http://www.iuma.com/Warner/html/Little_Texas-bio.html (Einblicke ins Internet, 10/1995)All this comes as the band prepares a third album, due for release in September. All the while, Big Time, their sophomore effort, continues to spin off hits and turn more and more listeners into fans.
These attainments would be enough to keep many acts happy, but for the members of Little Texas--Duane Propes, Del Gray, Brady Seals, Porter Howell, Tim Rushlow and Dwayne O'Brien--they're just the tip of the iceberg. Not only is Big Time at platinum status, Little Texas received the coveted Top Vocal Group award from the Academy of Country music as well as being nominated for Video of the Year. They were also named Band of the Year by Radio & Records magazine, received an American Music Award nomination and captured Country Video of the Year honors for "What Might Have Been," which went to #1 on CMT, TNN and the VH-1 Country Countdown.
The charts, in fact, have been firmly established as Little Texas territory. After "What Might Have Been," "God Blessed Texas" and "My Love" gave band members back-to-back #1s, they pulled off their unprecedented quadruple-charting feat, as those two songs (with Rushlow singing) and "My Love" (Seals) appeared in the Top 25 simultaneously while the group's rendition of the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (O'Brien) on the Common Thread: Songs of the Eagles CD charted as an album cut on Billboard's Hot Country Tracks chart. "What Might Have Been" also appeared on the R&R CHR chart and went Top 10 on the national AC chart as well. The group's debut, First Time For Everything, established the precedent that would make such success possible, spawning five consecutive songs in country's Top 10.
Sales figures have also reflected the group's phenomenal success, as Big Time and First Time For Everything have sold a total of more the 1.5 million copies and "God Blessed Texas"spent seven straight weeks as the top-selling single, according to Soundscan data.
The success has led to appearances on Live With Regis & Kathie Lee, Entertainment Tonight, The Family Channel and CNN, and to one of the brightest reputations in all of country music.
None of this however came as any surprise to fans and critics who have been watching these six performers over the past couple of years, and who have seen the tightly-crafted songs and expert musicianship behind their stunning success.
Big Time, for instance, showcases the band's considerable songwriting abilities, with all but one cut being self-penned. It's an eclectic and broad-based CD with an excellent flow and musical surprises throughout. Listen for Seals' honky-tonk version of a ragtime piano break in "Only Thing I'm Sure Of," or Howell's electric sitar work on the opening of "This Time It's Real." It's a textured record. Tracks were built with the band and producers James Stroud, Christy DiNapoli, and Doug Grau paying scrupulous attention to each player's individual strengths.
"We laid down the rhythm track first," explains bassist Duane Propes. "Del, Porter and I layered the songs. We had time to try out some new things, to experiment, and to take each song exactly where we felt it should go."
The band's amazing versatility is in evidence from the start. The record kicks in with "Forget About Forgetting You," with its uptempo, infectious melody. Little Texas then immediately shifts gears into one of the most poignant, impressive ballads in recent memory with the highly acclaimed "What Might Have Been."
"That song was a dream come true," notes Rushlow. "I've always wanted to sing a ballad with orchestration, one that takes me from the bottom to the top of my range. The guys (co-writers Howell, O'Brien and Seals) brought it to me on a silver platter." The song was written in one sitting (in the back of the tour bus), and the minute Rushlow heard it he insisted that the band try it out on stage that night. The singer's instincts were on the money; the crowd went wild.
"We come from the club scene," explains Howell. "That's where you take your songs directly to the public and you know right away if you've got something. There's a special immediacy to writing out on the road, too. You spend your time together in hotels and buses and when you write a song, you get quick feedback from fans."
There is a fascinating fluidity to Big Time. Little Texas moves easily from the intimate harmonies of "My Love" to the turbocharged guitars on "Stop On A Dime"; from a groove of "Cutoff Jeans" and the rowdy "God Blessed Texas" to the gut-level truths of "Love and Learn." When the band does go to outside writers, as is the case with Michael Stanley's "My Town," they then make the song their own, as though the piece were written especially for Little Texas's sound.
What makes their sound so unique is the combination of five voices representing a whole new generation of country bands. "I feel like we're the first country band that was influenced by 'Young Country,'" says Rushlow. "Sure, we love bands like the Eagles and Poco, but our real influences were Alabama and Restless Heart country's new sound."
The band, Chicago Tribune critic Jack Hurst branded "unusually seasoned for such youngsters," perfected their sound on the road after Warner Bros. Records signed them to a development deal four years ago. "We waited two-and-a-half years to record our first album," says O'Brien. "Those years were so hard... I mean we wanted to record right then. It seemed like a time in limbo. Now, of course, we see the time was absolutely necessary. It made all the difference."
In its earliest incarnation, the band was made up of lead singer/guitarist Rushlow, guitarist/vocalists O'Brien and Howell and bassist/vocalist Propes ever encouraged by manager Christy DiNapoli. They met keyboards/vocalist Seals and drummer Gray out on the road and were impressed with the immediate musical rapport, and the Little Texas sound was complete.
In June of 1993, Little Texas performed a passionate a cappella version of the national anthem at a Presidential Fund-raiser in Washington, D.C.. Honored with the invitation to share the bill with Kenny G. and Whitney Houston, Little Texas was proud to play their #1 hit "What Might Have Been" for President and Mrs. Clinton.
Little Texas was also chosen to perform on the nationally televised 35th Anniversary Show of the Country Music Association on CBS. They toured with Clint Black, Kenny Rogers, and Dwight Yoakam, and were tapped for the 1993 Budweiser Rock 'n' Country Tour with Travis Tritt and Trisha Yearwood. The Bud Tour outsold rock concerts in most venues, and reviewers, without fail, pointed to Little Texas as a major draw. Pretty heady stuff. At the Bud date outside Austin, Texas, Governor Ann Richards recognized "God Blessed Texas" by making Little Texas honorary World Ambassadors of the Great State of Texas.
The band's version of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" on the Eagles tribute album Common Thread: Songs of the Eagles astonished the Eagles themselves with its crisp, solid sound. "I'm very proud," said Eagles founder Don Henley. "It's a little bit like dj vu, I was backstage in the dressing room and they (Little Texas) were in the next room practicing the background vocals for this song and it was like us (the Eagles) twenty years ago."
Through all the successes, the members of Little Texas have kept their feet planted firmly on the ground. At a time when they could easily kick back and rest on well-deserved laurels, this young and very serious band kicked right back in, spending every free moment honing the writing and performing skills that first brought them to the dance.
It has paid off on Big Time in a big way.