Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town have been announced as the 2015 Women in Music City Awards Artists of the Year.

The Women in Music City Awards are given out in recognition of women who are influential in the Nashville music scene. Fairchild and Schlapman will be honored and give the keynote address at the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 24 at the Omni Nashville Hotel.

“Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman represent what makes Nashville great," says Nashville Mayor Karl Dean (quote via the Nashville Business Journal). "They’re musicians. They’re artists. And they’re entrepreneurs. They consistently make great music with Little Big Town, and now they’re sharing their talents in other fields, too.

"Nashville is lucky to have so many talented, creative women in the music industry, whether they’re writing songs, recording, performing or working behind the scenes," Mayor Dean adds. "This city would not be what it is without them.”

Fairchild and Schlapman, who are joined in Little Big Town by Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook, met at Alabama's Samford University in an a cappella choir. They tried for solo careers in Nashville after they graduated, but then gravitated back together and cooked up the idea for the quartet.

LBT recently released a music video for their song "Pain Killer" and, after canceling many of their 2015 Pain Killer Tour dates to allow Westbrook time to heal after vocal cord surgery, are out on the road through the fall.

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