20 Questions With Little Big Town

More than likely, Little Big Town has been to your town. Over the past two years, the country quartet has toured relentlessly, singing hits like "Boondocks" and "Good as Gone."

Published: 2007-12-14 Provider: CMT - Country Music TV

Little Big Town Is Ready to Roll With Sugarland

The members of Little Big Town remember the night they met Sugarland, when both bands were playing the same venue and starting to gain momentum with country audiences. LBT's Jimi Westbrook says the two groups felt an instant connection, but it was the sec

Published: 2007-09-26 Provider: CMT - Country Music TV

Sugarland Struts Its Stuff in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- If you can predict a country artist's career by how well they can perform live, then Sugarland and Little Big Town are both very likely to be around for a while.

Published: 2007-09-28 Provider: CMT - Country Music TV

Success no longer on Town's outskirts

With a gold album and two top 10 country singles, Little Big Town has revived a career that most Music City observers had considered ...

Published: 2006-10-18 Provider: USA Today

Hop on the free bandwagon at the Puyallup Fair

Arts & EntertainmentFree, free, free! If you're going to do the Puyallup over the next week, chances are you can catch a Grandstand show for free. Over the next seven...

Published: 2006-09-14 Provider: Seattle Times

Since 1993, VIBE magazine has documented hip-hop's prodigious rise and constant reinvention. With a foreword by founder Quincy Jones, this 10-year anniversary volume of photos from the publication's archives proves that the image-makers aren't only on the mic-they lurk behind the lens, too. Styles range widely, including Sacha Waldman's luminous, saturated, otherworldly streetscape tableaus of OutKast, Erykah Badu, RZA and Tiny Lister; Dana Lixenberg's simple, lingering portraits of Navajo-kids throwing gang signs, women idling curbside in Cape Town, and the now-iconic wistful Tupac in a bandanna; and Dean Karr's deliriously absurd action shot of Redman and a goose locked in airborne embrace. Editors Kenner and Pitts have organized the collection less by history than by composition-Wesley Snipes's mud-caked profile faces Eve's close-cropped crown; Alicia Keyes stretched across a piano abuts Ricky Martin reclining on a luxury speedboat. Still, a larger trajectory does emerge, mainly that the expressive idiosyncrasy of rap progenitors-quizzical Chuck D, skeptical Flavor Flav, stately, knowing Run-D.M.C.-has given way to the ubiquitous half-lidded, stone-faced glower: the thug pose. Other requisite images: women splayed on cars, women extending their tongues. There are striking departures from type, though, such as Nelly in bejeweled, bent-wrist, and parted-lip ecstasy or the unflinching Voletta Wallace holding a framed portrait of her son, Notorious B.I.G. Brief quotes and snippets from articles complement some of the pictures, such as Rob Kenner's gleeful note that "although Nas dropped out of school in the eighth grade his verses are beginning to be studied in university classes alongside the poetry of T.S. Eliot." 150 full-color photographs.   AMAZON LINK: VX: 10 YEARS OF VIBE PHOTOGRAPHY imagePath = '/ui/img/icons'; echo $social->getFeedHTML(); } ?> Page printed from: http://www.vibe.com/ Return to previous page

Published: 2008-04-10 Provider: VIBE

Rock Reality Show Recap: “Gone Country” Puts Sisqo to Work, Makes Bobby Brown Cry

Every Week on CMT’s new reality show Gone Country, a motley mix of Nashville misfits try to make it big on the Chesney tip. We’ll be watching (and chuckling): Thirty Minutes of Kentucky Fried Reality in Four Sentences: “I usually fight people that try to wake me up,” prefaces a hungover Bobby Brown as Maureen McCormick (Marcia Brady, if you haven’t been following along) mocks him into arising with songs. The Diddy of this Nashville version of Making the Band is John Rich, who tells our seven contestants that this week’s challenge is about community, which is Tennessee-speak for hosting a car wash with all proceeds going to a local children’s hospital. Sisqo vacuums the cars a little too well, offering an interesting insight into what he’s possibly been doing post-”Thong Song.” Then it’s off to the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital so our clique can serenade the kids with “Old McDonald.” Seriously. The Honky-Tonkin’ Highlights: Bobby Brown transforms from town drunk into Mother Teresa in one commercial break, as the former Mr. Whitney Houston consoles the family of a terminally ill child. After meeting the young girl (cameras weren’t allowed access), Brown is devastated and in tears, which makes the rest of his castmates cry. Is this moment the catalyst that turns Brown from the series’ joke into the series’ winner? The Grand Ol’ Finale: The seven return back to John Rich’s cabin to write songs based on their hospital experiences and cry more. It’s an old-fashioned Kleenex fest, as Brown breaks down when talking to the others about his own children and how much he misses them. And that’s our episode. Next week: Marcia Brady is mortified after seeing Bobby Brown’s genitalia.

