Pharrell, Little Big Town surprise Opry fans

(8 Jun 2016) PHARRELL WILLIAMS JOINS LITTLE BIG TOWN ON STAGE AT THE GRAND OLE OPRY Country stars Little Big Town surprised fans at their Grand Ole Opry show Tuesday (7 JUNE 2016) when they brought out producer and recording artist Pharrell Williams for a performance from their new album, "Wanderlust." The album, out Friday, features the award-winning country group teaming up with hitmaker Williams - the man behind songs like "Happy" and "Get Lucky." During his performance on Tuesday, Williams looked like quite like the tourist in a tie-died shirt with "Nashville, Tennessee, Music City, USA" written on the front, and a camouflaged ball cap. Williams, who is originally from Virginia, said he wanted to make Southern music. "I had faith that you know, if I am from the South, and I work with people that are from the South, and we all love things that are Southern, at the very least the music would be Southern," Williams said. "I have just been so grateful with the result." The country band said the album was born out of a writing session earlier this year. "We didn't have any expectations," said singer Karen Fairchild. "And it was so good that we had to share it with everyone. That's really what happened. It came out of joy. So much joy in the studio - we were all singing and dancing and listening back and like, 'Gah, we got to share this with the fans.'" Phillip Sweet, one of Little Big Town's singers, said Williams allowed them to explore a different kind of harmony. "And that was really I think rewarding for all of us to hear our voices in new ways, which was really fun. To do harmonies in a unique way," Sweet said. Williams compared the band's harmonies to a "rainbow." "Cause when they sing it's like listening to a rainbow, if that makes any sense," Williams said. "You hear all the colors all at one and so clear. So I was like, man, if we could like actually harness that and actually put that to the forefront..." Little Big Town and Williams will get to show off their unique harmonies on Wednesday during the CMT Awards in which they will be performing with background dancers. "We have an incredible choreographer and he is from Nashville," Fairchild said. "He has danced with Janet Jackson and Justin, Michael Jackson. And so he choreographed all of this and it is so much fun. Like at night I'm going to learn it and work out." "It's so much fun because he has loves all the old country line dancing and he has incorporated some of that and put a modern twist on it," said Schlapman. "So it's so good. I can't wait for the fans to see it." You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/49f01f116367ed3871ff818af94491d9 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork