KELSEYVILLE ? Here”s a lil” down South band with big sound. Little Big Town will perform at Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa Friday night in the Joe Mazzola Indoor Showroom.
The band Little Big Town is an American country music group founded about 10 years ago. An amazing cover of “Life in a Northern Town” performed with Sugarland and Jake Owen exemplifies the weaving of voices that create perfect melody.
The group is comprised of four members: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweet.
Stylistically the sound is heavily involved in four-part vocal harmonies. All band members alternate as lead singers.
“We write our own music. We”re like a family. The two girls met in college. We”ve all been through a lot of ups and downs as a band. We love making music. If you don”t enjoy what you”re doing, you won”t last long in this business,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook and Fairchild are really close, as a matter of fact, they”re married.
Recently Westbrook received some sage advice from another musician who knows a thing or two about marriages inside of rock ?n” roll bands.
“Lindsey Buckingham (Of Fleetwood Mac) told me that there shouldn”t be more than one marriage in a band,” Westbrook said. “And that guy knows what he”s talkin” about!”
The band”s name came from an old publishing company. They were all together and were looking at some albums and on the back of one it said “Little Big Town Publishing.” They liked the name so they called the publishing company. The owner was selling it and said the name was available for them to use. They went through the legal process and became “Little Big Town.”
John Mellencamp is a big fan of the band too. Fairchild was asked to sing vocals on four tracks of Mellencamp”s latest record, “Life, Death, Love and Freedom.” She is also on Mellencamp”s video “My Sweet Love.”
“We developed a great relationship with him,” Westbrook said. “He”s an unbelievably creative person, he paints, he”s inspiring to all of us. I mean he”s in the Rock ?n” Roll Hall of Fame, what more could you say?”
Little Big Town has also toured with George Strait, Keith Urban, Martina McBride, Sugarland, Alan Jackson and the Zac Brown Band, to name a few.
Aside from the music, the members of Little Big Town, have big hearts, as they host the ?Ride for a Cure” event in Nashville on June 14 with all proceeds going to the TJ Martell Foundation.
“We support organizations that do research on Cancer and AIDS. We know if we keep giving them money, they”ll find a cure. We want to make a difference,” Westbrook said.
As most musicians experience, this band came from humble beginnings too, barely making enough gas money to put into the small van that they drove to the next town to perform.
“We don”t ever take it for granted,” Westbrook said. “Those were the times that made our bond stronger as a band. We”ve built a bond that can”t be broken.”
Moving into other mediums, Little Big Town”s song “Bones” is featured on the HBO series “True Blood.”
Check this band out at www.littlebigtown.com, or www.myspace.com/littlebigtown. For information or tickets for the show call 800-660-LAKE or 279-4281 or visit www.konoctiharbor.com. Konocti Harbor Resort & Spa is located at 8727 Soda Bay Road in Kelseyville.
Mandy Feder can be reached at mandyfeder@yahoo.com or call her directly at 263-5636 ext.32.
