Little Texas (band)

Last updated
Little Texas
Little Texas Live.jpg
Little Texas performing in 2007
Background information
Origin Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Years active
  • 1988–1997
  • 2004–present
Labels
Spinoffs
Members
  • Del Gray
  • Porter Howell
  • Dwayne O'Brien
  • Duane Propes
Past members
Website littletexasonline.com

Little Texas is an American country music band started in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1988. Its founding members were Tim Rushlow (lead and background vocals, acoustic guitar), Brady Seals (lead and background vocals, keyboards), Del Gray (drums), Porter Howell (lead guitar, background vocals), Dwayne O'Brien (acoustic guitar, lead and background vocals), and Duane Propes (bass guitar, background vocals). Signed to Warner Bros. Records Nashville in 1991, Little Texas released its debut album First Time for Everything that year. The album's lead off single, "Some Guys Have All the Love", reached a peak of No. 8 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. Little Texas charted thirteen top-40 hits between then and 1995, including the number one "My Love" in 1994. Their debut album earned a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while 1993's Big Time was certified double platinum and 1994's Kick a Little was certified platinum.

Contents

Seals left the band in 1994 and was replaced by Jeff Huskins (keyboards, fiddle). After a Greatest Hits package and a self-titled fourth studio album, the group disbanded in 1997. Seals went on to record three solo albums and one as the lead singer of Hot Apple Pie, Rushlow recorded one solo album and one as the lead singer of Rushlow, and Howell recorded one as a member of Hilljack. Gray, Howell, O'Brien, and Propes re-established Little Texas in 2004 with new lead singer Steven Troy; he left the band in 2006 and Howell took over lead vocals. Under the four-piece lineup, the band has recorded two albums for Montage Music Group: The Very Best of Little Texas: Live and Loud and Missing Years .

History

Little Texas was founded in 1988. Prior to the band's formation, Tim Rushlow and Dwayne O'Brien began playing together in Arlington, Texas, in 1984. Porter Howell and Duane Propes got together while they were in high school in 1983 and moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University. Brady Seals and Del Gray played in the backup band of country music singer Josh Logan. [1] Rushlow, O'Brien, Propes, and Howell first started making music at Opryland as a 1950s show band. With both Rushlow's first wife and Howell's wife, plus two other members, they took the show band on the road, naming their act "The Varsities".

When two of the members left to pursue other interests, they contacted their old friends Gray and Seals, whom they had met while playing in Springfield, Massachusetts, in hopes of forging a more country/Southern rock sound. All six members eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where they started playing together. The band played at venues across the United States (around 300 dates a year), eventually catching the attention of Nashville's division of Warner Bros. Records.

Musical career

1991-1993: First Time for Everything

Tim Rushlow 2011.jpg
Bradyseals.jpg
Tim Rushlow (left) and Brady Seals (right) were both in the original lineup.

Warner Bros. signed Little Texas in 1989, and two years later, the band released their debut single "Some Guys Have All the Love". [1] This song, which reached No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard country singles charts, was the first of five singles from their debut album First Time for Everything . After the debut single came the album's title track at No. 13, "You and Forever and Me" at No. 5, "What Were You Thinkin'" at No. 17 and finally "I'd Rather Miss You" at No. 16. [2] The album was certified gold by the RIAA for shipping 500,000 copies in the US.

1993-1994: Big Time

Little Texas' second album, Big Time , was issued in 1993. Their most successful album, it was certified 2×Platinum by the RIAA and gold by the CRIA. It also produced a minor crossover hit in leadoff single "What Might Have Been", a No. 2 country hit that also reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 16 on Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks. After it came "God Blessed Texas" and their only number 1 hit on Billboard, "My Love", both of which were also minor Hot 100 entries. The latter also featured Seals on lead vocals. [1] Finishing off Big Time was the No. 14 "Stop on a Dime". In late 1993, the band contributed a cover of the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling" to the multi-artist compilation album Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles . The rendition featured O'Brien on lead vocals, with Denny Dadmun-Bixby of Great Plains on bass guitar and no involvement from Seals. [3] The rendition peaked at number 73 on the country charts. [2]

