Rascal Flatts with Little Big Town, Eli Young Band and Eden's Edge @ Blossom on June 29, 2012
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Rascal Flatts
w/Little Big Town,
Eli Young Band & Edens Edge
June 29, 2012
Blossom
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A country trio known primarily for its pleasing harmony and Grammy-winning songcraft, Rascal Flatts are comprised of Gary LeVox, Jay Demarcus, and Joe Don Rooney. Cousins Demarcus and LeVox grew up in Columbus, Ohio, a town Demarcus eventually left in 1992 to pursue a music career in Nashville. Meanwhile, LeVox pursued his own musical success with a Christian group; at the behest of his cousin, however, he also relocated to Nashville toward the decade's end. Although LeVox quickly found work as the keyboardist for country star Chely Wright, he still found time to play local shows with Demarcus. One night, the duo asked Oklahoma native Joe Don Rooney (who played guitar in Wright's band) to join them during a Printer's Alley gig in Nashville. A bond was quickly formed, and the musicians abandoned their other duties in favor of forming Rascal Flatts in the late '90s.
The country vocal quartet Little Big Town began with Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild, two Georgia natives who began singing together in college. Arkansan Jimi Westbrook, a friend of Fairchild's husband, joined them to make a trio, and the group was completed by the addition of Phil Sweet in 1998. From the outset, Little Big Town devoted their sound to harmony and multiple lead vocals, a combination that made the band a hard sell at first. They finally landed a deal at Mercury Records, but it fell through due to disagreements about musical direction. In the wake of the success of the Dixie Chicks, however, Little Big Town suddenly seemed a more likely commercial proposition, and they were taken up by the Dixie Chicks' label, Monument Records, in 2000.