Published: 2008-02-19 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock Reality Show Recaps

On the Charts: Jay-Z’s “Gangster” Shoots to Top Spot, Eagles Swoop to Two

The Big News: As predicted, Rolling Stone cover star Jay-Z’s American Gangster stormed to the top of the Billboard albums chart, selling just forty-one copies shy of the 425,000 he was expected to sell. Jay-Z is now tied with Elvis Presley for having the second-most Number One albums with ten. Last week’s chart-topper, the Eagles‘ not-so-exclusive Long Road Out of Eden, dropped down to second place with 359,261. Country icon Garth Brooks debuted at three with his Ultimate Hits, while rising R&B star Chris Brown’s Exclusive entered at four with 294,498. Carrie Underwood’s Carnival Ride held tight at the fifth spot with 120,771. Debuts: While the blockbuster names gathered at the top of the chart, Angels & Airwaves‘ I-Empire debuted strong at nine. Taylor Swift arrived at eight, Wisin Y Yandel at fourteen, Little Big Town at twenty-four and the 21,047 people who bought the wrong American Gangster (the soundtrack, not the Jay-Z album) helped that LP chart at thirty-six. Van Morrison’s Still On Top: Greatest Hits charted at forty-eight. The indie kids who actually have money to spend helped Sigur Ros‘ Hvarf/Heim debut at fifty-eight with 14,528 copies. Last Week’s Heroes: While the Eagles’ nest atop the charts suffered a minor blow, Britney Spears‘ Blackout tumbled far further. Brit’s new one dropped from two to seven thanks to a 70 percent sales decrease. The Backstreet Boys‘ Unbreakable sunk worse, from seven to forty. Last week’s number four, Avenged Sevenfold, was hit hard too, falling twenty-five spots. Next week, prepare for major debut-week numbers from Alicia Keys and Celine Dion.

Published: 2007-11-15 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Chart Roundup

Breaking News: “Exclusive” Wal-Mart Eagles Album Not So Exclusive

When the Eagles announced that they would exclusively sell their new double album Long Road Out of Eden for an entire year at Wal-Mart (and their own Web site), fans across the nation — especially those in Wal-Mart-less towns like New York City and Los Angeles — wondered how they’d get their hands on copy without journeying to the retail giant. But then we heard whispers that people were finding the new “exclusive” album at small mom-and-pop record stores and, remarkably, big chains like Virgin Megastore. We investigated these claims and discovered that the CDs are indeed being sold outside of Wal-Mart. Not only that, it didn’t take speakeasy tactics to secure a copy; some stores were boasting the album by the dozen in front display cases, where new releases are usually showcased (see above, a shot from a New York City Virgin Megastore boasting a price sticker of $18.99). “We’re aware of that — I’ve heard that some stores here are selling imports,” Billboard charts editor Geoff Mayfield tells Rolling Stone. “Someone told me it was the third-best seller for Virgin.” We called eight Virgin Megastores in five different states, and discovered seven had Long Road in stock, although none of them had the album prominently listed in their in-store inventory directories. Of the Virgins carrying the album, most started selling it today, one week after the album’s release, while two said they started selling the CDs on October 30th, the same day as the “exclusive” Wal-Mart on-sale date, with one store even “selling out” their fairly large stock. The fact that the albums were selling out came as a surprise, considering the CD at Virgin came with price tags ranging from $18.99 to $24.99. While it is a double CD, the price is strikingly higher than Wal-Mart’s tag of $11.88. When we asked one clerk why the album was so expensive at Virgin, and whether the discs might be imports, he whispered

Published: 2007-11-08 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Single Minded: Angels & Airwaves, Jay-Z, Chris Brown, Dillinger Escape Plan and More

