The Reason Why

The Reason Why is the fourth studio album by American country group Little Big Town. It was released on August 24, 2010 via Capitol Nashville. "Little White Church," which was released in March 2010 as the album's lead-off single, has since become a Top 10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

Content

The album's title track was released as a digital single on July 27, 2010 to begin an iTunes countdown to the album release on August 24, 2010. Three further digital singles — "Kiss Goodbye," "Why, Oh Why," and "All the Way Down" — were released weekly leading up until the album release. "Little White Church," the album's first single release to radio, was a Top 10 on the Hot Country Songs charts, with a peak of number 6. "Rain on a Tin Roof," written by Chris Stapleton and Trent Willmon, previously appeared on Julie Roberts's 2004 self-titled debut album.^[1] "Kiss Goodbye" and the title track were released as the album's second and third singles, respectively; both reached a peak of number 42 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Mojo Radio	(8.7/10)^[2]
American Twang	^[3]
Allmusic	^[4]
Country Weekly	^[5]
Slant	^[1]

The Reason Why received primarily positive reviews from music critics. Giving it four stars out of five, Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine thought that it was the band's most consistent album, praising the vocal harmonies as well as the cuts on which Karen Fairchild sang lead. He also thought that the band's sound was less derivative of Fleetwood Mac on this album than on previous works.^[1] Jessica Phillips of Country Weekly rated it three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that the group had "renewed energy" on it, also highlighting Fairchild's lead vocals.^[5] Both Keefe and Phillips compared "Little White Church" favorably to Little Big Town's 2005 single "Boondocks." Thom Jurek of Allmusic also thought that the album showed a growth in sound over the band's two albums for Equity Music Group, giving it four stars out of five.^[4] Jim Malec of American Twang thought the group’s vocal arrangements were "overbearing and gimmicky," claiming that the album often "sounds like the soundtrack to a Broadway musical." However, he complimented the group member's individual voices, in particular Karen Fairchild's.^[3]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"The Reason Why"	Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, Jimi Westbrook, Wayne Kirkpatrick	Fairchild, Westbrook	4:52
2.	"Runaway Train"	Westbrook	Westbrook	3:45
3.	"Kiss Goodbye"	Hillary Lindsey, Gordie Sampson, Steve McEwan	Sweet	4:02
4.	"Shut Up Train"	Lindsey, Chris Tompkins, Luke Laird	Fairchild	3:48
5.	"Why, Oh Why"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Jonathan Singleton, Chris Stapleton	Schlapman	3:45
6.	"Little White Church"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Fairchild	3:06
7.	"You Can't Have Everything"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Schlapman	3:28
8.	"All the Way Down"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Fairchild	3:08
9.	"All Over Again"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Sweet	4:08
10.	"Rain on a Tin Roof"	Stapleton, Trent Willmon	Westbrook	4:24
11.	"Life Rolls On"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Westbrook, Sweet	3:10
12.	"Lean Into It"	Fairchild, Schlapman, Westbrook, Sweet, Kirkpatrick	Sweet	4:19

Personnel

Little Big Town

Karen Fairchild - vocals, tambourine
Kimberly Schlapman - vocals, tambourine
Phillip Sweet - vocals, piano
Jimi Westbrook - vocals, acoustic guitar

Additional Musicians

J.T. Corenflos - 12-string electric guitar, electric guitar
Steve Dale - bass guitar
Dan Dugmore - pedal steel guitar
Shannon Forrest - drums, tambourine
Greg Hagan - electric guitar
Jedd Hughes - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin
Jay Joyce - electric guitar
Gordon Kennedy - electric guitar
Wayne Kirkpatrick - banjar, 12-string acoustic guitar, acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, hi-string guitar, national steel guitar, piano, shaker
Phil Madeira - Hammond B-3 organ
Chris McHugh - drums
Jeffery Roach - keyboards
Caleb Sherman - steel guitar
Adam Shoenfeld - electric slide guitar, electric guitar
Steve Sinatra - drums
Jimmie Lee Sloas - bass guitar

Chart performance

Album

The Reason Why debuted at number 5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and became their first number 1 record on the U.S. Billboard Country Albums charts, with first week sales of 41,939.^[6] As of the chart date January 8, 2011, the album has sold 150,298 copies in the U.S.^[7]

Chart (2010)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Country Albums	1
U.S. Billboard 200	5

End of year charts

Chart (2010)	Year-end 2010
US Billboard Top Country Albums	50^[8]

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
Year	Single	US Country	US
2010	"Little White Church"	6	59
2010	"Kiss Goodbye"	42	—
2011	"The Reason Why"	42	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Preceded by Cowboy's Back in Town by Trace Adkins	Top Country Albums number-one album September 11, 2010	Succeeded by Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

References

1 2 3 Keefe, Jonathan (9 August 2010). "The Reason Why review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
↑ Rose, Rustyn. "Review: The Reason Why". Mojo Radio. Retrieved 24 August 2010.
1 2 Malec, Jim. "The Reason Why review". American Twang. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
1 2 Jurek, Thom. "The Reason Why review". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 August 2010.
1 2 Phillips, Jessica (30 August 2010). "Reviews". Country Weekly. 17 (35): 52. ISSN 1074-3235.
↑ NAME: (2010-09-01). "Little Big Town Scores First #1 Of Career | New Country Music, Listen to Songs & Video". Roughstock.com. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
↑ "Final Holiday Sales #s of 2010 Are Huge for Country Artists". Roughstock. 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
↑ "Best of 2010 - Top Country Albums". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2010-12-31.

Little Big Town

Karen Fairchild Kimberly Roads Schlapman Phillip Sweet Jimi Westbrook

Studio albums	Little Big Town The Road to Here A Place to Land The Reason Why Tornado Pain Killer Wanderlust

Notable singles	"Don't Waste My Time" "Boondocks" "Bring It On Home" "Good as Gone" "A Little More You" "I'm with the Band" "Fine Line" "Little White Church" "Pontoon" "Tornado" "Your Side of the Bed" "Sober" "Day Drinking" "Girl Crush" "Pain Killer" "Better Man"

Guest singles	"Smokin' and Drinkin'" (with Miranda Lambert)

Karen Fairchild's Guest singles	"Home Alone Tonight" (with Luke Bryan)

Other songs	"Go Tell It on the Mountain" "Life in a Northern Town" (with Sugarland and Jake Owen)

Related articles	Discography Capitol Nashville Equity Music Group Monument Nashville

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