Little Big Town’s prestige gig
Band’s momentum is growing with first-ever Ryman Auditorium residency
NASHVILLE Little Big Town marks a return to their roots with the album The Breaker and its No. 1 first single Better Man, written by Taylor Swift.
The four-piece Grammy-winning country group is also celebrating an addition to the family — singer Kimberly Schlapman recently announced that she has adopted a daughter, Dolly Grace.
Singer Phillip Sweet said the timing of these milestone events has given him pause. “It’s almost like this moment is marked by this beautiful little life that has come into our world,” he said. “And it’s so precious and special and I think it makes us truly stop and enjoy that moment in our real lives.”
Sweet and Schlapman, along with husband-and-wife Jimi Westbrook and Karen Fairchild, make up the vocal band that hit a career high in 2015 with the multiplatinum hit Girl Crush, which earned accolades at the 2016 Grammys. They also experimented outside the genre with a pop record Wanderlust produced by Pharrell Williams in 2016.
In a departure from previous records, the band members only had a hand in writing three songs on the album. Don’t Die Young, Don’t Grow Old, co-written by Fairchild and Schlapman with Girl Crush writers Hillary Lindsey, Lori McKenna and Liz Rose after Westbrook’s sister Joyce died in 2015 due to cancer, has a poignant message for the band.
The group has a tradition on release week to play their entire album beginning to end. Their kickoff show in Nashville, representing the first-ever residency in the history of the Ryman Auditorium, a 125-year-old venue that helped popularize country music, will be the first of at least nine dates they have booked there throughout the year, with more dates likely to be added.
Built in 1892 as the Union Gospel Tabernacle, the building has become synonymous with country and bluegrass and served as the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. Musical icons from Elvis Presley, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, The Carter Family, Patsy Cline, Earl Scruggs and Bill Monroe have all graced its stage over the past 125 years.
Sally Williams, general manager of the Ryman and vice-president of concerts and entertainment at Opry Entertainment Group, said the Ryman wanted the first residency to reflect the diversity of musicians who have performed there.
Swift, who has said she’s not touring in 2017, performed Better Man during a special performance in Houston as part of the pre-Super Bowl festivities, but Sweet said the band is ready if the pop star ever wants to perform the song with them.
“I mean, come on, Taylor,” Sweet said. “We would love to do it. If she’s up for it, we’re up for it.”