Every Tuesday Single Minded highlights new tracks hitting stores (or the Web) this week. On Fridays, come back for rarities, remixes, mash-ups and more. Angels & Airwaves, “Sirens” [MySpace] Second record from ex-blink-182 frontman Tom DeLonge proves the sad truth that growing up means funtime is over. Apparently the answer to the question “What’s my age again?” is “Old, man. Old.” Jay-Z, American Gangster [Full Album Stream] Jay recorded this album in two weeks after being inspired by the Ridley Scott film of the same name. Imagine what might have happened if the 3:20 Bee Movie hadn’t been sold out? Chris Brown, Exclusive [Full Album Stream] And speaking of old: for his eighteenth birthday, Chris Brown gets the aggressive adulation of teenage girls, a number one single with cyborg hook machine T-Pain and an album that will undoubtedly debut next to Jay-Z at the top of the charts. When we turned eighteen, we got new sneakers and a CD player in our car. So, basically the same thing. Little Big Town, “I’m With the Band” [MySpace] Nashville Christian country group turns in an oaky little number that offers a behind-the-scenes of their life on the road. Before you start salivating, re-read the first part of this entry. Dillinger Escape Plan, Ire Works [Full Album Stream] This album’s opening track is called “Fix Your Face,” which is precisely what you’re going to have to do after its first thirty seconds. Good God, it’s stunning. If someone could synchronize a workout regimen to this, we could all eat Wendy’s Baconators every meal for the rest of our lives.

Published: 2007-11-07 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Single Minded

Interpol, Muse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Patti Smith and the Hold Steady Rock Into the Chicago Night at Lollapalooza Day Two

“Last year we played here and I said it was the most fun I ever had at 3 PM. This is shaping up to be the most fun I’ve ever had,” proclaimed Craig Finn two songs into the Hold Steady’s unhinged late-afternoon set. If not the finest, the singer-guitarist’s quintet made a watertight case for at least being the day’s most jubilant and ecstatic performance. Finn understands that a frontman needs to be unafraid to act a fool. Keyed-up and rambunctious, the bespectacled singer pointed, hopped and shuffled while playing the role of an inebriated storyteller. Drinking (“Party Pit”), driving (“Multitude of Casualties”), drugs (“Cattle and the Creeping Things”), dealers (“You Can Make Him Like You”) and sex (“Southtown Girls”) fueled the location- and character-rich tales, alternately shot through with barroom swagger, driving power chords and Southern rock abandon. Adorned in a Ron Gardenhire Minnesota Twins jersey, Finn also spoke of the I-35W bridge collapse that impacted his beloved town, and did a sign of the cross after mentioning the Mississippi River during “Stuck Between Stations.” A throng of converts soaked it all in, but the biggest fan of all was Finn, whose uplifting presence and merry mood caused anyone within earshot to grin. Not to be outdone, Karen O dressed in black latex and criss-cross-patterned stockings. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman also brought masquerade masks and glittery towels to throw over her head. She wasted no time in smearing her makeup or ripping gloves off of her hands with her teeth with her band aptly followed O’s animated antics and vocal meows, snarls and screams through songs from their latest EP, Is Is and tracks from their most recent full-length, Show Your Bones. For pure, genuine rebellion, all anyone needed to do was hoof it across the park to see Patti Smith. Initially, Smith clung to calmness. Outfitted in a homemade peace-and-love T-shirt, she strummed an acoustic guitar while taking “Beneath the Southern Cross” into t

Published: 2007-08-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Lollapalooza

The White Stripes Discover Small is Beautiful in Nova Scotia

“Well, you’re in your little room, and you’re working on something good,” Jack White once sang. “But if it’s really good, you’re gonna need a bigger room.” “Little Room” was just a forty-five-second ditty on 2002’s White Blood Cells, but it also spoke to the paradox of fame: Once you’re a celebrity, you can never again be the person who created the art that made you one. Five years later, the White Stripes are genuine rock stars touring the far reaches of Canada in an effort to play all the little rooms they can find — elementary school classrooms, hockey rinks, cramped pool halls, Inuit Elder meetings, fishing boats and city buses. For their tenth anniversary show on Sunday in remote harbor town Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, they managed to find one room that was nearly perfect: The Savoy, an intimate theater built in the early 1920s to replicate old Victorian music halls – and which happens to be schemed almost entirely in red, black and white, and (if you believe the locals) haunted by as many ghosts as the band’s music. Both sides of the “White family” were in attendance for the occasion, and eager fans dressed in color-coordinated outfits were rewarded with small cups of champagne by the Stripes road crew pre-show. (For details on the Stripes’ two-hour tour through the best of their catalog and more, read on.) Over two thrilling hours, Jack and Meg laid out their catalog in trash-candy collage form — stitching old riffs into new songs, teasing familiar melodies, improvising verses and balancing nostalgic rarities (“Wasting My Time”) with the majority of its new material. All the songs flowed into one viscerally played stream of consciousness, and as they bled together, the common element between them — White’s encyclopedic command of American musical traditions — became clearer. Ultimately, the only ghosts of the night were the ones White summoned from his influences: Son House (“Death Letter,” “John the Revelator”), Blind Willie Johnson (“Lord, Send Me

Published: 2007-07-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News