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BACKSTAGE: Little Big Town on That "Pontoon" Near Miss

The Lesson They Learned About Wearing Sunglasses Indoors

It wasn't their first CMT Music Awards.

It wasn't their last CMT Music Awards.

The moment that is the most memorable for Little Big Town from the CMT Music Awards -- a show they've been part of since about 2006, when their major-label debut "Boondocks" was nominated for duo/group video of the year -- was the year they performed their 2012 release, "Pontoon."

"It was walking up to the stage to perform 'Pontoon,'" the band's Phillip Sweet told us backstage. "We had sunglasses on as props, and it was dark backstage, and I stepped off and I fell. Two big dudes picked me up. It knocked the wind out of me."

That year, before that fall, Sweet had talked about what he loved most about the show. "I think the fact that CMT Music Awards are voted for by fans is one of the coolest things, because it just allows them to speak and give their expression of who they love and who they want to see. It makes it a lot of fun for us," he said, "because we never know until it happens."

"Country music fans are the best in the world. They're so loyal, and we appreciate them and that's why we're all here," Little Big Town's Jimi Westbrook had said back then. And it's probably still their truth now, seven years later.

The band will host the show when it is broadcast live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday night (June 5) at 8 p.m. ET.

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