by Thom Jurek Little Big Town scored big with 2005's The Road to Here, their second album -- even if it took until late 2006 for that to finally happen. The quartet that includes Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Roads Schlapman, Jimi Westbrook, and Phillip Sweethad been out there like road dogs for years and saw their initial self-titled recording gain some critical notice but not much in terms of sales. The band's seamless melding of contemporary rootsy country and the vocal harmonies of Fleetwood Macset it apart from the new-crop masses. Through endless touring, regular rotation on CMT and GAC, and the grudging eventual recognition given by the accountants who serve as programmers at country radio, Little Big Town broke through to contemporary country fans (and if there is a more devoted, less finicky brand of music fan out there, good luck finding them) and scored a win as Best New Group or Duo at the 2007 CMAs. A Place to Land, despite being a third album, is the place to show that The Road to Herewas no fluke. It wasn't. Musically, lyrically, and production-wise, A Place to Land is superior to its predecessor. Perhaps the real secret to the success of this singing and songwriting quartet is its secret weapon in behind-the-boards fifth member Wayne Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrickis the band's producer and songwriting partner. While LBT co-produced the set with him, they co-wrote ten of the 12 tunes on the set with him as well. He's chief guitar picker, and plays just about anything with strings as well as the clavinet and B-3. If the sound on The Road to Herewas reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac's glory years in the 1970s -- particularly due to the songwriting of Lindsey Buckingham-- A Place to Land drinks deeply from the well of the entire Southern California scene in the mid- to late '70s. It's not like they simply regurgitate or imitate it, either. Little Big Town's sound is rooted deeply in traditional, organic country music. They haven't tried to become Southern rock lite imitators, as have so many of their peers. Kirkpatrickgets this and brings to the table a seamless, very natural production style instead of the sterile compression that saturates so much of what is contemporary country and makes it sound like sterile stadium rock. Here, Little Big Town's songs meld seamlessly with the vocal harmonies of not only Fleetwood Mac, but also the Crosby, Stills & Nashof "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" and the earliest records of the Eagles. ...