Love and Theft Reveal Their Daily ‘Struggle’

Love and Theft may be emerging as one of country music's most successful new acts of 2009, but they admit their success is anything but easy.

"It's really hard," the band's Stephen Barker Liles tells Nashville's Tennessean. "It's one of the hardest things I've ever had to do."

But Stephen isn't talking about stage fright, he's referring to the difficulties they have holding on to their Christian values in a mostly secular market. "That's why I feel so fortunate to be working with Eric [Gunderson] and Brian [Bandas]," he says about fellow Love and Theft members. "We all hold each other accountable, and we all call each other out, and we make sure that we're representing each other and the Lord the way we should. It's a struggle day in and day out, for sure. There's a lot of crazy stuff out there."

The trio hopes their fans will hear the message in their music. Their second single, 'Dancing in Circles,' co-written by Stephen, captures their own beliefs. "It's one of those songs that's real laid-back and easy and self-motivating, to remind yourself to treat people the way they want to be treated," he says. "It's not a preachy song, it's just about, 'Why do we do this?'"

With the single already steadily climbing the charts, it looks like Love and Theft will have plenty of time to find their balance. Gaining plenty of practice -- and a huge fan base -- by opening for Taylor Swift's 2008 tour, they were recently announced as the opening act for the second half of Tim McGraw's upcoming Southern Voice tour. It's an honor the band members don't take lightly.

"McGraw is legitimately one of my most favorite artists of all times," Brian admits. "I'm ready to go now. Things just keep getting better and better. "

Love and Theft will join Tim for the second half of the tour, which will run from April 11 to August 15.