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ArtistoftheWeek:Sugarland10/5/08-10/12/08

Oct 05, 2008 - 19:16 PM PST

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Sugarland is an American country music duo composed of singer-songwriters Jennifer Nettles (lead vocals) and Kristian Bush (background vocals, mandolin, acoustic guitar). The duo was founded in 2003 by Bush and Kristen Hall (acoustic guitar, background vocals), and became a trio when Jennifer Nettles was brought in as lead singer. Prior to Sugarland Jennifer fronted the Jennifer Nettles band, while Hall had achieved success as a solo artist and songwriter.
Signed to Mercury Nashville Records in 2004, Sugarland broke through that year with the release of their debut single "Baby Girl"(Kristen Hall co-wrote), the first single from their multi-platinum debut album Twice the Speed of Life. This album produced three more chart singles "Something More"(Kristen Hall co-wrote), "Just Might (Make Me Believe)"(Kristen Hall wrote), and "Down in Mississippi (Up to No Good)".
Sugarland recorded its second album 2006's Enjoy the Ride. The Album was certified Multi-Platinum. This album also produced Sugarland's first two Number One hits with "Want To" and "Settlin'", as well as additional Top Ten hits with "Everyday America" and "Stay." In 2007 Sugarland received the Country Music Association's Duo of the Year award. "All I Want to Do" was issued in June 2008 as the lead-off to their third studio album, Love on the Inside, and in August 2008 it became their third Billboard Number One.
Jennifer Nettles grew up in the small town of Douglas, Georgia. Nettles, Bush, and Hall were regulars in Atlanta's folk-rock scene in the 1990s and early 2000s prior to Sugarland's formation, playing frequently at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia, which Jennifer Nettles' ex-husband owned for a time. Nettles had played in a band called Soul Miner's Daughter, later forming her own Jennifer Nettles Band. Bush was half of the folk-rock duo Billy Pilgrim, and Hall had a solo career that often crossed paths with the Indigo Girls.
Why Did Kristen Hall Leave The Group?
Kristen Hall left the group in 2006. According to a statment released on January 17, 2006 by Nettles and Bush, Hall left the group to "stay home and write songs." In August 2008, former member Kristen Hall sued the duo for $1.5 million. She had formed an agreement with Bush and Nettles to "share profits and losses," and felt that she had been excluded from her share since leaving the group. Well almost a year later, Kristen Hall tells Kansas City Star, “I don’t want to be a touring musician, I love to find unsigned acts and bring them to the level that we did.
I love that. That, to me, is my passion and what’s fun about this business. We accomplished some great things. I started the band. I named the band. We fought a war to make a brand name - we did it. It’s awesome. I’m totally proud of it and support it. Good for me.”
No one could figure out why at that point in time she would make such a decision, and it’s not even worth discussing some of the rumors that have been thrown out there. But there you have it, simple as that, she just wanted to be a songwriter.
In February 2008 Nettles and Bush began recording Love on the Inside as a follow up to their Enjoy the Ride album. To follow up the emotional hit "Stay", the duo decided to springboard the new CD with a flirty, summery song, "All I Want to Do". Released on May 19, the song debuted at #27 on the country charts, the highest debut for the duo since 2006. It became their third Number One single in August 2008. The "Deluxe Fan Edition" of Love on the Inside was released on July 22, 2008, with the regular edition released one week later. The fan edition includes the duo's collaboration with Little Big Town and Jake Owen, "Life in a Northern Town." It also introduces four other bonus tracks, including "Fall Into Me," "Operation: Working Vacation," "Wishing," and "Come On Get Higher."

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