1994-1996: Kick a Little and Greatest Hits

Kick a Little , the band's third album, was certified platinum by the RIAA. Leading off this album was its No. 5 title track, followed by the No. 4 "Amy's Back in Austin" and No. 27 "Southern Grace". After the album's release, however, Seals left for a solo career on Reprise Records, and was replaced by multi-instrumentalist Jeff Huskins, a former backing musician for Clint Black, for their tour to promote the album. [1] Huskins made his first appearance on "Life Goes On" and "Country Crazy", two new tracks that the band recorded for their 1995 Greatest Hits . Both of these songs were released as singles. The former became their final Top 40 hit with a peak of No. 5, while "Country Crazy" stopped at No. 44. Also in 1995, the band sang on the track "Party All Night", a musical track which featured snippets from a Jeff Foxworthy sketch and a sung chorus by the band. This song reached No. 53, and later appeared on Foxworthy's 1996 album Crank It Up: The Music Album .

1997-1998: Little Texas

Little Texas' fourth album was self-titled. Lead-off single "Bad for Us" peaked at No. 45, followed by their two lowest-charting singles, "Your Mama Won't Let Me" and "The Call" at No. 64 and No. 71 respectively. The band also charted that year with a cover of "Kiss the Girl", a song from the Disney film The Little Mermaid which they recorded on The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney . Seals also charted his only Top 40 solo hit that year, the No. 32 "Another You, Another Me". Seals would record a total of three albums between then and 2003. After Little Texas, the band broke up.

Hiatus and status of former members

Little Texas Live Little Texas 2011.jpg
Little Texas Live

During the band's hiatus, Del Gray co-wrote Trace Adkins' 2000 single "More". Former frontman Tim Rushlow signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist that same year, releasing a self-titled album. Although it accounted for four singles, including the No. 8 "She Misses Him", Atlantic closed its country music division in 2001. Rushlow then founded a second band, Rushlow, whose members included his cousin Doni Harris. Rushlow released two singles and one album ( Right Now ) on Lyric Street Records, but disbanded by 2004. Seals founded the band Hot Apple Pie, which released a self-titled album and three singles in 2005, while Rushlow and Harris founded the duo Rushlow Harris a year later. In addition, Howell recorded one album in the band Hilljack, which also included former solo artist Paul Jefferson. [4]

Reunion

Duane Propes, Del Gray, Porter Howell, and Dwayne O'Brien decided to reunite Little Texas in 2004. When Little Texas reunited, Rushlow and Huskins made a legal attempt to keep their ex-bandmates from using the Little Texas name. [5] As the other four members felt uncomfortable singing lead vocals in Rushlow's and Seals's absence, they recruited Steven Troy as new lead vocalist. [6] However, O'Brien was critical of Troy's performance as lead singer, stating that it "just didn't feel authentic"; as a result, he exited the band in 2006. [7] By the time the band had signed to Montage Music Group in 2007, producers for the label had suggested that Howell take over on lead vocals instead. Their first Montage Music release was the live album The Very Best of Little Texas: Live and Loud . They promoted this album on the Triple Threat Tour that year, which included both Restless Heart and Blackhawk; touring guitarist Mark Sutton accompanied the band on both the tour and the live album. [6] This was followed one month later by the studio album Missing Years . This album produced three singles, although only one — the title track — made the country charts, peaking at No. 45.

Another studio album with Howell on lead vocals, Young for a Long Time, followed in 2015. [8]

Little Texas.jpg

2004-present

Little Texas has continued to tour constantly averaging 65 shows a year. In 2022, they are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut album, First Time For Everything. [9]

Members

Former members

Discography

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1994 "God Blessed Texas" Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal Nominated
1996 "Amy's Back in Austin"Nominated
1997 Hope: Country Music's Quest for a Cure Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Nominated

American Music Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1994 Little Texas Favorite Country Band/Duo/Group Nominated
1995 Nominated

Academy of Country Music Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1993 Little Texas Top New Vocal Group or Duet Nominated
Top Vocal Group of the YearNominated
1994 Won
"What Might Have Been"Video of the YearNominated
Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles Album of the Year Nominated
1995 Little TexasTop Vocal Group of the YearNominated

Country Music Association Awards

YearNominee / workAwardResult
1994 Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles Album of the Year Won
Little Texas Vocal Group of the Year Nominated

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<i>First Time for Everything</i> 1992 studio album by Little Texas

First Time for Everything is the debut studio album by American country music band Little Texas. Released in 1992 on Warner Bros. Records, the album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies. Five singles were released from it: "Some Guys Have All the Love", the title track, "You and Forever and Me", "What Were You Thinkin'", and "I'd Rather Miss You". Respectively, these reached #8, #13, #5, #17 and #16 on the Hot Country Songs charts.

