Little Big Town has reached yet another career milestone. The quartet, made up of Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook, is the subject of a new exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Little Big Town: The Power of Four.
“I love the power of four because that’s all this, four people who believed that we had something to share together,” an emotional Westbrook said at a ceremony celebrating the exhibit’s opening. “We had kindred spirits and it’s the greatest journey I could’ve ever hoped for,” he said emotionally. “And the ups and downs, that’s what makes it all beautiful.”
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It was Schlapman and Fairchild, college friends, who first had the idea of combining their talents. Westbrook joined next, and Sweet became the fourth and final member. A couple failed record deals, the loss of Schlapman’s first husband to a heart attack, and more than a decade without a No. 1 hit (which finally came with “Pontoon” in 2012), are just part of the struggles that ultimately made Little Big Town stronger than ever.
“We are just four people that believed they had something unique to share,” Fairchild said. “[We have] a great love for music and each other and family, and we’ve got that incredible foundation of family that gives us the courage to think that we can conquer anything in our lives.”
Their success, including six CMA Awards, three GRAMMYs, multi-platinum hits and chart-topping albums, is still hard for the band members to fully comprehend.
“I think sometimes we still see ourselves as that band that’s at the beginning of the line, those scrappers who had no money and interesting clothing,” Sweet said.
“We still look at each other on stage every night when we strike a chord and that sound, it almost creates a fifth note. We look at each other and are just blown away by that gift because that’s so special,” Sweet added. “That energy of music and the love that it can create is what keeps us changing and growing and excited.”
Little Big Town: The Power of Four includes Westbrook’s Fender DG-60 and Sweet’s Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus, Fairchild’s dress worn in her wedding to Westbrook, instruments used during the underwater scenes for the “Pain Killer” video, childhood memorabilia, and more.
Little Big Town: The Power of Four will remain open through June 9, 2019. The foursome will spend the summer on the road, co-headlining The Bandwagon Tour with Miranda Lambert. Find dates at LittleBigTown.com.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Jason Kempin
