that you can do: lean into it. Know that everything will ultimately be okay, that the storm won't last forever and that somehow, someway, things will work out. That it will be better someday. Little Big Town has always been great at deciding just who needs to deliver what vocal. Phillip takes lead on this one and he was the perfect choice. I love all four of their voices, but I'm not going to lie: Phillip's has always been my favorite. It's so soulful and filled with such warmth that you can't help but believe what he's singing. You can't help but feel it. And then when it builds to both musical and emotional peak, holy smokes. Jimi kind of separates from the others and it takes it to another level. This is musical magic right here. This is my Little Big Town. I love it.
That'll do it for this one. Expect much more of this series. I don't know what order they'll be coming in, but you can expect to see installments featuring people like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Kellie Pickler, Jake Owen and more. What are some of your favorite album cuts? Any particular artist you want to see featured? Let me know! You can leave me a comment or tweet me @countrymusicatk and I'll add them to the list. I'm also going to be reviewing/talking about Rachel Potter's new album Not So Black and White. Spoiler alert: it's quite good! Very strong album and one that I'm betting a lot of you would enjoy. That girl has got some serious pipes, lemme tell ya. In addition, for something a little different, I'm going to be using my slightly insane love for VoicePlay's Aca Top Ten Broadway countdown as a way to try and explain my love for musicals. That should be a fun one.
Thanks for reading!
Comments
Post a Comment