Atlanta's Sugarland takes different path to top of country charts

<p>The classic Nashville success story begins with a beat-up guitar and a Greyhound bus ticket.</p><p>It's a rags-to-riches tale that's part of country music's hardscrabble tradition.</p><p>And then there's Sugarland.</p><p>The Atlanta trio, whose debut album "Twice the Speed of Life" is at No. 4 on the Billboard country chart, was already a successful club act with a rabid following when it signed a major-label deal with Mercury in 2003. Their grassroots ascent is more typical of rock groups than country singers.</p><p>"Most new country artists that come out don't really have a fan base," said Luke Lewis, co-chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville. "These people had original songs, which is even more impressive to have an audience and a fan base that reacts to original music. It wasn't just a bar band doing covers."</p><p>Lewis first saw Sugarland perform in a Nashville club filled with fans who had driven five hours from Atlanta. He offered them a contract that night.</p><p>"It made a statement that they had that many fans already," Lewis said. "I saw them a few weeks later in Atlanta playing at the Variety and it was packed, too, and most of the people knew the songs."</p><p>After the album was released last fall, Atlanta also provided a strong breakout market until the rest of the country could catch on _ something Lewis was certain would happen.</p><p>"These aren't just pretty faces or voices. It's a complete package," he said. "I didn't feel like we were being particularly astute by signing them."</p><p>The trio, who took their name from Sugar Land, Texas, because they liked the way it sounded, co-wrote all 11 tracks on the record, a blend of country, folk, pop and rock that's already produced two hits, "Baby Girl" and "Something More."</p><p>With bright harmonies and catchy melodies, the songs tell of new love, leaving home, dreams fulfilled and kicking back.</p><p>"If we came out in the '70s, we'd be alongside the Eagles and the California scene. If we came out in the '90s we'd be triple A (adult album alternative). It just so happens that this year the kind of music we do sounds country," guitarist and background singer Kristen Hall says.</p><p>Hall, Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush each were veterans of Atlanta's music scene when they formed Sugarland about two years ago. Hall, 42, was a singer/songwriter who had recorded a few solo albums; Nettles, 30, fronted popular local bands Soul Miner's Daughter and the Jennifer Nettles Band; and Bush, 34, was half of the major-label folk-rock duo Billy Pilgrim.</p><p>"By the time all three of our followings realized we were in a band together, we had a pretty good group full of people," Hall said.</p><p>On stage, lead singer Nettles, an attractive woman with tousled brown hair, is the focal point. She has a twangy voice that can be husky one moment, wispy the next.</p><p>"Whatever `it' is, she's got it," said Johnny Gray, music director of country station WKHX-FM in Atlanta. "She's an unbelievable performer."</p><p>With three singer-songwriters and lush harmonies, Sugarland recalls '70s supergroups like Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles and Crosby, Stills and Nash _ groups famous for their feuding as well as their music.</p><p>Bush doesn't worry about a meltdown.</p><p>"I can see where that happens because sometimes one member becomes more popular than another," he said. "In this band we kind of each take on a job at a different point. There's so much less ego involved when you're sharing the blame or the accolades."</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/6/143903