As they started making their fourth album as Sugarland, singer Jennifer Nettles and multi-instrumentalist Kristian Bush felt they had gained some license to be fearless about the music they created for the CD.
Fans and newcomers to the group can experience that fearlessness firsthand July 2 at Lilith Fair, the touring festival of women-led musicians.
“What’s happened is, every time we’ve stretched, people said the one (song) where you stretched the most, that’s the one we like the most and sold the most records,” Bush said in a recent phone interview. “I don’t know how many bands ever get that experience. So I think it would be a shame to be afraid of that.”
A prime example of Sugarland’s willingness to risk hitting a sour note with fans was the song “Stay” from the group’s 2006 sophomore CD, “Enjoy The Ride.” A gentle acoustic tune, it was a departure from the frisky plugged-in sound that was the duo’s trademark.
o What: Lilith Fair, featuring Sugarland, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu and other women-led musical acts.
o When: 2:30 p.m. July 2.
o Where: Sleep Country Amphitheater, Ridgefield.
o Cost: $31.50-$101. A four-pack of lawn tickets is also available for $49. Tickets through Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000 or http://ticketmaster.com.
o Information:http://www.lilithfair.com/events.
But “Stay” ended up being a big success. It reached No. 2 on the “Billboard” magazine country singles chart and, more significantly, won a pair of Grammy awards (including Best Country Song).
o What: Lilith Fair, featuring Sugarland, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu and other women-led musical acts.
o When: 2:30 p.m. July 2.
o Where: Sleep Country Amphitheater, Ridgefield.
o Cost: $31.50-$101. A four-pack of lawn tickets is also available for $49. Tickets through Ticketmaster, 800-745-3000 or http://ticketmaster.com.
o Information: http://www.lilithfair.com/events.
“I mean, we put it last on the record almost because we were afraid people” wouldn’t respond, Bush said of “Stay.” “And then people rewarded it.”
Now Bush is promising that Sugarland will sound bigger and bolder than ever on its fourth CD. The album — “The Incredible Machine” — won’t be out until October, but Nettles, Bush and their backing band are hitting the road throughout the spring and summer, and making a big point of featuring new songs in their headlining set.
This is an unconventional move. Tours almost always follow the release of a new album. They are rarely used to create anticipation for a CD that’s months away.
“Production for this show is like nothing I’ve ever done before. I’m so excited about it,” Bush said. “In a lot of ways, the production itself has a lot of relationship to the upcoming album.”
The willingness of Nettles and Bush to perform songs that fans haven’t heard in concert says a lot about their confidence in “The Incredible Machine.”
Bush, in fact, went as far as to suggest it could be a career-making album for Sugarland.
“This album really could be the one everyone looks back and says, ‘Well, that was the one that shot them to here,’” he said.
On an artistic level, Bush certainly made it sound as if “The Incredible Machine” could be a major leap forward for Sugarland. Bush offered some clues about the music the CD will feature and the mindset he and Nettles brought to the album.
For one thing, it will be predominantly up-tempo, full of what Bush described as anthems. There’s only one true ballad, he said.
The CD is also defined by an attempt to make the music itself as emotional as the lyrics.
“I’m biased, but arguably I’m working with what I consider the best singer in the world, for pop music,” Bush said. “She is so … undiscovered for how much she has to offer, and we explored that on this record. And what it did is, it challenged me, as her partner, and as a musician and a producer, to make the music as emotional as she is able to make a lyric.”
“The Incredible Machine” also promises to cross musical boundaries and bend genres. But in Bush’s view, that’s really not a new concept for Sugarland.
“I think that the genre-bending piece is something we’ve been doing for a long time,” he said.
Indeed, Bush and Nettles came to Sugarland with no background in country music.
In the 1990s, Bush was one half of the folk-rock act Billy Pilgrim, which enjoyed some modest rock radio success while signed to Atlantic Records. Nettles, meanwhile, had become a familiar presence on the Atlanta club scene, fronting two bands, Soul Miner’s Daughter and the Jennifer Nettles Band, which featured original music in their shows.
They teamed up with songwriter Kristen Hall to form Sugarland in 2001, although Hall bowed out of the lineup in early 2006, after the tour behind the group’s 2004 debut CD, “Twice The Speed Of Life.”
By that time, Sugarland was already achieving astonishing popularity for a new group. That debut album eventually sold more than two million copies, thanks in part to the hit single from the CD, “Baby Girl.” Nettles’ guest vocal on the country-flavored Bon Jovi hit “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” released separately, also helped boost sales of Sugarland’s first album.
The group’s career has maintained that momentum ever since. Both “Enjoy the Ride,” and “Love on the Inside” also topped two million copies sold.
Bush is acutely aware of his good fortune to be in a very successful group, and to feel he isn’t limited in the kinds of songs he can write and record for Sugarland.
“It’s really neat. It’s like having a career you always dreamed of as a musician, where when you do something new your fans go ‘Yes!’” he said. “It really is an encouraging and dreamy experience as an artist.”
