Exclusive Q and A: Little Big Town's Jimi Westbrook Shares How "Tornado" Lifts the Band to New Heights

posted in: Music News

In the past two weeks, Little Big Town earned it’s first No. 1 hit for the single “Pontoon,” received a Single of the Year nomination from the County Music Association, and watched as its just-released album Tornado ttook the No. 1 spot on the Billboard country chart and No. 2 on the Top 200 chart with 112,758 albums sold in its first week.

It’s almost too easy to say the vocal quartet”known individually as Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook”is a prime example of the old adage “good things come to those who wait.” But consider that it has been 13 years since the band formed and it just hit No. 1. And even “Pontoon,” which was released in April, didn’t really soar until the song was performed in June at the CMT Awards.

In the middle of the swirl of excitement, Jimi Westbook took a bit of time out to talk about the band, its new music, and just where they will go from here.

OS: Congratulations on all of your successes! You must feel great that the album is now out.

JW:  Thank you! I am so excited about the new music and having it out. I can’t believe the album is finally here. The recording process was so fast, it was just done and over before we knew it.

OS: So how was making this album different from what you did with the other albums?

JW: The process was really different than any other we have done. We usually are really meticulous and take our time when we’re recording. This process was not that. It was so great. The change was really kind of refreshing for the band.

OS: Before we talk about that, remind me, did you and the band write all of the songs on the album or did you use songs from outside writers?

JW: We wrote, I think, 5 out of 11 songs. We had a lot of outside songs this time. We always cut a few more songs than we normally have on the album. The Nashville songwriting community is to great. They all kind of rallied around us and gave us great songs.

OS: So, please, say more about the process.

JW: The whole thing was great. The whole process changed this time. One thing is we changed producers. We had worked with Wayne Kirkpatrick. We’ve been a band for more than a decade now, and it was time to shake it up a little bit for creativity and inspiration. Wayne felt the same way. We settled on working with Jay Joyce, an amazing, talented guy. He produced the Eric Church album that is out now (Chief as well as his 2009 album Carolina). And he’s worked with Emmylou Harris (He produced her album Hard Bargain).

He came out to our shows and saw us and wanted to capture the energy he saw there. He had us use the band that is on the road with us. We had done that with a couple songs we recorded before, but never with all the songs on an album. It was amazing, the energy we had. When we got in the studio, the excitement from them and from us and with all of us combined was really exciting. You can really feel the energy that was in the room when you hear the new album. It was amazing.

OS: How long was the recording process?

JW:  I think we rehearsed for four days, tracked three days. At the end of the last tracking day, we sat and listened to everything we had done and it was so great. We had done the bulk of the record in seven days. We knew it was right.

OS: Were there any other things that really added to the energy?

JW: The whole process. We came in at night to record, sort of like we normally come into venues to do shows after we have dinner together. We started at the same time, in the same way, we do when we’re playing a show.

OS: What was it that enticed you to record “Pontoon?”

JW: We just knew when we heard it, it would work for us. It’s just one of those great songs.

OS: Clearly it is since it’s No. 1 on the charts! But did your fans like it right away?

JW: Absolutely! “Pontoon” is biggest song of our career and the fans have been eating it up. They did as soon as we started playing it on tour. When it started getting radio play, we moved it to the front of the set. Now, when we play about two notes they know it’s the song!

OS: There has been a lot of talk about Tornado having a different sound from your other albums. Does it?

JW: There is a different sound but it’s not that different. It’s not necessarily because of different instrumentation or anything. It’s just a little bolder, a little louder, a little more in your face. A lot of that comes from Jay.

OS: Tell me what he did to inspire that.

JW: He was great. Even if we tried to huddle in a corner and talk about a song he’d say, ‘Stop talking and sing!” He had his bullhorn that was completely fun. He is great about listening and finding what feels good, not necessarily perfection but more about how it feels. To have somebody work with us in that way and not worry about all the little, meticulous things was great. Sometimes we would do three or four takes and he’s say ‘That’s it. Let’s cut it’ and we’d move on. We never even listened to any of the songs until we were tracking.

OS: So what’s the most exciting thing”of all of these highlights”in your lives now?

JW: You know, as we finished this record, we were contemplating holding onto the music and playing it after it comes out. Then we got so excited, we ended up with a bunch in our shows! We were out with Rascal Flatts and those guys were so great about everything. You know, when you make a record you can’t wait to play the songs live. It’s a great feeling, throwing them out there and having a good time. The crowd is really responding to the new songs, too, which is so great, just to watch them.

OS: So when we talk next year, what will be the major Little Big Town news?

JW: Hopefully maybe that we are branching out even more and doing some headlining tours. We have been having so much fun with this music and the production we can’t wait to move ahead. The label is excited and the fans are excited and we are just having so much fun!

Find out more about the music, tour and news of Little Big Town on the band’s official website.

Watch Little Big Town’s official video for “Pontoon” below.