Little Big Town Discuss ‘Pretty Special’ Grammy Nominations

2018 is shaping up to be a big year for Little Big Town. The group, made up of Phillip Sweet, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook, who are nominated for two GRAMMYs, for Best Country Album for The Breaker and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for “Better Man,” acknowledge that, while both nods are important to them, there’s one that means the most.

“Album’s pretty special,” Fairchild tells PopCulture.com. “It’s pretty special, because you’re talking about all the songs on a record being recognized, and getting all those songs to ebb and flow and tell stories, and the production being right — there’s just so many things that have to come together. I really, really am proud of this record. It’s one of my favorites that we’ve ever made. It’s got a super chill vibe, and of course, [producer] Jay Joyce is amazing.”

“Better Man,” which was written by Taylor Swift, is also nominated for Best Country Song. The quartet reveal they’ve been a fan of Swift since she burst onto the music scene twelve years ago, and remain a fan to this day.

“We met her early on, and we’ve been friends all along,” says Sweet. “We know she’s a great songwriter. She literally just sent an email and said, ‘Hey, I wrote this song and thought you guys’ harmonies would be great on it. Let me know what you think — you’re making a record.’ And we all listened to it, and said, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ And we cut it, and the rest is history now.”

Little Big Town will have plenty of chances this year to play “Better Man” and other songs off The Breaker. The foursome will hit the road on Feb. 8 to headline their own The Breakers Tour, with Midland and Kacey Musgraves serving as their opening acts. They will also co-headline the recently-announced The Bandwagon Tour, along with Miranda Lambert.

“We just announced today The Bandwagon Tour with Miranda Lambert, that’ll go on this summer,” Sweet says. “So the whole year is just going to be an incredible party, and we’re going to try and not kill our livers.”

A list of all of Little Big Town’s upcoming shows is available on their website. Download “Better Man” on iTunes.

The 60th annual GRAMMY Awards will air live on Sunday, Jan. 28 from 7:30 to 11:00 PM on CBS.

Photo Credit: Instagram/LittleBigTown