Feature
Oct 19 2005 - Sugarland, A Great New Country Trio
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Charlottesville, VA
10-19=05
About three years ago I was sitting on the back porch of an old friend of mine, Kristian Bush. We were at his home in Decatur, GA. We've been friends for years through Eddie's Attic in the early nineties. He'd been in a duo on Atlantic records called Billy Pilgrim, but was currently not touring. Kristian had taken a day job in computer programming to make ends meet. He and his wife, Jill, had a baby and another one coming soon.He was always plotting though. He told me that day that he had been writing songs with Kristen Hall, one of my favorite songwriters, and that they had decided to form a country group.
This amazed me because I couldn't imagine the two of them in cowboy hats belting away about trucks and mama and such...They went out searching for someone who could give the songs heart and believability and asked Jennifer Nettles to join the group. Jennifer had been wailing away in her own group and a group called Soul Miner's Daughter, and had the kind of voice that could blow the top of a budweiser bottle. She joined.When I heard the demos of the early songs, I was completely blown away and quite sure they would be successful. In fact, I had never heard such a sure thing in all my days traveling. And this is with John Mayer, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin among my early aquaintences. But y'all know the music industry isn't always about talent or the songs. These guys have it all, but even that was no guarentee.I love it when things go well for well deserving people.Well now they have sold over a million copies of their new album, Twice the Speed of Life. Their first single Baby Girl just set a record by staying on the country music singles chart longer than any song in history. They just got nominated for three CMA's including the Horizon award for best new artist, best vocal act, and song of the year. Damn!And, they were also nominated for an American Music Award for best new artist in ALL genres. It's bedlam. They are working six nights a week and every day as well...Check them out, if you get the chance on a country music station, CMT. Or at http://sugarlandmusic.com.See you guys out there!
Ellis
10-19=05
About three years ago I was sitting on the back porch of an old friend of mine, Kristian Bush. We were at his home in Decatur, GA. We've been friends for years through Eddie's Attic in the early nineties. He'd been in a duo on Atlantic records called Billy Pilgrim, but was currently not touring. Kristian had taken a day job in computer programming to make ends meet. He and his wife, Jill, had a baby and another one coming soon.He was always plotting though. He told me that day that he had been writing songs with Kristen Hall, one of my favorite songwriters, and that they had decided to form a country group.
This amazed me because I couldn't imagine the two of them in cowboy hats belting away about trucks and mama and such...They went out searching for someone who could give the songs heart and believability and asked Jennifer Nettles to join the group. Jennifer had been wailing away in her own group and a group called Soul Miner's Daughter, and had the kind of voice that could blow the top of a budweiser bottle. She joined.When I heard the demos of the early songs, I was completely blown away and quite sure they would be successful. In fact, I had never heard such a sure thing in all my days traveling. And this is with John Mayer, Shawn Colvin, Patty Griffin among my early aquaintences. But y'all know the music industry isn't always about talent or the songs. These guys have it all, but even that was no guarentee.I love it when things go well for well deserving people.Well now they have sold over a million copies of their new album, Twice the Speed of Life. Their first single Baby Girl just set a record by staying on the country music singles chart longer than any song in history. They just got nominated for three CMA's including the Horizon award for best new artist, best vocal act, and song of the year. Damn!And, they were also nominated for an American Music Award for best new artist in ALL genres. It's bedlam. They are working six nights a week and every day as well...Check them out, if you get the chance on a country music station, CMT. Or at http://sugarlandmusic.com.See you guys out there!
Ellis