Little Big Town Have Big ‘Reason’ to Celebrate

With the August 24 release of 'The Reason Why,' Little Big Town will present their first album of new music since 2007's 'A Place to Land.' Band members Kimberly Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, Karen Fairchild and Philip Sweet celebrated next week's release with a party in a trendy neighborhood north of downtown Nashville Tuesday night. The gathering was held at a two-story, turn-of-the-century restored house that now is home to the band's management company.

The fete could have been dampened by the rain, but a few margaritas and tasty Mexican food quickly put party-goers in good spirits, as did the new music from the CD playing in the background. The first single from the disc, 'Little White Church,' has done well for the group, becoming their fastest-rising single to date. A second single should be announced within the next few days.

This album took a little longer to write and record than previous projects. Group members say they wanted to take time in recording this project to ensure that they made the album they wanted to make.

Karen tells The Boot that the album has been well received by those who have had the opportunity for an early listen. Starting last month, Little Big Town released a song a week on iTunes so fans could have a preview. "Sometimes it did seem that it was taking a very long time to finish," Karen admits. "but in the end it was well worth it."

Kimberly adds that the extra time they spent in writing and recording the album gave them the quality product that they had hoped for. Group members co-produced the disc with long-time producer Wayne Kirkpatrick and co-wrote eight of the 12 tracks.

While the album releases on August 24, Little Big Town have been busy out on the road with Sugarland on the Incredible Machine tour, their second time out with the award-winning duo.

"It's like a reunion, and they're fun to be out with," Kimberly exclaims of the current tour. "We'll be out with them until their tour ends this fall. Then we'll look at headlining our own tour next spring."

'The Reason Why' will be in stores on August 24. Little Big Town will be promoting the release with an appearance on 'Good Morning America' on August 25 and Fox and Friends' 'All American Concert Series' on August 27.