Getting a crowd's attention can be difficult for even the most experienced artists. People may be drinking, talking with friends or simply more interested in what's happening around them than what's happening onstage.
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Sugarland, the beloved country duo consisting of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, learned early in their career how to win over audiences that weren't necessarily there to see them. According to the pair, those early experiences helped shape them into the performers they are today.
Sugarland Reflects on 20 Years of Enjoy the Ride
Sugarland released Enjoy the Ride in 2006, and the album became a major milestone for Nettles and Bush. Per People, the record helped cement Sugarland as "a superstar act."
The multi-platinum album included some of the duo's biggest songs and became a defining release in their career.
Sugarland will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the Ride or Die Tour later this year. The 26-city tour kicks off Oct. 1 and includes stops across the country before wrapping up Nov. 21.
Sugarland Is Excited to Get Back on the Road
Jennifer Nettles reflected on the album's anniversary and the upcoming Sugarland tour in an interview with People.
"On one hand, it feels like just yesterday [that we began]. And then on the other hand, there's been so much music, so much life and so many children that've happened in the in between," Nettles said. "This record was pretty pivotal for me and Kristian. It really changed, really catapulted us, and so to be able to play all these songs again, that's going to be super fun."
Sugarland Learned Early How to Win Over Distracted Crowds
Sugarland formed in 2002 and spent its early years performing in college-town bars and frat houses, often for only a few hundred dollars.
However, Bush said those early gigs taught the group an invaluable lesson: how to capture the attention of a room full of people who weren't necessarily there for the music.
"One thing that we really benefited, I think the most, from is we had to get the attention of the people in the room," Bush said. "We were not afforded the grace of people who were quiet. So we had to learn how to write songs that you could learn really quickly. And then also we had to learn to perform in such a way to get your attention because you're there to drink the beer and do other things."
Nettles agreed that years of performing in front of those audiences helped them hone their craft in a way that sudden success couldn't replicate.
"It's one thing to come up in the world and you suddenly you go from the internet to a stadium," she said. "It's another thing to have all of these years of honing your craft as writers and performers. If you could get the attention of the frat boy in the back who's really there just to get laid ... That is a performance skillset."
