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Little Big Town gets big gig hosting ABC country special caught the bug, and we want to do it again." Among the many The Country Music As- other talents featured in the ABC telecast: Taylor sociation is so televisionSwift, Carrie Underwood, connected these days, if spouses Miranda Lambert it's given you an award, and Blake Shelton, Brad chances are good it will Paisley, Keith Urban, Tim call on you again. McGraw, Kelly Clarkson, Little Big Town now Lady Antebellum, Jason knows that for a fact. The reigning vocal group of the Aldean, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Hunter Hayes, year after last fall's CMA Awards, the foursome that Zac Brown Band, the recently scored its second Band Perry, Jake Owen, Darius Rucker, Kellie Pickplatinum-selling album ler and Kacey Musgraves. ("Tornado") presides over Also included are sevthe annual ABC special eral stars not necessarily "CMA Music Festival: considered "country," Kid Country's Night to Rock" Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Monday, Aug. 12. Taped Jason Mraz. in June during a four-day Notable on the bill, too, Nashville event, the 10thanniversary edition sends is a friend of Little Big its hosts around the city to Town: nine-time Grammy interview artists and intro- winner Sheryl Crow, who releases her first country duce performances. album, "Feels Like Home," "We had such a good on Sept. 10. It already has time," Little Big Town yielded the single "Easy," member Karen Fairchild and on the "CMA Music — who's married to band Festival" special, she mate Jimi Westbrook teams with the members — says of doing the proof Little Big Town on a gram. "A year ago, we mash-up of her "Soak Up wouldn't have dreamed of the Sun" and their "Pongetting the chance to host toon." this, and what a great "I'm a huge fan of experience it was. There's theirs," Crow says, conno energy in the world like firming she first got to the energy when you step know Schlapman because out to sing or host there. their children go to "the Or do anything there." same play place. We sit "It felt like the ultimate in a circle and sing with pat on the back," fellow our kids, and that is what group member Phillip Nashville is like. It's a Sweet claims of being great place to raise kids recruited by the CMA for and to be an artist ... the job. "When they want and to be surrounded by to talk to an artist about people who are keeping being a host, there's a lot it real." of trust put into that relaCrow counts Little Big tionship, among all of the Town among them, and people involved. It made she maintains, "I don't us feel really, really good, ever want to sing 'Soak and it gave us confidence. Up the Sun' without them It just felt really nice." now. When they hit the Kimberly Schlapchorus in four-part harman adds the demands mony, it's stunning. They of hosting the special breathed incredible new impacted what she and life into a song that's been her Little Big Town colaround for quite a long leagues normally would time. Luckily, there are do at the CMA Music a lot of people in my fan Festival "in a huge way. base who listen to country We were involved all day music predominantly, so long, every day, and we many people there knew had a lot to memorize. the song. And having Little We realized how easy it is Big Town on it, it sounded to memorize a song and perfect." sing it, and how hard it is As for the overall CMA to memorize lines that you Music Festival, which has just have to say. It was its roots in what used to so much fun, though; we be called Fan Fair, Crow By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it 2 Little Big Town hosts "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" Monday on ABC. says she was "thrilled to be in that lineup. It's a really cool thing they do in country, a show like this that's free to the public and where all the artists sign autographs. It's exactly what I thought music would be like in general when I started. Country artists love their fans and show up for their fans, and the fans show up for them. It was really special for me to get to be involved in that." The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • August 12-18, 2013 The presence of Little Big Town in the CMA Music Festival — both in person and on television — also helps to promote the band's latest "Tornado" single, "Your Side of the Bed." But the group certainly worked for that showcase. "One of us would be backstage," Fairchild reports, "or two of us would be down in the middle of a field with the fans. And Kimberly went up in a helicopter. I think that was good for the show, that versatility and the ability to have us in different places. We were right in the middle of it all, and it was a good intense." Through the end of October, Little Big Town is on a concert tour in support of "Tornado," its fifth studio album ("The Road to Here" being the first one that went platinum). The schedule has been organized to cluster several days of performances together, then several days off, and Schlapman is hugely appreciative. "We all have families," she explains. "Most of the time, our families travel with us, but they stay home sometimes for those short runs. It's just nice to be able to get a taste of home every week. I love to do laundry and cook and that kind of stuff. We get to live a dream life on the road, then we get to go home and be sort of normal."

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