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"I was always drawn to harmonies," Jimi Westbrook says. "I've always been drawn to the group thing. I always knew I wanted to be a part of something. That felt natural for me."
The devotion to harmony that would eventually lead Westbrook to fame as a member of Little Big Town began during his childhood in Sumiton, Ala. The youngest of six siblings, he began singing in a children's choir at age 6 but really caught the performance bug at 12 with a solo during the church Christmas program. "I was immediately hooked," he recalls. "I thought, 'Maybe I can do this. It's something I love, so I should definitely go for it and see what happens.'"
He developed his talent over the following years, and got into college on a vocal scholarship. After college he met Karen Fairchild, a fellow aspiring singer. Several years later she would invite him to Nashville to be a part of the group she and friend Kimberly Schlapman wanted to form.
"It sounds clichéd, but from the moment we three sat down together it felt like home," he says. "The people I grew up with, that's the kind of people they are. Then we met Phillip Sweet, and the rest is history. Instant family."
Westbrook's warm tenor and musical roots in traditional country and Southern rock have been a vital part of Little Big Town's sound ever since. He occupies the solid middle ground in the band's vocal blend-above Sweet's baritone, below Fairchild's alto and Schlapman's lyric soprano. "They're just the greatest singers I've ever worked with,'' he says. "It's fun for me just sitting back and hearing them during the night when we do a show.''
Just as importantly, his playful and easygoing personality helped the group to keep its spirits up during its long struggle for success. "Jimi has a beautiful heart," Schlapman says. "He's very perceptive about how you feel and will talk you through any kind of sadness."
In his search for harmonies, Westbrook has found harmony-with his band, with its fans, with life. "When you make music, you want people to connect with it and be moved by it," he says. "People singing along with your music, there's nothing like that in the world. That's a high that you can't explain. I just feel very blessed to be given the opportunity to make music for a living."
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