Little Big Town’s New Album Proves We Shouldn’t Take the Band for Granted

Producer/engineer Gena Johnson is sitting not between two ferns , but between two Dolly Partons . Calling on Zoom alongside Little Big Town ’s Karen Fairchild, it’s the morning before the news of Parton’s death became public. Still, a moment for a little Dolly-worship seems somehow appropriate.

“Does it get any better?” Johnson says, looking up at the two framed black-and-white photos of Parton that hang above her head. Fairchild, sitting by the pool at her home in Nashville, nods in agreement. Fairchild and Johnson, who co-produced Little Big Town’s newest, and arguably best record, It’s a Dying Art , are friends and collaborators well within the Parton tradition: they both have defined their careers by working hard, prioritizing their art, and making space in fields where they’re often one of the few women in the room.

“I don’t know if a lot of people understand how much of a badass Karen is,” Johnson says. “Talk about a brilliant songwriter, singer, mind. Everything in Karen’s life is creative.”

Little Big Town are the kind of band that’s easy to take for granted. The foursome of Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Philip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook have been together since 1998, Grand Ole Opry members since 2014, and have won their share of CMA and Grammy awards for songs like “ Pontoon ,” the Taylor Swift-written “Better Man,” and “ Girl Crush .” They are an ever-reliable, veritable Nashville institution who always seem to show up and deliver their stellar harmonies when needed. If they wanted to phone it in with a set of middling covers albums for the rest of their career, they’d probably do just fine.

Instead, for their 12th studio album, Little Big Town decided to push themselves. Out Friday , It’s a Dying Art is the band’s most introspective work, with the most ambitious musical choices. On songs like “The Door,” there’s striking space between the harmonies and lyrical guitarwork from Jason Isbell , while “Crickets” manages a Rufus-esque boogie without overfilling the groove. Others, like “We Could Have It All,” feel closer to Crosby, Stills and Nash or Fleetwood Mac than they do traditional country. It’s exciting to hear a band this far into their career be so intent on evolving and challenging their rhythms, or to strip it all back when needed. Editor’s picks The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century

Johnson (known for her work with Chris Stapleton, John Prine, Parton, Isbell and many others) and Fairchild got to know each other producing and engineering the Shelby Lynne record Consequences of the Crown , and “had a great working energy,” Fairchild says. They wanted to tap into something for It’s a Dying Art that felt human in a day and age where, with every passing minute, things feel increasingly less so: real voices in all their rawness and imperfections, instruments that are textured, not blurred, and songs that remind us to be hopeful in the face of darkness.