<i>Big Time</i> (Little Texas album) 1993 studio album by Little Texas

Big Time is the second studio album by American country music band Little Texas. The band's breakthrough album, it was released in 1993 on Warner Bros. Records, and produced the singles "What Might Have Been", "God Blessed Texas", "My Love", and "Stop on a Dime". Respectively, these peaked at numbers 2, 4, 1, and 14 on the Hot Country Songs charts. "What Might Have Been" was also a crossover hit, reaching 16 on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks charts.

<i>Kick a Little</i> 1994 studio album by Little Texas

Kick a Little is the third studio album by American country music band Little Texas. Released in 1994 on Warner Bros. Records, it was certified platinum by the RIAA for sales of one million copies. Three singles were released from this album: the title track, "Amy's Back in Austin" and "Southern Grace"; respectively, these reached #5, #4, and #27 on the Hot Country Songs charts. This was also the band's last album to feature keyboardist and co-lead vocalist Brady Seals, who left later that year to pursue a solo career, prior to the band’s tour to promote the album.

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"My Love" is a song recorded by the American country music band Little Texas. It was co-written by the band's keyboardist Brady Seals and lead guitarist Porter Howell along with Tommy Barnes. It was released in January 1994 as the third single from the album, Big Time. The song reached the top of the Billboard country singles charts, becoming the band's only Number One country hit. The song features lead vocals from Brady Seals, then the band's keyboardist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">God Blessed Texas</span> 1993 single by Little Texas

"God Blessed Texas" is a song recorded by American country music group Little Texas. It was released on July 17, 1993 as the second single from their second album Big Time. The song was their seventh single overall. It was written by the band's lead guitarist Porter Howell, and keyboardist and vocalist Brady Seals. The song reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in December of that year. It also peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100, their most successful song on that chart. It is the band's signature song, and they close out their concerts with it.

"Kick a Little" is a song by American country music group Little Texas. It was released in August 1994 as the first single and title track from their album of the same name. It was their tenth single overall, and has become one of their signature songs. It was written by the band's chief songwriters: lead guitarist Porter Howell, guitarist Dwayne O'Brien and keyboardist and vocalist Brady Seals. The song reached #5 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and #4 on the Canadian RPM country tracks chart.

"Stop on a Dime" is a song recorded by American country music group Little Texas. It was released in May 1994 as the fourth and final single from their second album Big Time. It was written by the band's lead guitarist Porter Howell, keyboardist and vocalist Brady Seals, and rhythm guitarist Dwayne O'Brien. The song reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. It also peaked at number 13 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks chart. Before its release, it was the B-side to the band's single "What Might Have Been".

"What Were You Thinkin'" is a song recorded by American country music group Little Texas. It was released in October 1992 as the fourth single from the album First Time for Everything. The song reached #17 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart. The song was written by Porter Howell, Dwayne O'Brien, Brady Seals and Christy DiNapoli.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Huey, Steve; Sean Westergaard. "Little Texas biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  2. 1 2 Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 242. ISBN   978-0-89820-177-2.
  3. Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles (CD insert). Various artists. Giant Records. 1993. 24531.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. Phyllis Stark (November 1, 2003). "Dualtone gets Moore involved in promotion". Billboard. p. 36.
  5. "CMT.com : Little Texas : HOT TALK: Little Texas in Court, Gilman in Transition". Cmt.com.
  6. 1 2 Randy Erickson (August 15, 2007). "Big time fun with Little Texas". LaCrosse Tribune. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  7. Cindy Watts (July 24, 2007). "Little Texas finds way back to stage". The Tennessean. pp. 1D, 4D. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  8. "Young for a Long Time - Little Texas | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic .
  9. "Little Texas Bio". Little Texas Online.