CMT News

John Mellencamp joined Little Big Town for a surprise appearance during the group's Tuesday night (Feb. 27) performance at the Stage, a club on lower Broadway in downtown Nashville. Little Big Town and several other acts who record for Equity Music Group performed at the private showcase the label scheduled as part of Country Radio Seminar in Nashville. Prior to the performance, the members of the quartet were at another nearby club to receive platinum plaques celebrating the success of their debut album, The Road to Here. Little Big Town toured last year as Mellencamp's opening act and contributed vocals to all of the tracks on his recently-released album, Freedom's Road. During the club performance, Mellencamp and Little Big Town offered three songs from his new album, including "Our Country," and treated the crowd to one of his biggest hits, "Pink Houses." After the show, Mellencamp told CMT Insider, "Oh, I'm not helping Little Big Town out at all. They invited me to come down and do this. My relationship with them is very organic and natural. I did about 30 shows, and they came in and opened up for those shows, and we kind of became friendly." The Equity showcase also featured Clint Black, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Mark Wills and Laura Bryan.