CMT Blog: Jennifer Nettles

When a new song comes on the radio, do you ever get the artist wrong? Like when you thought for sure it was Tim McGraw but then you realize it's Rodney Atkins? Or when you start singing along with what you think is a Trisha Yearwood single and the DJ announces it is the latest from Martina McBride? Same with the soundalikes of Tracy Lawrence and Tracy Byrd, Craig Morgan and Billy Currington, Trace Adkins and Josh Turner and Kellie Pickler and newcomer Whitney Duncan. Not to take away from any of those voices. They are all brilliant and powerful and wonderful. But then there are those signature voices in country music that are undeniably unique.

Like Jennifer Nettles. There is just no way you'd ever not know it was her singing. You'd never hear a twangy Sugarland song and think, "Is that Faith Hill?" I am starting to feel that way about a handful of other voices, too. Lady Antebellum's Charles Kelley comes to mind, with the way he can sound soulful and deep even when he's singing about a one-night stand like he does on "Lookin' for a Good Time."

Read more...

Fans may have missed out on Sugarland at Keith Urban's shows last week in Uncasville, Conn., but they were treated to something else on Friday night (May 8) instead. In addition to Little Big Town -- who substituted for Sugarland after Jennifer Nettles was placed on voice rest -- Jamey Johnson made a surprise appearance and joined Urban onstage for a duet version of "In Color." Rightfully so, it sounds like the crowd loved every minute of the hit song as Johnson lead and Urban harmonized. You can watch the video on Johnson's Web site. If you were going to a Keith Urban concert, what unexpected artist would you like to see him duet with?

In anticipation of her taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Jennifer Nettles put together a little video blog on her personal Web site. And how much of a big deal does she think Oprah is? "So huge, that I'm sure if Jesus comes back in our lifetime, he's probably gonna go there to get the word out." She belts out a little "Go Oprah" chant, then tells all her fans (or anyone else who stumbled onto her site when they Googled "Oprah" and "Sugarland") to watch because it's the best show on television. Nettles ends the video blog with the ever-hopeful sentiment of anyone who has ever seen the show: "Maybe she'll give every body a brand new car. Or maybe they'll all be touched by the sweet message when she and I become best friends." To watch the video, click on "journal" when you get to the homepage.

As if hitting the European road wasn't enough. And as if opening for Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban wasn't enough. Now Sugarland will be jamming their own slew of shows into an already exhaustive tour schedule. It starts April 10 in Atlanta, and the workaholic twosome will be bringing Billy Currington and Jake Owen along for the ride. But that's not all. Each show will have its own unique limited edition rock poster. Kristian Bush told Entertainment Weekly that rock giants like Pearl Jam have been doing this for years and that Sugarland will "open up and learn from the playbook." He also says he and Jennifer Nettles are doing a lot of things to create fan culture. I can't wait to see one of the 33 shows, hear the music and take my special poster home.

Us Weekly is not the kind of magazine I subscribe to. But if the line's really long at the grocery store, that's permission enough to flip through it. Right? So yesterday, I was in line, flipping and found something totally random: a list of 25 things about Jennifer Nettles you might not have known before. Like how she broke her finger jumping off a riser at a concert. She hates manicures and pedicures. She's obsessed with breakfast and feathers. She loves cupcakes (um, who doesn't?) and green is her favorite color. The list goes on and on, and makes Nettles seem like a very normal girly girl as opposed to the diva she really could be by now.

She may not have set out to write a song that gives girls some much-needed relationship advice. But she did. Jennifer Nettles tells The Washington Post that her intent with Sugarland's big Grammy-winning hit "Stay" was just "to express another side rather than rehashing the same old thing and see how that feels emotionally. The fact that it resonated with people the way it did, that was a surprise." And, she goes on to enlighten women on the whole who's-cheatin'-who scenario, by saying that "We many times sell ourselves short, not only in relationships but throughout our own lives. Hopefully, we come around at some point and realize our own value." Nettles sure has. Her value as a singer-songwriter continues to unfold with every album. This song, which she insists is not autobiographical, was written the old-fashioned way: on her couch with just an acoustic guitar.

Photo credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

If VH1 should decide to resurrect their hugely popular Divas Live show, who should perform? That's what Entertainment Weekly wants to know. The show ran from 1998 to 2004, and if they brought it back now, I have some thoughts of my own on which female vocalists could own it. I do like Beyonce and Katy Perry and a few others, but beyond them, I could see a stage full of my country faves. Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Nettles, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Faith Hill and Ashton Shepherd. Not because they are at all diva-like but because they would be perfect for the special that EW calls "annual deliciousness." Who would you like to see and hear blowing the world away with their pipes?

The first time I got hate mail because of this blog, I think I cried. Then I got pissed. Then I cried again. Then someone talked me down off the ledge. Since then, my skin has thickened and my anger has waned. But I still read every single e-mail I get: the good, the bad and the downright un-Christian. I have always responded to the nice ones, but the mean ones get deleted. Some, though, I have saved for a day like today. One where I can respond in a public forum. So if you have ever sent me an e-mail that you'd be ashamed to show your own mother, I have your answers right here:

Read more...

If you're wondering which country artists the entry-level demo is listening to these days, check the February issue of Seventeen magazine. Jennifer Nettles, Julianne Hough and Miranda Lambert all made the Girls Who Rock Hot list. And you can get a free download of their song picks using the super special code in the mag. Like Hough's hard-rockin' "Hide Your Matches," Sugarland's twangy "It Happens" and Lambert's "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." You can also read up on what's on the minds of each artist. Nettles prefers an onstage style of things like leather pants, ragged T-shirts and chunky jewelry. Lambert does a preshow prayer holding hands in a circle with her band. And Hough is hoping she can make her next album more edgy.

Leave it to politicians to stretch a historical inauguration into a few days of constant entertainment. First, the powers that be announced Garth Brooks and Jennifer Nettles would be there. And now? Add the Cyrus family and Faith Hill to the list. Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter Miley Ray will be performing on Monday (Jan. 19) for the Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future special that will be televised that night on the Disney Channel. It's probably safe to assume incoming first daughters Sasha and Malia Obama had some say on that one. Then the Mississippi girl will be on The Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration on Tuesday (Jan. 20) on ABC. It's going to be a good week for country fans and Democrats alike.